Sheikh 1 Rozina Sheikh Dr.

Steffen Guenzel ENC 1101-0011 31 October 2013 Paper 3 Final - Revised The Influences on My Writing From writing for the past 12+ years, I have learned that writing is a very extensive and difficult process that requires hours of preparation and organization for just one piece. I have not completely learned the best way for me to write, but I know certain things influence my writing in a more positive manner than others. I have difficulty with the writing process but after observing my behaviors and habits I hope to expand my writing styles and compare it to other tasks that I am skilled in for assistance. After observing multiple locations that I would be at on a normal school day, I find that I write best when I am completely alone. I easily get distracted by other individuals and other things going on around me. Noises such as music or television will get the best of me as well. I lose focus very quickly and having a lot of activity around me while doing school assignments does not work well for me. For example, Im in an organization at UCF called LEAD Scholars, and we have our own hangout spot in the Office of Student Involvement called the LEAD Lounge. This is a place where LEAD Scholars hangout when we are not in class and most of the time people are socializing, playing games, or listening to music and such. This is a perfect of example of where not to study, for myself especially. Most likely, I will know someone in the LEAD Lounge and will start talking to them; whether it be a close friend or someone Ive exchanged only a few words with. I try to stay away from places like these when I have to write

Sheikh 2 because I need my brains focal point to be one hundred percent on my writing assignment. However, since I have begun college I have become more and more accustomed to doing things with many people and sounds surrounding me. Another observation about myself was that I enjoy working with a lot of space. I need to work on a desk or on the floor where I can scatter all of my papers and references. Cramped areas make me feel claustrophobic and restricted. I need to feel free, or else my writing will be as oppressed as my physical state. Surrounding myself in a place with many windows and a large work place allows me to be at ease. As for lighting, either natural sunlight, or dim indoor yellowish lighting works best for me when writing because the sun gives me a sense of liberty and lack of restrictions. I cannot work in bright white light, for instance, those that are placed in school classrooms. My eyes are very sensitive to bright light, so these bright white lights make it uncomfortable for my eyes and very hard to adjust properly. Perhaps that may be the very reason my in-class writing is never up to par with my true potential! When I am surrounded by an artistic area, I feel my inner creativity flourish. For example, the second floor of the visual arts building. Every time I walk through those halls I feel a little more at ease because of the drawings and paintings and sculptures that fill the hall. I sense every stroke of the paint on a certain painting, every line sketched by the drawer, and every shape carved by the sculpture. When I am placed in these settings I can find my inner peace and balance. I relate this especially through music. In the past, I was not able to focus properly on school work while listening to music, especially while writing. Whether it be soothing classical or intense rap, I would lose every word that came into my mind. However, this past semester I have adopted a new habit of listening to music while doing any of my school work. The words seem to just appear on the paper while I listen to non-lyrical techno or trance music. My mind

Sheikh 3 becomes more alert and I am solely focused on my writing. This helps me immensely as I am very prone to writers block and loss of concentration. My writing process and revisions can be compared to how I learn a new dance routine. As Anne Lamott suggests in her article Shitty First Drafts, that your first draft will not be a masterpiece and will probably be disgusting. Similar to dancing, the first time you learn a new routine it will more than likely turn out to be a disaster. The dance moves will feel uncomfortable because your body is not used to those movements, your timing will be off-sync with the music, you will forget what step comes next, and your overall presentation of the choreography will be downright sloppy and unpleasant. Over time and after multiple revisions of my paper, my topic will become easier to understand and I will start writing more fluently, just like how I become more comfortable with my dance moves as I repeatedly perform them until its like second nature. Writing is a process, not a race. Like making choreography with a dance, you must insert your work piece by piece, and revise it until it hits perfection. Here, it is more about the quality than quantity; the content matters more than the amount you write. Observing my writing process presented more of an insight and explanation as to why I do certain things while writing and what worked or did not work as I tested out different variables. In a way, I would test my observations like a science experiment. If I hypothesize that I get distracted while listening to music (because of previous situations where this was true), I would test that by attempting to effectively do my school work while music was on. I would then test how well I would do my homework without music on. After I tested both, I would come to my own conclusion as to which scenario I performed best in. These observations show that my weaknesses definitely outweigh my strengths, as I am not a very sharp writer. However, with practice and determination, I could master the art of writing with exceptional skill.

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