I have been writing for a long time. I started writing when I was in second grade. I learned to read first though. My brother Michael taught me when I started school. I thought if I could learn to read and write before the usual age then maybe I would make my mom and dad think I was very smart and make them proud. I worked very hard and soon realized I was right. Everyone was very supportive and that made writing so much more enjoyable.
For as long as I have been writing, I do not consider myself a very professional author. I enjoy writing but not more than a couple pages at a time. I am sure I would much prefer to write a story and choose what happens, then to write an essay, where every fact and detail has to be researched and precise. I think if I really applied myself I could be a successful author.
I am confident in my spelling and grammar abilities but I do believe that I need more practice. I feel like I could write a book with a good storyline but I feel as though my stories would be appealing only to elementary school kids or people with that mentality. I would like to be writing books so adults want to read my books. I know it is a long way but I want to be writing on the same level as my favorite author Dean Koontz.
When I am writing a story, I have to think between sentences so they are clear and sound good. While I am writing, I fix things such as spelling, grammar and just the wording if it doesn't sound good to me. While I am writing I like to imagine myself as another person reading my story and compare it to stories by well known authors. I do not know if this is a good or bad mentality to have, but it makes me super-critical to my writing. However if my teacher is going to read an essay or blog I am writing, I tend to focus more on grammar than the story. I really dislike writing essays for the simple fact I can not put my own style into it and turn it into something interesting. To me facts are not interesting and I prefer a fairytale over essays any day.
The best place for me to write is when I am alone. Nothing on my mind, in a daydreaming state. That is when I am the most creative. I like to listen to music but I think it has a negative affect of my writing because the mood of the story tends to flow with the mood of the music. The most enjoyable experience of writing I have ever had was writing just under one hundred pages to a story that I got really into in my first year of middle school. I did not have to write the story but I had an idea and I could not get it out of my head so I got it down on paper. I didn't even get half way through that story when I just stopped writing it. There have been other stories like that but after a short time I just stop writing for some unknown reason.
I like to write in a journal or note book before getting it down on the computer. It is much easier for me to get my thoughts down on a piece of paper before putting it into text for some reason. It makes it a lot easier to articulate my thoughts.
I think in my writing my strengths are spelling and grammar. I have won a few spelling bees and I really enjoy my English classes. Of all the things I have learned in school, English is the easiest for me to master. I love writing poetry and I can actually come up with really nice pieces of poetry that are not horribly cliche, though when I am writing I need someone to walk me through all the different figures of speech to make them all sound better.
Figures of speech and dedication to my work are some things I need to work on however. I know what all the figures of speech are and how to use them, I just have a problem applying them to my stories and situations in the stories. I need to learn to keep a single voice in my writings and to apply figures of speech more often.
I write a lot but mostly just texts, a story I have been working on on my computer, a journal I had to keep in Upward Bound that I still occasionally write in. I think the easiest to write are texts. The patterns and styles in writing are different in all kinds of writings. For instance in texts storyline and spelling are less important, whereas in essays spelling is important, and in novels, storyline is important.
The most important thing in writing is the voice. It is what determines how your story is and how it looks and sounds. It determines what audience it appeals to as well.
I love writing and one day I hope it can be my occupation. I really enjoy setting up a plot and following through to keep a reader guessing. I just need more practice and dedication to my work.
