Ashley S. Williams

As a writer, I think I've grown this semster because I've had to complete a variety of assignments that have caused me to use different writing skills. Aside from following formats, I have had to write with tone and voice. I have had to consider the implicit and explicit messages I'm sending. Peer review sessions were especially helpful to me for writing this semester. After this class, I think I'll be more reflective about my writing. These are good examples of my writing because it displays how candid I can be. I'm not afraid to say or write how I'm feeling. Somethings are better when you don't have a chance to refine them. That is why I included a day book entry. In addiiton to my writing being rather candid, I think that I have a sarcastic tone about my writing. Although I say things that are direct, I don't always mean them as explicitly as they are stated. I included a brain dump because I really like lists. In philosophy, we talk about writing all of our ideas out on paper and then organizing them later. The brain dump was a connection that I made to a philosophical practice. Ultimately, these are good representations of myself as a writer because I'm someone who is not limited to my audience. Sometimes, I think that writing is taught with audience in mind a little too much. My writing is about me and my experiences. I want people to get what I'm saying, but I'm very familiar with being misunderstood. I find that most of the time people can't connect with the conceptual suggestions that I offer, and those kinds of things aren't things that one can write into existence. They have to be experienced. I also realized that most people don't want to think about the conceptual things that I offer. They don't want to think about how they're privileged or about how they perpetuate oppression. Why should I have to help them understand when they're not willing in the first place? This became especially apparent to me when people would ask me questions about my writing in class. The things that I write about are the things that people try hard to forget. The things that I write about are hard to stomach, and people do not like being reminded of everyday problematics.