Affective Dimensions of Writing

I have loved writing ever since I was a young child. I have always loved that writing has given me the opportunity to express my thoughts, opinions and feelings. It is the main way that I express my ideas. Whenever I need to think something through or have too many thoughts in my head, writing is always a huge help. While I enjoy writing and do it occasionally, I am not sure I would consider myself a writer. To me, a write is someone who writes very frequently. However, I do not think they you need be "a writer" to love and enjoy writing.

As a child I mostly wrote fictional stories that were assigned in school. I found lots of enjoyment in writing them. I remember that my stories always had a sense of drama or adventure such as my cat getting kidnapped and held for ransom. I always enjoyed writing but I started to do it more often on my own after some kind praise for my sixth grade elementary teacher. I wrote some silly story about leprechaun and some adventure with my friends. When I got my story back she expressed that she thought I had a talent for writing and could be really good if I kept at it. Maybe she was just being kind like most elementary teachers are but she truly sparked something in me. I believe that the was the beginning of my path on deciding to major in English, as silly as that may sound.

As I have grown older my writing preferences have definitely shifted. I now enjoy writing non-fiction pieces. In high school I took a creative writing class that really got me interested in poetry and that is still what I enjoy for personal writing today. I feel like poetry gives me the freedom to express myself in a more in depth way than simply writing a story. I also enjoy keeping a journal (although I have been a big slacker the last few months). I think journals are fun because they help us remember experience in our day to day life that we may not have remembered otherwise. I enjoy being able to read through a journal and reflect on how my life as changed. 

As I have stated above I really enjoy writing about personal experiences. So naturally I do not enjoy writing things such as formal essays and research papers. I have always had difficulty motivating myself to complete these kinds of assignments in school. They have always seemed tedious and boring. I also feel like while there is a lot of freedom in these kinds of writing, they are much more confining than the more personal forms.

I think my experiences with writing as a student have taught me that variety is important. Students enjoy different things so they need to be given the opportunity to write about different things. Some students are like me and really just enjoy expressing themselves. Other students enjoy doing research and learning new things. A classroom should provide students with the opportunity to learn all different types of writing and help them find a form they truly love.