A Goal that was not Achieved
When I was much younger, and somewhat “success drunk” after the successful completion of multiple manuscripts (none of which I have recently looked over, sadly), I gave myself the goal of year-end publication. Even now, this process sounds like it should be easy, and came with a specific time frame. I am not, however, a published author, yet, though I have a credit to my name from while I was still in middle school.
I believe that this goal failed then (and several times since then) because of a few simple factors. Foremost is that I did not break the process down into smaller, more achievable steps. I leaped right into “get published” instead of working from completed manuscript to second draft, and from there
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In the future, I would seek to reevaluate this goal, setting out the necessary steps that would lead from manuscript to publishable piece to published piece.
A Goal that was Achieved
I had a goal of writing one hundred thousand words in a thirty-day period. This goal was an overwhelming success due to several factors. First and foremost, I knew that one hundred thousand words in a month was about 3,250 words a day. Furthermore, I knew that I could write at a speed of around 1,000 words in fifteen minutes, if push came to shove. This meant that I could essentially write all 3,250 words in the span of an hour, while still taking breaks. Writing isn’t generally so formulaic as this, but the figuring certainly helped to give me a view of my day-to-day tasks.
A second, an equally important, factor in my “100k/mo” success was the visual aid of a word count chart. The chart I used was the one provided by NaNoWiMo (the National Novelist Writing Month, https://www.nanowrimo.org), a nonprofit writing program which hosts a November of writing (and two summer “camps” of writing). NaNoWriMo’s standard goal is fifty thousand words in a month, or 1,667 words a day, so I also knew that my goal was double the NaNoWriMo
In the past three months I feel like I have accomplished a great deal. As the semester comes to an end I find myself reflecting not only how I have survived the first semester but also what I have learned. The most important thing I have learned so far is how to become a better writer. I did not think it could really happen to me. I did not think I could handle all the work. I did not think I could actually become a better writer. Some how after all the hours of writing, and putting effort into the papers that I wrote this semester, I became a better writer. I did this because I concentrated on two very important areas, with the attitude of, if I could just become better in those then I would become a better writer. With help from an awesome teacher and a reliable tutor I have become a better writer by improving my skills in the areas of procrastination and content.
That year, coincidentally, was when I also decided to pursue a growth mindset. According to Dweck (2006), the author of Mindset, lying inside all of those with a growth mindset is a, “passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even when it’s not going well” (p. 9). Passion may sound nice, but it certainly does not guarantee success. English class, for better or for worst, was best summarized as a constant battle. A battle between me, my failure to produce decent content, and my grade. Every essay I wrote was deemed average or even below by my school’s standards; until the last, notorious essay of the year. Through endless hours of analysing the novel, asking for assistance from my teacher, and cut-throat revisions, I was able to achieve my highest grade in
...t I have improved this area over the course of the semester. I am at the milestone in my writing, however, with hard work and determination I will improve as a writer throughout my college years.
Failure isn’t always something you have control of or have the ability to predict. Failure seems to happen at the worst of times; however we need to accept it, because you cannot always win. My greatest failure would be tearing my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), my junior year in a lacrosse game, through no fault of my own in which my body physically failed me, but it truly changed my aspect of life in multiple ways.
For the forty odd pages we wrote for this class, I feel that the overall achievement was getting practice. I wasn’t required to write many papers in high school so for me the constant writing was helpful for me. I can really tell a difference in the way that I write now from the way that I wrote at the start of this year. I’m really looking forward to next year, because seeing yourself improve over a short amount of time really is
The blinking computer cursor on an otherwise empty screen was the college version of the blank white page of my earlier years, before technology had taken us so far. But for me it was, in many ways, the same old problem. With early drafts of a paper rarely required, I came time and time again to a point where a significant portion of my grade rested on what was essentially a single night’s work. I usually left myself no option but to write in one long session on a computer - there weren’t enough hours remaining to compose a version on paper to be typed up afterward. And time and again, my method, such as it was, worked for me. I not only survived but prospered. But I sometimes wondered, and still wonder: this works, but am I progressing? Has my writing grown? Should it be possible to turn out an “A” paper in a night? What standards are being used to judge these papers? Do my desperate all-night writing sessions somehow, in ways I don’t understand, help me improve? How did I learn to write at a level that has helped me succeed up to this point?
