A big difference from the past and now as a writer is that I start to take into account the way to deliver main idea. Before I was literally a writer who writes and who does the writing work to convey the information and ideas I want to say unilaterally. But now I am a writer who writes with thinking about the readers and who does the writing work to interact with the readers. Writing is not just for delivering ideas in written words but is for ‘effectively’ showing ideas in written and carefully structured words.
I learned that writing is not just putting evidences but it’s making the readers understand my ideas. To make them understand, I need to use the skills of focusing on important points in smooth progress. In the past, I just wrote down the notes about what to write in each part – intro, body, conclusion- and started to write. Now when I write, I first set the overall goal of my writing which is how to convey my main idea. Then I start to consider which evidence would be effective in which way. I write down the structure and notes considering orders, its purpose of use and flow. The main concern here is how can I make the points to “Use definite, specific, concrete language” (Strunk and White) meanwhile “making them dissolved in the overall picture”(Exaggerating Without Exaggeration). I learned the rule of giving the details from the book, then I found out that keeping the balance is also essential from revising the essay I had written about that rule. I thought I need to present this essay to show why I moved further on.
Additionally I thought it would be effective to show how I had revised “Falling into Cultural Confusion at Plex” in pursuit of effectively showing my idea. At the first draft, I had listed the cultural differences I found and jumped to the conclusion how I should react to those differences. I was unkind writer who just threw the evidences and conclusion to readers and didn’t show the process of arriving at the conclusion. Throughout the semester of learning, I decided to focus on how I start to feel confused and how I progressed my ideas in several stages by providing the actual questions I had. This essay shows well how I focused on the important details in smooth and well-connected structure.
I still think I am not a good writer that interacts with readers by detailed and smooth writing. But I think I am at least not a scribbler. When I write, I consider both what and how to write thinking about my readers. To move further on, I think I need to be in readers’ shoes than just considering them. I need to have eyes of readers so that my writing can become more persuasive and comprehensive.
Tomorrow is another day 