Assignment 1

Nothing comes to mind. Sitting at my computer there is no where to begin. Writer’s block can barely begin to describe the feelings I have while trying to write a paper. There are usually so many other things I would rather be doing than sit down to write a paper, or to write anything. Facebook calls my name as I sit at my computer.

I think a lot of why I dislike writing so much is because every time I write a paper, I think, “This is it, this is great”. Whenever I get my paper back or see my grade, it isn’t as good as I was hoping. I guess that is normal and what many people think as well but for me it only adds to my procrastination. I dread receiving a writing prompt. My stomach gets that awful feeling and I start to think maybe I’m sick and this paper really won’t help.

I have always been studious. When I was younger I always worked very hard in school. I wanted to get good grades. It helped that it was the only thing I could be better at than my brother. I think my attitude about writing changed my senior year of high school. My attitude about everything changed then. Senioritis kicked in and there wasn’t much effort put into my schoolwork. It was all downhill from there. I came to CU very excited about being in college and the whole experience.

Part of that experience was my freshman writing class. I will say that I tried very hard to stay studious my first semester. I went to almost every class and when I didn’t I felt so bad about it I didn’t let myself do it again. Wow, so much has changed since then. My writing teacher was very nice and very approachable. I put in more time on my drafts and papers than I ever have before. The tricky part about that is, no matter how much I tried or did, I didn’t get any better. She would even give me tips or tell me how I should fix something, and it still came out terrible. I got a decent grade in the class purely because I went to every class. It was not because I got any better at writing.

I really don’t like peer evaluations. I know when I’m reading someone else’s paper, I have a really hard time telling them how to fix it, so I think most of the other people must be feeling the same way and not really being super helpful. I think when my partner would read my drafts, and I’m thinking of freshman writing in particular, there was so much that needed to be fixed that she just couldn’t even find a place to begin, so she just told me about grammar errors or editing my commas. I overuse the comma. I probably didn’t pay close enough attention to the rules of commas, so I just assume they can be used in places when they are inappropriate. I think that the freshman writing class is where my strong dislike for writing came from. I just could not understand why I was not getting any better. So when I had to hear over and over in that class that I was making the same mistakes and was just mediocre, I thought what’s the point in trying very hard if I just end up with the same result when I don’t try hard. I have written many papers last minute or due the day of even. I always tell myself next time I will start earlier and next time I will do better. Of course it never happens. I’m really hoping this writing class can save my opinion of my writing and benefit my writing in general.