Persuasive Reflection

Draft One

Reflecting back on all my writing assignments in this course I can confidently say I have very much improved. When it comes to the big two writing assignments that included feedback, drafting and revision I know by reading back to the first draft of each one and now reading my final drafts my writing has improved dramatically for the better.

The value of receiving feedback had very a positive impact on me. Receiving opinions from my peers and instructor from the outside looking in, I was accepting to listen and take their advice with open ears to be able to draft and revise their opinions into my writing and I found it very beneficial. “A strength:  your willingness to consider criticism to help you improve your writing” (Helen, 2016).

The main strategy I used was re-reading my writing over and over. I’d read it in my head to myself and I’d read it out loud to myself over and over to be able to listen to what words or sentences fit or didn’t fit. Reading out loud gave me an excellent source of evidence that my writing really flowed together compared to the beginning of this semester of my drafts to the final and to me it was a big difference in a good way. When comparing my first drafts to my final drafts I really realized I listened to myself when I told myself to try to use my voice more and make it louder within my writing because I felt even in the beginning of my writing journey in the course my voice wasn’t very strong. I received feedback from a peer saying, “Your sentence structures are very good and it’s very easy to hear your voice in your writing” (Katie, 2016). That truly felt good hearing my peer point that out because I set a goal for my voice to be heard and it was reached.

“If I could suggest separating the ideas into different paragraphs so each individual idea speaks louder and has definition” (Sasha, 2016). In the beginning I wasn’t familiar with writing layouts and how it was better to layout topics into different sets of paragraphs so that the writing would flow better and target each interest in it’s own paragraph. I was clueless that it was a major part of writing so having received that specific piece of advice from a peer really helped me notice that it’s important to give each individual idea it’s own paragraph. I took that piece of advice with me the whole way through my writing assignments and during the process of drafting and revising that was a major piece of advice that I think improved my writing.

It’s very difficult not to write in first person and that was something I’ve always struggled with when it came to writing. Looking at my drafts before revising I realized I was writing quite a bit in first person and not realizing it. I mainly realized in my profile writing and focused on revising it. “I suggest the revision to remove ‘you’ from the narrative” (Helen, 2016). That advice clicked in my mind and made me realize I need to take more time to revise. Reading back to my first draft of the profile assignment and now reading my final draft after taking the time to revise so that I wasn’t writing in first person was a huge difference.

I feel very proud and confident with how much I’ve improved in my writing and I will carry this knowledge gained from the drafting/feedback/revision with me to continue to benefit my writing abilities.