A goal I achieved was when I graduated from high school many years ago. I was the first one in my family to graduate from high school. It was a big accomplishment for me and my mom. Graduating was my goal. I wanted to make my mom proud, life happens I couldn't go to college then but I told myself one day I will full field my dream to have a career. I meet my career advisor at a job fair and am here enrolled to be a medical assistant. My new goal is to work real hard to get the best grades I can possibly get and to have perfect attendance at the end off the medical assistant program. Am going use my time wisely, get all my work done in time and ask for help if I don't understand something.
isn't to write a paper that will get a good grade. Now, my goal is to
As I look back through this paper, I am not certain I have met the requirements of this writing assignment. I feel as though I am still trying the reach that next bar on the monkey bars as I did when I was young. No matter how much I struggle and lunge for the next rung, it is just barely out of my reach. But in all actuality, is that what I'm really trying to accomplish? Is just reaching the next rung my main objective? No, reaching the end of the monkey bars is my goal. As for right now, I would be happy just reaching that next rung. As my first paper in approximately two years, I hope it is not too terribly bad. As the quarter progresses, I hope to improve in this writing style that is all too new and foreign to me.
...d myself having in high school. I still tend to be a little too wordy at times, I misplace commas, and I still forget how to properly cite my research sources every now and them. I think I have become a little more meticulous about looking over my papers, however. I make fewer careless mistakes and take more time writing my papers than I did in high school. My points of view are clearer, and I have not been using commas incorrectly quite as often. I hope to continue to improve in the next few years of college as well. I haven?t received an ?A? on a paper yet, so my goal for the next few years of college is to eventually be able to consistently produce papers worthy of ?As.? I would also like to apply my writing more in school by possibly writing for New Morning in the future. I think Introduction to Literature has had a positive impact overall upon my literary skills.
A goal without a deadline is more a wish than a goal. Put a time on your goal and drive to get it done.
Most of my writings have been those of the classroom assignment variety. The assignments consist of free writes, essays, research and term papers, but none of these come to mind as an experience worth noting. I never had a writing published or received any type of an award. I seldom did any wrtiting out of school, or writing for leisure as some might say. The bottom line is, I just don't have te time to write for leisure, with a full time job, attending night school, and raising two children, my day are consumed rapidly. If I did have the time to sit down and write, I'm not sure that I would write. I keep most of my thoughts to myself, not on paper. Although it does feel nice to express my thoughts and feelings onto the page. I can see my thoughts unfold, and I can organize them to develop new ideas.
Whenever I write anything that is not more than a few sentences I feel as though my writing is average at best. My belief is that I write slow because I have never written anything that I really wanted to write, such as a fantasy story, and almost always write persuasive essays, biographical writing, or informative writing that schools always push onto me. This has shaped my view of writing to be more of a punishment so I do not want to do it so it makes me go slower than I should. Because of my joy of reading I feel as though I have above-average word-choice, however, I do not feel the same way about
Writing has always been one of the things that I’m passionate about. Whenever I have something on my mind, I would jot it down or type it in my notes. No matter how small or pathetic it seems, I would always write it down, because you never know when you’re going to go back to it and create something grand, out of inspiration. People would think that a person like me would write down poems or novel ideas. That’s completely true, but I also write down recipes, grocery lists, hate lists and literally anything that comes to my mind. I’m the type of person that does not like to miss anything, forget anything and likes to include everything. People would say I’m a perfectionist or a control freak and as much as I would hate to admit that, it is true. While these traits of mine might hinder my writing process, during this school year I learned how to embrace them.