Project 1 Essay Audio Recording

The speaker discusses their reasons for writing and the different types of writing they engage in. They talk about their formal writing experiences, which are academic-based and focused on detail, complexity, accuracy, and sophistication. They also mention their informal writing experiences, which are more relaxed and personal, like having a conversation. The speaker reflects on how their writing experiences have influenced them and shaped their skills as a writer. They also mention the challenges they faced with formal writing, such as the pressure for perfection and the focus on grammar and punctuation. The speaker describes their positive experiences with a teacher who helped them enjoy academic writing and mentions their experiences with informal writing, such as raising awareness through speeches and using social media platforms for communication. They also discuss the importance of journaling as a personal and private form of writing. Overall, the speaker recognizes the importanc Writing and its influence on me. There are many reasons why I write and what I choose to write about. It depends on the purpose, the expectation, and the intended audience. Writing for me has always been a way to express myself. I write because it is important to share and communicate my ideas, knowledge, thoughts, feelings, and emotions with others. At this point in my life as a college freshman, I feel as if my writing experiences can be divided into two main groups. The first group is formal writing and the second is informal writing. My formal writing experiences are very academic based. I use a formal writing style when writing papers and essays where the tone, content, and expression is expected to be detailed, complex, accurate, and sophisticated. In comparison, my informal writing experiences are simple, fun, and have a relaxed feel to them. A good way to describe this style of writing would be that it's like I'm having a personal conversation with someone or myself. The best examples of my informal writing experiences include texting with friends, using social media, and journaling. Looking back, my writing experiences have centered around four main areas. These include academic performance, influencing others, social connections, and for personal enjoyment. It has been a good mix of both formal and informal styles of writing. Together, these experiences have helped shape who I am as a writer and how I communicate and interact through writing with others. Writing in some form or another happened in every course I have taken. The development of writing skills didn't only happen during English classes. Writing was incorporated into my science, history, and even math classes. For example, science was a class full of exploration through the use of pictures and diagrams, and history was storytelling at its best. Math was all about taking the time to critically think and solve problems with accuracy and organization. Then there were the English classes where writing was the almighty focus and rightfully so. English class sometimes got a bad rap because it was so formal. It kind of had a stuffy feeling associated with it. For instance, there was nothing fun about learning about nouns, verbs, comma placement, incomplete sentences, paragraph structure, etc. However, at the same time, my English classes also provided me with the opportunity to be imaginative. This was the part I found fun and refreshing about writing. When I could combine the formality of writing with creative expression, I did enjoy the experience. Writing occurred and was necessary in every academic class I took, not just during the English classes. Every class influenced and helped build and improve my formal writing skills. Of course, English classes supported my growth the most. However, I also am a better writer because of my math, science, and history classes too. They taught me to be a critical thinker, a better storyteller, and a researcher. All skills I try to integrate into my formal academic writing opportunities. I would like to continue discussing formal writing as it was such a big part of my education. I was always told that in order to earn good grades and show that I was smart, my writing needed to follow the rules. My high school writing classes stressed the importance of punctuation, grammar, vocabulary. For example, whether it was more appropriate to use a comma or semicolon. Or where my word choice varied enough in my essay to make it interesting. Sometimes I feel like I got caught up in the details of my writing that I didn't tell a story. The dreaded writer's block, or even worse for me, spiraling off topic was also a concern. The perfection quest with writing was overwhelming, which caused the overall structure and flow of my papers to suffer. These struggles often impacted how I felt about my written work. There were times English was my worst subject and least favorite class. Solely because of how hard it was to blend all that goes into writing together into something that looked and sounded good. Generating interesting ideas and organizing my messages into a fluid yet detailed and sophisticated manner was exhausting. The focus always seemed to be on proper grammar, use of large vocabulary, and smooth sentence structure. My teachers pushed for perfection with little to no feedback. I felt like the creative and imaginative parts of my writing were overlooked. I learned later I was