Blog #1: Abilities as a Writer

As a writer, I feel that I am prepared. I will usually start by researching a topic fully. That means printing articles and highlighting, making an outline, and organizing my paper. As I write, I'll try to find the best places to insert quotes and paraphrasing to support my topic. I like to write very factually whether or not the paper is fully academic. I want to have a broad knowledge of the topic so that I can answer any and all questions presented to me. My major problem with writing is that I tend to do it in big chunks of time instead of spread out over days. This is a problem for me because when I write in huge chunks I get really erratic with my writing and it doesn't come out as well as I'd hoped. Sometimes I also have issues finding the right words or the right topic sentences and I have to keep coming back to the spot and trying new things. This is only a problem because a) I won't turn in the paper until I've found the right ones, and b) you're supposed to edit after you finish, not during writing.  I like things to flow very smoothly from topic to topic in my papers. However, I am pretty confident in my writing ability. I'm not the best, but I would say that I'm probably a smidgen above average for my age and grade. I don't like to think too highly of my writing because usually people who do get really cocky and make mistakes. I don't have a lot of problems with writing, but when I don't have the motivation to do it I can't make myself. I know there are ways to get yourself into the writing mood, but I just can't do it. 

I don't really have a lot of questions about Eng 101/102 because the syllabus and book are pretty straightforward. I've been pre-reading for the course over the summer and found the book kind of terrible. I mean, sure, correct information is presented, but the examples are ridiculous and they misspell things in an English book. They also don't begin with your basics, but go straight in to writing tips and then in chapter nine or something they finally get into basics. I've also been tutoring over the summer in English, so this book is really, really dragging for me. 

I'd love to have more practice in writing entry essays for college (personal basically). While I can write these, they take a little bit more because you can't entirely refer to quotes and data. You can insert them in places, but they don't really support unless you have a pretty strong case. I'd also like to learn more about logos, ethos, and pathos. I'm sure I use them, but I don't recognize using them. 

This course isn't really worrying to me, but it will be good practice/entry to college level material.