Journal 1

Ever since I was a child I've been very interested in writing. This continued throughout my life as I attended a high school that focused very much on writing. Regardless of this, I can admit that my writing is still sometimes weak and has many flaws. One of my main flaws is my grammar. I tend to write very quickly and off the top of my head, therefore sometimes my writing isn't structured correctly and has many grammar errors. My English teacher in high school always marked my papers down because of my misuse of commas and things such as that. Another weakness of mine, which is directly linked to the fact that I write off the top of my head and don't plan my papers, is that sometimes they can be a little jumpy and hard to follow. However, I think some advantages I have in writing is that I am good at researching topics and I can be persuasive.

I would like to improve my grammar flaws which can be done as simply as proof reading my work and seaking feed back on my papers from others. I would also like to structure my papers better. I can achieve this by creating outlines, writing out ideas and creating a thesis before I actually begin to write my papers. I also need to try and focus on fewer topics within a paper, and try to keep things simpler instead of going off on tangents when I write. I feel this class will help me with these issues because I will have others reading my papers and giving me feedback, along with being able to sit down with the professor and having my paper reviewed.

I would also like to become a more creative writer. I'm decent at writing an essay paper but I'm very interested in music and creative novels. I like listening to music to decipher the meaning behind lyrics. Some of the bands I listen to whose lyrics have the most impact on me are The Word Alive, A Day to Remember, Underoath and We Came as Romans. A Day to Remember's lyrics have been the most influential in my life and I have just recently gotten the line "Keep your hopes up high and your head down low" from their song All I Want tattooed on my back http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/daytoremember/alliwant.html. I would love to put my feelings to words in the way that these artists do but my writing is not creative enough yet. Someone else who inspired me to become a better writer was Oscar Wilde. The first book I read by Oscar Wilde was The Picture of Dorian Grey and I fell in love with his interesting perspectives on life and some of the quotes in his book. I also liked his ability to build the main character and how the novel was unique and twisted. I continued to look up more quotes and works by him since then and one of my favorite websites that contains some of his quotes put to artwork is http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8WgRcZ/ourfunnyplanet.com/famous-oscar-wild-quotation/. Basically my main influence to become a better writer is to write something something as influential as these artists and inspire other people.