Personal Style and Growth
Writing styles can often come to
define a writer, and student writing lays out the habits and brickwork that
help dictate that style. As a student, bad habits can be broken, and new goals
can be set. For me, I have been able to identify some of my writing styles, as
well as begin to fix some of the issues that I have. Common themes, tones,
techniques, and processes that I use when writing come to light when looking
back on written projects.
The reoccurring theme that I find in
much of what I write, no matter what genre, is freedom. Sometimes I write about
freedom from a struggle, like in my memoir, Memoir
of a 9th Grader, or my short story, Shade of the Sorcerer. In my poem Lonely Soul, the girl breaks free from the world’s view of
perfection. The reason for this, I've discovered, is because I wish that I
could be free of the rules of this world, such as gravity or wealth.
The next most noticeable aspect in
my writing is the tone. I often write using exaggerated anger, happiness, or
comedy. This tone can be heard in my
poem Lost. In this haiku, I use
metaphors to compare the current society’s view of beauty and lifestyle to
wandering, ink, and twisted mirrors. In my Memoir
of a 9th Grader, I exaggerate my story of going to a hard
school. Back then, I felt like the world was ending. By exaggerating the reality,
I was able to convey how the experience felt to me.
To create the theme and tone, I use
specific writing techniques. My most used technique is descriptive imagery words.
I love words that paint a picture, and at times I can go a bit overboard with
it. Another tool that I use is metaphors. Since metaphors can turn a moon from
being just the moon in the night sky to “drop of silver in black velvet,” (Untitled Poem 3) I love using them,
especially in my poems. They help turn a
description into a painting, and bring a story or scene to life.
To write my stories, I use my own
writing process. Once I come up with a topic, I will think up a loose idea of
how I will organize everything. I don’t use outlines or graphs to lay out how I
will write, as it can confuse my ideas. While I write, I also edit myself. I
make sure that all my sentences and paragraphs make sense to me, and I make
sure everything is spelled correctly. After finishing my draft, I have others
read the essay to let them catch any mistakes I made and make sure it makes
sense to them.
Though it usually works, I do have weaknesses when it comes
to writing. In my head, I speak differently than I talk. However, I write the
way that I think, and it can cause my sentences to be awkward. I also need to
work on using dialogue. In Memoir of a 9th
Grader, I wrote “’Bye mom,’ I gasped.” I couldn't rely on the dialogue
itself to speak, and instead had to use the word “gasped” to capture the words.
I often use dialogue sparsely, and it can come across as a bit out of place at
times.
My biggest success throughout this course is learning how to
use descriptions. I learned to condense my big sentences and specify to create
the most effective image. I will continue to perfect my sentence structure and
dialogue. I hope to be able to use dialogue with less difficulty, and able to
see awkward sentences for myself. Eventually, I look forward to writing without
losing the struggle to come up with details. I hope that I can write all of the
stories I have piled up inside of me with more joy and less stress.
Though I have my own techniques and styles of writing, once I
perfect my system, I can write uniquely, yet successfully. Through my personal
themes, I can connect with the audience. The tones I use help me to convey the
mood I want to get across. My favorite writing techniques help me give the
words color. Using my personal take on a writing process allows me to let my
creative juices flow. By using the techniques that work best for my writing, I
can write smoothly and happily, and can turn out work that I am proud of.
