Reflective Writing Becoming a good writer has always been my dream since childhood.
I used to write poems and short stories for my friends and family. Instead of giving material gifts, I wrote pomes, anecdotes, odes and anything I could think of as an appropriate gift for the recipient during occasions. Since then, writing has become my hobby. Having taken the English Composition class has opened my mind to various new learnings.
I have learned that free writing is not that free at all. I realized that I also need to follow certain rules. I remembered when I was in fifth grade when I joined an essay writing contest in our school.
That was one of the most challenging moments of my life. I got the chance to compete with the best writers in our school. Unfortunately, I was only able to reach the top five spot out of thirty-eight contestants. My teacher told me that it was already an achievement but it did not satisfy me much. At the back of my mind, I kept asking my self why was I not able to win the contest. I know that I have the gift but I did not even make it to the top three. I thought of many possibilities.
I wondered what is with them that I did not possess. What was wrong with the way I wrote my composition? Determined to continue my passion in writing, I read many books on composition to serve as my guide. When I was in high school, I got lucky again to represent our school in another essay writing contest. This time I won second prize and my teacher and school were so proud of me. I did not only emerge as the second best among 52 participants but I have given honor to our school as well. Personally, the experience made me happy. However, it still did not make me very happy because I did not get the first prize. For me, nothing is more fulfilling for a contestant than to take home the first prize.
What is with the first placer that made her win? Was my write-up not good enough to have defeated hers? Three days later, I saw the winning essay published in our local newspaper and when I read it, I realized that she is indeed deserving of the prize. She is a very organized writer. She expresses her ideas well in a very concise manner. This composition class has made me realize the lacking ingredient in my essay piece back then. I used to think that writing is an easy stuff. You just need to be creative enough to visualize things and come-up with a good write-up. Of course, grammatical rules should not be set aside for it is inherent in every type of writing a writer does. I have learned that in order to become a good writer, my write-ups should be characterized by spontaneous flow of ideas.
It should not only capture my readers’ attention, but also engross them with what they are reading. I also thought before that becoming a writer doesn’t need much effort for improvement on the side of the writer. I was wrong in this assumption.
Becoming a writer is supposed to be a continuous process of improvement. A good writer never ceases to learn new things.The English Composition class has honed my talents and helped me develop into a much better writer than I was before.
If I will have to chance to participate in another contest now, surely winning will not be my priority. I know deep within me that I am a writer. I am born to be one. I need not compete with others in order to prove that I am a good writer. All I need to do is compete with myself and accept every defeat as a challenge. It will be a competition of the writer within me before and after I enrolled in this composition class. The very important lesson that I got from the class is to aim for continuous improvement.
Improvement would mean better quality in my works as a writer every time I try to write a new one. Only after accomplishing these things can I truly claim that I am good writer.
