Essay Sample: What Makes Good Writing?

English is a very important subject that can be extremely valuable in all areas of life. It is important to understand how to write effectively, so you can communicate using any type of media, whether it be at school, home, social media, or work. Learning english can also help

As a writer, I feel inexperienced. Aside from the mandatory English classes that I took in school, I did not write much throughout my life. I didn’t particularly enjoy what I was writing about, which made it hard for me to enjoy and led me to doing the bare minimum to pass. I enjoy writing about my ideas and opinions and pieces that support the two. I also enjoy creating different styles of writing such as short stories, poems, or comics. I don’t feel confident writing things like reports or projects that require straight information with little to no need for creativity or the ability to put my own spin on it.

As I have grown older I've learned to appreciate writing in many ways. I didn't read my first book all the way through until I was 20. The book was The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. This was my first year in the Navy and my roommate had a copy of it. I had heard so many good things about it so I decided to read it. During that first night of reading I fell in love with that book. reading that book brought a smile to my face. I finally understood what everyone was talking about. From that first time reading the Hobbit I finally understood the power of writing

My definition of a good writer would be someone that follows the steps of writing including outlining, creating a rough draft, and revising until they are happy with the finished product and understanding why and what they’re writing about. This also includes someone that has the ability to write in many different styles and can communicate their ideas and intentions with a clear focus on the subject without being convoluted. A good writer also knows

I feel that I have the potential to become a good writer. I am good at the creativity aspect of writing and can create good flow and provide lots of information on a subject that I care a lot about. I also try my best to make my writing interesting and relevant to the reader, not making things sound more “academic” or “smarter” than I am. However, my greatest weakness is the structuring of my assignments. I struggle with going off on tangents and not being able to smoothly transition back to my original topic. I have formed some bad habits throughout my writing education that include not outlining my papers or projects before starting the writing process, as well as not sufficiently editing after I have written. I have a hard time revising my assignments, because once I have put that much effort into it, I don’t want to edit or cut anything out. I also tend to over summarize at the end of my paragraphs which can become extremely redundant. Overall, I know that there is a lot I need to work on, but I am hoping that throughout this course I am able to fine tune my skills in order to help me become more confident in my own writing abilities.  

I genuinely enjoy writing when I know what I’m writing about. I also enjoy reading other people’s writing. When I think about writing in general, it seems simple, but once I start the process it can be difficult for me to put something together that I feel makes sense. I have written some short stories and poems that I am proud of because I took the time to perfect them the way I wanted them to be without having to follow any specific rules or guidelines.

I have a bad habit of procrastinating, which honestly might be part of the reason why I am not always as confident in my writing, because I fail to leave myself enough time to follow the writing process correctly. When I procrastinate, I tend to leave out the outlining process which could be part of the reason why I feel that my assignments aren’t as structured as they could be, and I end up being lost in the information I am trying to convey. By procrastinating I also don’t leave myself enough time to effectively edit and revise after I have finished my rough draft meaning that I don’t always turn in a completed product that I am proud of or happy with. Most of the time I do a quick check after I’m finished with my rough draft for any spelling errors and minor sentence structuring issues that are called out by Word without trying to completely overhaul my assignment.  

There’s obviously a lot of things that I can work on as a writer and a lot of things that I hope to gain from this course. I hope to also hone in on the skills that I already feel confident in with the new things that I learn so that I can communicate effectively and efficiently in future courses as well as work and everyday life. Throughout the rest of this course I plan to learn everything I can and get rid of the bad habits I’ve developed throughout my life. If I continue on the path of self improvement I hope one day soon I could call myself a “good writer”.