being taught in such a way that would perform well on standardized tests. This was beyond disappointing because I knew there were more to writing than perfect grammar and punctuation. My last year of high school, I finally had a teacher who helped me find enjoyment in academic-based writing. This teacher allowed me to write openly without worrying about all the precise details. Once I got my ideas down, my teacher worked with me on my main struggle areas, which were organization and flow. Believe me when I say that chaos lived within my writing and truly it may still be in there a little bit. This teacher was actually teaching me how to write and I am grateful. It boosted my confidence along with my writing skills. I was happy to say that English was no longer my least favorite class. My other experiences with writing were on the other side of the scale in comparison to my academic writing experiences. These experiences fall more so under the category of informal writing. Where I would use my writing in hopes of influencing others for social engagement and for enjoyment. I'm not going to lie, I preferred my informal writing experiences over the formal ones. It is quite frankly easier for me. One of my past writing experiences was all about raising awareness and trying to influence others to think differently toward an issue that was very personal for me. This entailed writing short speeches, which I then read out loud at numerous school board meetings during public comment time. This writing style had more to do with how the oral presentation sounded than how the written message looked. I needed to think about my pace, my speed, tone, and voice volume along with the message I was trying to convey. Writing comes in many different forms and I was glad to have this experience. It made me a better verbal communicator and writer. In this day and age, who doesn't have a smart phone? Even my 80 year old grandfather has one and he uses it. The use of smart phones has taught me to communicate with people using a completely different style of writing than my academic writing experiences. Less formal for sure. Many people even question if texting really can be considered real writing at all because it doesn't follow the rules of standard English. Texting and other social media platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram were intended to be a simple and fast way to communicate. Mostly through the use of individual words, short phrases, abbreviations, emojis, and images. It is not only fun but also has a great way for me to share information, express my thoughts, and stay connected with family and friends. I like using the example of my grandfather and how I stay connected with him through messaging. I have never typed up a formal letter or sent my grandfather a handwritten card. Though, I will send him short messages filled with emojis and fun pictures. My point is, I wouldn't even communicate with my grandfather if it wasn't for texting. To me, writing is writing no matter the style. Social media has been and currently is a huge part of how I express myself as a writer. I appreciate the diversity it offers not only to me as a writer but also as a receiver of social media connectivity. One of my favorite writing experiences is journaling. I have done it since middle school. The part I appreciated and enjoyed the most was the time I got to spend with my family. I wrote in my journal because I enjoyed it and it made me feel good. Journaling provided me with a space to write about my thoughts and feelings. For me, journaling was personal and private which is very much the opposite of the writing that I did through texting other forms of social media. My journaling style took many different forms such as personal reflections, doodle drawing, free writing, and bullet writing to name a few. When I think about it, journal writing helped me explore new ideas, express myself without pressure, and organize my thoughts and feelings. Whatever style of journaling I did, I know it influenced and positively impacted my skills as a writer. My experiences with writing can be divided into two groups. Formal and informal writing. My formal writing experiences have always seen me focus on learned academic skills. For example, how well reports were written based on the expectation that my writing be detail-orientated, complex, organized, accurate, and sophisticated. In comparison, my informal writing experiences followed a relaxed approach. I felt it was okay to use a simple and basic style in my writing. It was more about engagement, social communication, and the fun experience it offered. My informal writing experiences were also personal and intimate, like I was having a conversation with someone or even with myself. I know formal, academic-based writing is important and will be in the years to come as I continue my college education. I also know that informal writing is an essential part of writing as well, especially in the area of social communication and personal enjoyment. That being said, my current writing style most definitely has been influenced by all of the past experiences. There are areas I am better at than others. I also know that I find enjoyment in writing, and that is a good thing. Writing, in whatever form, has always been an outlet for me and a way for me to share my ideas, knowledge, thoughts, feelings, and emotions with anyone willing to listen. That is the power of the written word.