The composing process at times may be very stressful.

Throughout my high school career, many of my essays were about analyzing either novels, short texts or poetry. Many of my assignments were pretty vague. There were several instances in which the only instructions I would receive were to Write a commentary on the following... My high school English classes focused on teaching us to know what to do when put in those situations. I was taught to annotate the text, brainstorm, outline, find evidence and then begin the actual writing process. Over the years, that became and still is my composing process. For instance, in my senior year English class, when we would complete reading a novel, we would take the time to discuss its worldview. After doing so, we would then find particular pieces of evidence that would help support the worldview, which is the thesis. Using a chart, we would put the quote on one side and we analyzed the evidence on the other. To do this, I always found that a quiet room was best to work in, like the office space in my house. It was easier for me to get my thoughts together. If I ever listened to music, it would be something slow, because fast music would end up distracting me. After that was done, the writing process began, in which I worked on creating strong topic sentences, tie-backs and an effective conclusion. It was all simplified by that point because the difficulties of writing an analytical essay were complete. However, there are many times that I experienced writers block. Sometimes I get stuck on the first steps of the writing process. For instance, trying to figure out the worldview, making sure it makes sense and that its not a clich. When this happened to me, I usually would think back to class discussions and what we would focus on. When that didnt work, I would always go talk to my teacher about it. He would help point me into the right direction, not necessarily giving me a thesis, but helping me discuss the novel in order to realize what the purpose of it was. Then when I had an idea of what my thesis was, I usually would have several drafts. I do

this on a word processor because its just easier for me to change words, erase things, and move them around until I find where it makes the most sense and when its strongest. Also, I feel that I get my ideas on paper faster. I type faster than I write, so when I have an idea about something, I instantly type it. From times that I used a pencil and paper to a word processor, I believe that it has improved my writing because a word processor has so many useful resources. For instance, you can look for synonyms. There were several instances where a couple of words sounded odd, but when I looked for synonyms, I would find words that made my thesis or any part of my essay not seem awkward. I always try to work my way through an essay, for instance, when I get stuck I usually start reading my writing from the beginning and editing things as I go along. For example, when I was writing my Rhetorical Analysis, and had gotten stuck on one of my body paragraphs, I went back to my introduction and started editing from there. When I was adding more details to my introduction paragraph, I was getting more insight on the speech and started getting ideas on what to write for my body paragraphs. I kept going back and forth. That is another reason why I like using a word processor since its easier to delete things rather than erase or completely start over. I feel that this helps me get my thoughts together and helps me work through an idea that I am stuck with. This works for me because the more I read something, the more I start to develop new ideas about it. Also, even when I reread my essay, the context might sound grammatically correct, but it might not support my thesis. For instance, this happened when I was writing one of my final essays for my English class. I was analyzing the literary importance of a character in The Stranger by Albert Camus, and everything sounded fine, but I realized that I wasnt exactly analyzing, instead I was merely summarizing the plot. Rereading and going through my essay helps me notice that before I am too far along.

However, when there are times that I complete an essay that I am not satisfied with, I dont mind going over the process again and completely starting over. Because I already have an idea about it, I can formulate better thoughts. My second essay always ends up being stronger than the first. For example, there was a time in which my history essay was deleted off my computer. I was so angry that this had happened, but when I began rewriting it, I was adding more details and explanations than what I had written the first time. But because it may feel that time spent working on my first essay is wasted, I have come to notice that there are techniques that I avoid doing to be satisfied the first time around. For example, I avoid being too vague. Also, I avoid assuming that the reader knows what I am talking about. Psychologically, I am putting myself in my readers shoes. If I feel that something doesnt make sense, I try to find a way that it does. I also question, if I was a reader that had never read the text, would I know what the essay is trying to argue. Overall, I feel that my writing is part of my identity. I have a distinct way in which I explain and write certain things. For example, there was a time in my English class that I had forgotten to put my name on my typed assignment, and by the style of the writing, my teacher was able to tell that it was mine. However, I am not closed off to change. If something can be changed for the better, I dont mind doing so. All in all, writing is something that I enjoy doing and I like improving and making myself a better writer. As of now, I feel that I can be an okay writer and would still like to improve.