My Writing Process

I have loved to write since I can remember chewing on my first pencil eraser. I started with scribbles, and then random words. Later on, however, I was required to write persuasive arguments and academic jibber jabber. Writing these papers, I began with a claim or argument in mind I intended to convince my readers was true. Not wanting to waste much time, I started by writing down my main idea and then searching for relevant stuff to fill the paper with the required number of words. Sure, I searched scholarly articles and publications, but I would also search Wikipedia and other sources with google. After I had loads of quotations and roughly paraphrased ideas to cite, to show I was credible, I would compile them all into the body of my paper …show more content…
Reflecting on this quarter attempting to summarize everything into one final thought, I have realized that writing starts with think and ends with read. Meant to be ambiguous, this statement will help everyone, regardless of how they interpret it, to write better papers. My writing should not begin with a thesis statement or a desire to convince others to my argument. Writing is not just putting words on paper. Writing begins as we think about what we do not currently know. What do we want to learn? What do we want to research? As we answer these questions, writing has begun. The actual act of putting words on paper is only a small part of the writing process. “Ends with read,” can be understood two ways. First, writing ends with writers reading and rereading their work, constantly revising. Second, as we write we must keep the readers in mind. The question to ask ourselves as we write each sentence is not how should I write this, but how will a reader read this. Everything normally makes sense to the writer, but will it make sense to the reader? “Ends with read,” means that our writing process will continue until the pages we write are no longer read. With so much at stake, I will continue to develop my writing and practice the lessons I have learned this quarter, so I can bring joy and fulfillment to others. I have learned to take writing more seriously because the words I write are not for me; they are for everyone else who chooses to grace me with a portion of their valuable time and read my work. I do not wish to waste any more of my time, and I certainly will not waste the time of countless others who might read something I