The reason for writing that resonated the most with me was "To give myself voice. I am heard when I write; I vote in the human community, registering my opinions, what I stand for, what I fear, what I stand against, what I celebrate." I enjoy sharing my opinions and thoughts with others, especially if they provide benefit to someone or something. It can sometimes be difficult to get your point across through speaking and having access to talk with the certain people that can make change happen. Through writing, I can express my thoughts and emotions more clearly. It's possible for me to think of the right words to say when the pressure of speaking on the spot isn't there. Words are able to spread to a wider audience through writing than speaking due to all of the technology we have today.
I found Murray's advice about length and closing most helpful to me. I often catch myself adding unnecessary words or thoughts into my writing to satisfy length requirements, when Murray suggests making sure that every word contributes to the essay. Murray also suggests not closing out essays with statements about how the reader should feel or what the reader should think. Let the reader do their own thinking and allow them to react naturally. I can apply both of these suggestions to my article and revise any areas that may conflict with these new ways of improving my writing.
I also found that Murray's advice about closing helped me. Besides the introduction, I feel like the closing should be one of the most important parts of the essay. People always remember the first and last parts of something. I do agree that the writer should never end with statements about how the reader should feel because it is up to the reader on how he/she wants to interpret the paper. However, I do find myself always ending my papers with cliche statements on what the reader should think. I will try not to do that as much anymore.
ReplyDeleteI agree with virtually everything you said and I also used the first reason as one that i wrote about in my blog post. I also find it easier to write to make an impact versus speaking. I, however actually enjoy public speaking but that is only with a pre-written speech I am no good at impromptu speaking. Adding unnecessary words ibn my writing is a problem i have as well, when we worry about the length of a paper it makes us feel like we need to add a bunch of fluff. What i have recently found helpful is going back and reading through what i have already read and finding points that i can expand on. That way i don't just add words to the end trying to make it longer, Usually when i do this i end up adding way more than expected anyway
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