Blog #1 Cory Gallarelli

When I put the pen to the paper, I worry most about properly getting my thoughts across to the reader. I often find myself full of ideas, but the problem is that I have trouble communicating them through written word and even speech. My anxiety lies within getting the reader "where I am" mentally. I suppose that problem lies in my inability to completely communicate what I'm thinking; the entire idea behind writing. With this anxiety, I worry about my audience (class, friends, teacher) not fully understanding my work, and it therefore coming off inappropriately. I write to convey my ideas. If I can't complete this simple task, I become anxious in my work. Even now, as I write more and enter into the "flow" of writing, anxiety approaches me as I worry if my words are saying what my mind is thinking. My anxiety regarding my thoughts being transferred correctly directly relates to my anxiety about being misunderstood and misinterpreted. My only ally in this struggle to speak my mind is practice. The more I write, the more I am able to convey what I intend to say. When I write, I try to type as much as possible, and trim the fat later. This process helps me to hone my writing skills and shine a brighter and more accurate light on my thoughts. With any luck, for me, practice will eventually make perfect.

1.   When I am writing I have constantly had the problem of writing as if I am speaking to someone rather than writing as if someone were reading it.  I have had this problem for a while in my life.  It didn't always appear to me and stand out that this problem was occurring.  This problem was always picked up by a peer who would review my paper.  I don't think this is that serious of a problem, but it something that should be fixed.  Another thing that I am most anxious about is the rigor of the writing that will be assigned and quality of the writing that I will produce.  This is my first college English class and I am unsure what to expect, so this makes me anxious.  I am thinking these things through and they are running through my mind.  I never had problems with deadlines or completing assignments.  I have always been able to get things done on time and I try to stay organized.  The organization aspect of my writing can sometimes be faulty.  Sometimes I catch myself jumping back and forth between the tenses and writing about things I have already written about.  Organization is a key factor in writing and if I lack in organization I will be hesistant to share my papers with people.  As mentioned in this article, "because it requires that you share a piece of work that looks like a train wreck to you with another human being".  Who wants to share with their peers a writing that they are not confident in.  "My work, for example, is more a reflection of the scholarship I spend the most time with than it is a reflection of me, per se."  I agree with this statement because I would not say my writing reflects the kind of person I am.  Overall, I think that I am most anxious about the quality of my writing and if it will be to the level I am expected.
2.  What I am most anxious about when it comes to sharing my work with others is that the people who can write better than I can may judge me for the way I write.  There are plenty of people who will be able to write better than me and there are plenty of people who I will be able to write better than.  I am not necessarily anxious about sharing my work with others.  I am more so curious as to what people will think about my writing.  I have had friends in the past read some of my college application essays and then have them ask me if I was sure I wrote that and it wasn't anyone else.  This made me feel good and bad at the same time since I wasn't given the credit by my friends for writing so well at the same time I was happy that they were impressed with it.  I don't really think that it will be that big of a factor to share my writing with my peers, I just think that the first time I do share my writing with them I will be anxious to hear what they have to say.

Blog #1- Justin Borrero

I have never been confident in my ability to write. Everything about writing makes me anxious. Wondering whether it's to short or to long because I end up rambling on about something that ends up off topic from the subject. Making sure there is some sort of logical structure in my writing rather than a bunch of ideas separated by punctuations. And if it is hand written grammar errors become a nightmare for me. I can read my paper over a thousand times and still miss simple mistakes such as using the wrong there/their/they're or just forgetting a letter in a word. The toughest part about writing that gives me the most anxiety is making sure I meet the deadline. This is due to the fact that I procrastinate a lot, but when it comes to crunch time I tell myself to either get it done so it can be turned in on time or actually write what I really want to write but run out of time and end up leaving things I wanted to say in my mind rather than my paper. I normally pick the get it done decision and get a good enough grade on my paper, even though I could've done better.
Throughout my time in school I've been able to scrap up just enough to get by my English class with relatively good grades, which in the end of is what it comes down to for me. Since I have been getting by I never felt the need to improve or get help with my writing skills, even though I know they aren't great. When you know you aren't excelling in something you tend to rush it and do the bare minimum to pass because you just want it to be over with. If I could get pass everything that makes me anxious about writing I might actually enjoy it.

