Writerly Identities by AJ S

2024-11-18 21:48:01 UTC

I came to the US when I was 16 so I was quite a bit behind in my writing skills. I feel like I caught up as I was getting done with my undergrad in history. It required a lot of writing.

2024-11-18 21:48:05 UTC

I think I learned how to write in school, but I dont remember

2024-11-18 21:48:20 UTC

I distinctly remember underlining shapes of letters in workbooks in elementary school. I taught myself how to read first, so I would read sentences and then try to write them based on the letters I knew how to write. Also, I feel like every kid starts learning how to write by writing their own names, so that was something that was practiced a lot.

2024-11-18 21:48:25 UTC

As a kid I was a huge fan of writing my own stories. After school I would always hop on the family computer and write my master piece (A sailor moon fan fiction) and I think that allowed for writing to always feel like a fun thing rather than something to dread. I think I was lucky to start with this kind of output.

2024-11-18 21:48:40 UTC

I learned to write pretty much entirely through school.

Play, then work

ajschiera — 2024-11-18 21:48:44 UTC

I remember early writing was story-telling. In kindergarten we got to tell a story, and then the teacher would help us write it in a very-official bound book, and then we got to illustrate it. (This, in addition to when you fold one page into quarters to make a book in first grade.) .... But then, in 6th grade, I remember when writing became essay writing. Every week, we wrote a 5 paragraph essay, on lined paper. Draft. Get lots of corrections. Revise. Over and over and over. Makes AJ a dull boy.

coba1617 — 2024-11-18 21:48:46 UTC

I learned to write in kindergarten where we all wrote "How-To" books based on a skill we wanted to share with the class.

2024-11-18 21:49:23 UTC

Writing letters back and forth to my Grandmother was special to me. I have all her letters which are like a treasure.

I also took a calligraphy class when I was young and I wish I kept with this creative form of writing, along with writing in script efficiently

2024-11-18 21:49:23 UTC

Probably the two times I wrote a poem. I actually don't hate poetry. It does require me to go through something emotional to motivate me to do it though.

2024-11-18 21:49:35 UTC

My most meaningful experiences with writing were in AP classes, where I learned how to do argumentative analysis and had a really good AP Lang teacher who pushed me to be a better writer. I feel like she really formed me into the writer I am today and I carry that with me (especially as a future teacher)!

2024-11-18 21:49:52 UTC

I learned to write through my first grade teacher. She had something called "the butterfly club" I wanted so badly to be in it. She would post a prompt each morning and we would have to write a sentence or two and each person who improved or said something interesting would get to join and they would get a butterfly pin, well I would go home and practice because I wanted that pin so badly, I remember practicing with my older sister trying to spell words and write sentences properly. From then I realized I enjoyed writing and I think that kept me going, always dreaming of being in the butterfly club.

2024-11-18 21:50:03 UTC

In 7th grade we were submitting our first graded full essay. I remember feeling super proud of my work and excited for it to be graded. I was a pretty lousy student at the time so it felt special to submit something I actually was excited for. Wah wah I actually only got a C- on the paper because I did not realize that for formal essays I can not use the word "I" ... whoops.

2024-11-18 21:50:35 UTC

My most meaningful experience with writing was In my first college writing course. I got to dedicate most of a semester to writing a research paper addressing a social issue that is very important to me. + my final paper in my senior history seminar which felt like a big culmination of all my work in studying history through college.

Read it and weep

2024-11-18 21:50:39 UTC

I like to start writing in the flow state, with usually some sort of hot take or funny analogy. While this is fun, it often makes me have to reach desperately to make it connect to my main point. But when it works out, it makes writing much more enjoyable. Oh and I also like to rant when i write

ajschiera — 2024-11-18 21:50:45 UTC

I remember when creating my own characters was something special! Like a frog who won a trophy. And an 11th grade english teacher who read my own short stories and gave me great feedback, even as he assigned essays and took off 1 point for each grammar mistake without any other feedback. And, finally doing historical writing that involved interpretation - saying, I think Paul Finkelman was wrong! - in college.

2024-11-18 21:50:49 UTC

This is a mix of things. I learned how to write primarily from my mom. She was a teacher in Mexico and before I entered preschool she had taught me how to write letters and my name. In school, however, I learned how to write in English and actually form sentences and all the academic writing stuff

Poetry

2024-11-18 21:50:52 UTC

When I was young, I had difficulty learning to read. Poetry was the most accessible way I could write in my classes. I made many poems and would compile them into books. I still remember a few of them. One was about riding in cars with friends another was about the sound of rain. I remember dictating a story to my dad about a young girl who ran away and met a cockatoo. She wound up at someone's house who had pictures of her family and then she began missing her own family. Ironically I did own a cockatoo (given to me when a relative died) right before I left home to hitch hike down the 101. The stories we write as children often manifest into our lived experiences.

2024-11-18 21:51:27 UTC

Junior year of high school I wrote an essay for my history class, and my teacher decided to enter in into a scholarship contest for college even though I was scared and didn't want to, and I won.I had never won anything before, and I remember she took me to the award ceremony and it was so amazing and special.

2024-11-18 21:51:27 UTC

I have no clue...

coba1617 — 2024-11-18 21:51:32 UTC

My most meaningful experiences with writing are writing letters and postcards. I love sending mail and whenever I travel somewhere I send people postcards about what I'm up to. I feel like writing letters are my most meaningful writings because they're short and sweet and real.

Journaling

2024-11-18 21:52:12 UTC

Journaling was a tool that I used from the time I was young until I was 23. I recently began to journal again and it is a powerful tool.

2024-11-18 21:55:00 UTC

I think I have always had a hate relationship with writing. I think I can write but struggle with imposter syndrome. Hearing that my essays/writing is good is meaningful to me because I often do not feel like I belong in these spaces