Looking Back

In school, I am always asked by an instructor to create a piece of work, turn it in, have he or she grade and criticize the work, and then the work is returned to me. Unfortunately, ninety-five percent of the time this is where the journey of the work ends. Put in a file and stored away, I never see the work again, and it sits there in the darkness of the file cabinet, unfinished. Unfinished you ask? Well, yes. In my opinion, this process of developing a work is missing a vital piece of the puzzle. A work is never truly complete until another individual or the maker themselves critique it and that constructive criticism is taken into consideration for corrections to be made. Once those are applied a whole new, and re-energized draft should come out of it. This procedure can be repeated over and over again until one is truly satisfied with their work. How often we forget this step of inquisition and investigation that is so essential in creation. 

"I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter." ~ James Michener

"To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." ~ Elbert Hubbard

Yet on any given day there is that five percent chance that the teacher will actually ask you to look at your work and consider what you have done. Take a step back and really look at it. When I did this with my blog, I not only found new meaning in the value of blogging, but also I learned a lot about myself. 

First off, I have really come to appreciate blogging. In all honesty at the beginning of the semester when we were told that we were to make blogs of our own I was nervous and thought that the idea was foreign and silly. Yet now, after weeks of blogging I realize how much it can teach you about yourself. I learned that I have a pretty opinionated voice. I don’t show it much while speaking in person, yet when I sit down to type my blog, the ranting just flows and I can’t help but let my beliefs and attitude run wild. I have found a lot of freedom in blogging. A sense of ease and comfort, knowing that what I write can be judged by millions but no matter what it is neither right or wrong. There is no correct answer to my writing. It is simply my thoughts and ideas on a certain subject. I find it freeing also because sometimes, thoughts and concepts are not fully realized until said out loud or in this case typed on paper. I might have an idea in my head but it is not until I start writing about it that I full understand what I was trying to say. Blogging is a way of understanding oneself better. It is basically just a public diary or journal.

Writing this blog also opened my eyes to new aspects of writing. So often I zone in the structure of my papers and essays. A lot of the time I forget what is really important in creating something worthwhile, and that to me is writing something that engages the audience. It is as simple as that. Doing this blog showed me how audience engagement can be acquired many ways, but especially through humor, a clear voice, and above all, honesty. Honesty, in my opinion, is really key to good writing. I found that I don’t like reading anything that is forced or positioned. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how many big words you put in your essay that make it impressive. Instead, if you really want to blow the audience away, give them your honest, true opinion and don’t hold back. 

These concepts do not just apply to blogging. They really do apply to academic writing as well. While it is important to be eloquent and to articulate your thoughts in a well-expressed manner, being honest and true to what you are writing about can make or break even a hard-fact research paper. At the end of the day, if you want to succeed in writing, being true to yourself allows you to be true to your audience, and lets face it, who really wants to be lied to?