Spencer Patten Blog Post Audit
Throughout the semester I have had the opportunity to improve upon my writing. Looking back on all the blog posts I have published, I have found both growth in my writing but also room for improvement.
I have been able to try out different styles of english writing, including writing in my own voice. I think I have done really well writing in my own voice since I am good with conversation. While it has taken some time, I have seen my voice shine through in my writing. My first few posts, for example the Fun Home and Hunger Games posts, were coated in a boring academic tone of voice. Now, my writing is more personal and easier to follow. This development of a more comfortable writing style has created a good flow in my language but has deteriorated the academic structure of writing that I was supposed have in my posts. I take up too much time with informal conversation and in doing so I do not have enough thesis development in my writing. There is no real structure to my posts, although they do have strong evidence in them.
The evidence in my posts has become so much better as time has progressed. I am able to structure the post well, even when my argument is not structured. When I write about something, I precede it with a picture of what I am talking about which creates a good flow in reading. I believe that my change in adding evidence came from comments from people like Malaika That combined with my voice, makes my posts easy to read but still lacking any development in argument or thesis.
Other aspects of my writing that could be improved upon is that I bring up interesting points but fail to expand upon what I have said or brought up. I tend to cut things short and leave the reader feeling empty handed. The same thing happens in my writing in my history class, which is problematic. Alex C’s and Niara’s comments on my second post really showed that I have good ideas but don’t reach my full potential.
Looking at all my posts, I almost always end them with a personal statement saying “I hope you enjoy” or “I wanted to share this”. While it is a nice thing to say in conversation, I don’t think that those nice words really add to my argument or posts. In retrospect, it seems like a cop out way of ending a post.
Finally, I want to mention the Roundtable Discussion post I had in the middle of the semester. That post was one of my favorite posts to write, because it took me out of my comfort zone the most. The content and style of the post were both things I had never written about nor written like. I have always struggled with dialogue in stories, but this was a nice sort of medium between dialogue and a regular blog post. I think this should be something that stays in the syllabus, even if the content of the post is different. If we had more time, I would like to hear more from and write more about the Young American’s video. It is a topic that should be discussed but also one that is hard to articulate. Seeing how students struggle and prevail in sharing their point of view through a blog post is something that could be beneficial for the community and the writer themselves. I know I am very passionate about my last Community Scoop post but I could have been better with execution, passion sometimes blinds you from articulating your ideas clearly.
-Spencer Patten