Blog #1 - Serena Cecere

To be entirely honest with whoever may read this, you're what makes me anxious; the reader.  It seems so often that the concern of writing is drawn straight toward punctuation and grammatical formalities, and although that is important, I feel there's so much more to writing than your ability to use a semi-colon, which, by the way, I'm still not sure I can properly do.  I mean, don't get me wrong, if u type lyk dis & uSe LoTs Of UnNeCeSaRy CaPiTaLiZaTiOn or mistake simple words like of and off, it may turn away your reader a smidge, or even strike three of their top ten pet peeves (cough cough, me),  there's still just so much more to writing.
There's a certain feeling you get when you read something that hits home. It could be something simple, for example, the word aspire to me brings a sensational chill and yearning towards thoughts of my future because every day I wake up dreaming of all the things I can and will accomplish; the word speaks to me.  Yet it could also be something you stumble upon that just catches your eye, example, today I read on the infamous Twitter, a quote that said, "But I don't want comfort. I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.", and it made me want to live vivaciously, the way every person dreams of. My point is, words are powerful. Doesn't matter how they reach you, you never forget words that make you feel. That's why the reader is what makes me anxious.  I want the reader to feel the way I did the moment I began to write. I want to leave behind something that means something to someone. And because my mind is a racing, spiraling mess, I'm very fearful that the message I'm attempting to get across, is often lost in the midst of the work.

Blog #1 - Oliver Hamlin

     As opposed to speaking, writing is much more complicated when choosing the correct voice for catering to an audience. When speaking to someone, whether it be a friend, professor, family member, etc., what you say and how you express your ideas is in a state of flux as you read the person's body language and hear an audible response from the audience you are communicating to. With writing, there is no immediate feedback. The part of the writing process that makes me the most anxious is catering, in the best way possible, to the audience I am writing to.

     Up until now, I have never had the opportunity to write freely without critique. I have always written for a critic, such as a teacher. Theoretically, English teachers are mandated to critique and grade students on the structure, vocabulary, style, and substance of the writing without letting personal biases interfere with the process. However, in my experience, the contrary stands true. High school has taught me that reading into a teacher's personal interests and stances on controversial subjects, such as politics and religion, can be beneficial when writing under their critique. Accommodating to these biases in my writing may conflict with my own beliefs, but the benefits of seeing "90" or above next to my name on a spreadsheet succeed the drawbacks of not having put my own, true conflicting ideas in my writing. When accomplishing this task, the teacher is almost guaranteed to be appeased, and the grade I receive reflects that.

     In a system where graded assignments and exams essentially determine the future of a student, getting the A on an English essay, or any other writing assignment, becomes a primary objective. Us students are told the importance of voice and tone in our writing, but are veiled from the dark presence of teacher bias. I have learned, time and time again, that this presence is much larger than most think. Discreetly mastering the art of bias catering means indefinite success in writing, in the eyes of critique.

Blog #1

Clarissa Bradfield

     Writing and I have a love-hate relationship I have days where I am full of ideas and could write for hours and I have days where I can’t think of a single statement to write. I however, unlike Ms. Allen and the wonderful people she mentioned I am not a writer. For me, I am most anxious about my overall content. The writing process becomes this back and forth battle for me where I write one really strong paragraph and the next is full of needless repetition and no real point. I start writing about one idea and all of a sudden that morphs into something not really related. I get lost while writing and the content gets all blurry. Sometimes I feel like I could sit down and read one paragraph of my writing and go “Wow, that the best thing I have ever written” but then if you read it in the context of my whole paper it loses its value and power.

     When I look at it I guess it comes down more to poor planning. I don’t know how to properly structure my writing so it ends up going back and forth as I try to give it some structure while I’m writing it.  Losing the whole topic I was writing on in the first place and repeating myself over and over again so I have to stop and rewrite everything I just wrote. I struggle with composing a good writing as a whole and not just having basic writing with a few really good parts dispersed in it somewhere.

Blog Post #1 - Ashley Shaw

When I write for a class my biggest problem is the deadline, because I procrastinate a lot. When I procrastinate I feel rushed at the end and I turn in bad work, or at least I think it's bad because I know that i can do better.
When I have to show someone my writing I feel like it makes absolutely no sense to the person reading it because I wrote it when I was stressed out and about to cry, so it barely made sense to me. If it's a teacher that's reading I feel like they are going to judge my intelligence on how well that piece of writing is so it freaks me out and I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack because they're going to think that I'm stupid or something.
These two things are related because it is my procrastination that leads me to doing work right before the deadline which is why I'm stressing out and write poor work and why I feel that that piece of work is going to make someone think less of me.
Honestly in order to address my anxieties I have to go calm down first because I'm always stressed out when it comes to my writing and if i try to do anything right away I might come off rude or like a psycho-babbling idiot. After I calm down and can speak in coherent sentences again I go and talk to my teacher about my writing and explain to them how I feel about it and ask if they can give me any feedback. After I talk to them I can usually go and edit my paper and feel less stressed about it because it now makes more sense. Plus, they were able to understand what I was saying and didn't tell me I was dumb or wrong so that helped.