Breathing Experiences into Words

With college right around the corner, my stress level is at an ultimate high. I'm stuck between wanting to enjoy my last year of high school in every way possible and being crammed with assignments left and right. I didn't like writing as a child, i thought it was a complete waste of time. I've always had and still have a difficult time putting thoughts and emotions on a piece of paper. I've come to realize, well for me personally, telling a story in person is much easier than writing a story on paper. The last 2 weeks of ERW surprisingly have helped me a lot. Breathing Experiences into Words chapter by Peter Elbow has given me some good tools to improve my writing. First, when writing about your experiences it should be more about what you saw/heard rather than what you felt. The reader/audience want to develop their own feeling and connections. They want to feel as if they're experiencing the story themselves. Second, the writer must supply imaginative, descriptive visuals for the reader. Describe as much as possible, the reader will appreciate it. Third, make sure readers can understand the thoughts you are trying to communicate with them. Know your audience, don't try to complicate your writing too much with fancy language. Fourth, write honestly. To relate to readers, you must make a personal connection. You want readers to understand where you're coming from. Fifth, don't worry so much about revising your work especially if you're only in the raw writing stage. Get all of your thoughts and ideas on paper first, and then worry about it coming together in later drafts. Raw writing is typically all over the place as it is. When writing i think all students have had a time where we've doubted ourselves about whether or not what we're writing about is on topic and or is good enough. We have to learn to trust ourselves. Another good piece of advice to help improve our writing is to read aloud. A lot of times things tend to make sense in our heads but when we say them aloud it's different. When you ask readers for feedback, make sure they're as specific as possible. Do not settle for answers such as "It's good or I like it". Make readers give you specific critiques to improve your writing. Last but not least, the most important of the advice given is to play the image game. I reiterate, give your readers as many images and use as much descriptive language as possible. Make sure your audience feels as if they are living your story. I feel a lot more confident going forward in ERW after this assignment.