Reflective Essay: How I Control My Writing

Thoughts pound in my head, day after day, until I get them down on paper. Each idea brings out a slice of what’s inside of me. That may mean hours of writing fiercely, while thoughts flip through my head and new ideas emerge. Other times it means crumbling up pages of crossouts, or retyping one page over and over until I’m satisfied with how it reads. Then there are times that are maddening; I can’t go forward or backward, instead I stare at a blank page for hours. Still I write. I can’t imagine how I could stop. Writing is power. I control my writing. It’s as stable as I am. No one can change it, except for me. I make all the decisions. Other people give me advice, but I’m the one who puts the words on the paper. As a writer, I am free. No one tells

Some things aren’t meant to be written, but the only way to learn what they are is by writing them. Writing isn’t all facts. The facts are what can be taught, but the rest comes only from the writer. Teachers can give us guidelines, advice, and encouragement that we’ll treasure, but the heart of a piece comes from us. Writing is more than following rules and advice; it requires that the writer follow her heart. Writing expands me. It stimulates my mind. When I write, I feel alive, I want to know everything. I’m always acquiring new skills. Soon after I started writing I needed more answers than I could get from my English book or from my parents. I started learning by studying how other people wrote, and then picked up on my own mistakes. I pored over every bit of information I could find. A lot of the time I improved subconsciously, absorbing new vocabulary and techniques from all around me. My writing is always changing. Sometimes I’m half way through a page, and I’ll just rewrite it completely. What I find interesting about writing is that I can see myself growing along with it. It makes me look at the world through different perspectives, and helps me understand