Magazine Reflection (Part 2)

1. Overall, when you think about the big picture of your writing, what improved? How did it get better? Why?

The main thing that stands out to me that shows improvement in my own writing is how I condensed my article so that it is straight and to the point. With the first draft of my article I had many unnecessary paragraphs that was filled with irrelevant information. Through many critiques I was able to cut those paragraphs out as well as "filler" sentences and words. With this particular project I had the most drafts of writing then I ever had, I was able to get many critiques and each time I made a new draft the paper became more precise and I was able to get my ideas down and conveyed without having "sledgehammer" words.

2. Overall, when you think about the big picture of your writing, what still needs work? What do you think will help you improve? Why?

Something that could still use improvment on my writing is the amount of evidence use. Although I did use a good amount of evidence I would like to try to in cooperate more. The problem I have with this is it take a good amount of time and effort to find the exact information you need, I grow impatient trying to find this information and end up not using as much as I want. A way I feel I can improve on this is by using different types of evidence. Something I learned this year is that it is better to use different sources of evidence rather then using the internet to find all the answers. I find that when you look for evidence in a book or talk to someone about it it tends to be a lot more interesting then if you were to read it off a website.

3. Specifically, show us something that improved and describe the path it took to get better. You can quote your article, your drafts, link to evidence, etc.

Specifically, something that I am proud of that improved was my first paragraph. It changed drastically for the better because it was able to capture readers attention and at the same time state my stance on the subject at hand. The intro paragraph I started out with had nothing to do with what I was writing about, through many drafts and critiques from my peers I was able to transform it into a more interesting and stronger intro.

1st intro paragraph:
"During my junior year at HTHMA I received an internship which gave me a better understanding of the adult work world ad how I could fit into it. I have learned so much form having an internship and have learned the significance of how the economy can intermingle with the work world."

Revised:
"......While pondering thoughts on how to better our environment I established a connection between the economy, the work world, and the environment. By realizing a solution to one, it leads to solutions to another which for all of the others, improving all of them."

4. Describe something specific (or a few things!) that you learned about writing.

During the course of this project I have learned a lot of different writing techniques from Randy such as the use of "sledgehammer "words which are unnecessary over used words, the concept of the loop writing structure which will allow you start strong and end strong as well ,and others.

Magazine Reflection

1. What went well for you during the process of creating this magazine?

Something that went well for me during magazine project was that I was able to use my time efficiently and it definitely made for a better quality product. Since I used all the extra time I had to critique my own paper and also get critiques from others it made my writing more informative and straight to the point. By the time we had to turn it in I had a final product that I was proud to show off. 

2. What challenges did you face as you moved from an early draft or idea to a final product?

The challenges I faced for this project I did not face recently but rather when I first started writing the blog that I then turned into an essay to turn in. When I first wrote my economic advice in the blog form I struggled quite a bit because I had to do a large amount of research and structure my blog in such a way that flowed. I did the best I could for the blog with the amount of time I was given. 

When hearing about the magazine project I knew I wanted to contribute a piece of writing that differed from everyone else's so I used the economic advice blog. I didn't struggle quite so much this time around when revising and editing it. The most work I had to do was cutting out the excess words I did not need and structuring it so that it would flow exactly how I wanted it to.

3. What other examples of work—student and professional—stood out as exemplary and served as a good model for your own work?

While working on my article before going to internship one day I came across a draft of Wyatt's work. I read his article and I found it to be well written and filled with his wit. It made me want to keep reading and held my attention the entire time. I thought it served as a good model for myself because my main goal in my writing is to keep the readers attention from start to finish so that they read my entire piece. Wyatt demonstrates this very well in his writing and modeled what I hope I did with my final product.