someday i wish to write about broccoli (writing process)

            Once when I was writing an essay in eighth grade for my Language Arts class, I started crying. It wasn’t because I was over tired, emotional, or having a bad day. It’s because writing is the one of most infuriating, time consuming, and complicating struggles I have ever come across. For me, at least. Usually when I sit down to create a story, essay, or any composition, I end up deleting the entire thing several times. Thinking of a story or idea in my head is the easy part, because translating it into words on paper is a skill, and therefore it takes talent. Numerous people don’t have a natural talent at writing, and through their process they either second guess themselves and start over again and again to the point of insanity, or they think what they originally had was in fact amazing, when in reality nobody wants to read it because it’s god awful.

            This essay that I was writing- well it was god awful, and I knew it. And I was frustrated because it was bad and because it was hard to put my thoughts onto a piece of paper without making them sound forced, cheesy, or just plain embarrassing. I would read books by my favorite authors and be mesmerized, even if the story was just about a little girl who lived in Brooklyn. For good authors it’s not about the content, it’s about how they portray it. They can write about any food make reader’s mouths water, even if they were describing broccoli. I wanted to expose the information I knew in a way that left my teacher and my mother (my only audience at that time…and today) wanting to read more.

            When I was in eighth grade I thought the writing process was easy: all you need is something to write about, and then write it. Now I know the writing process involves not only an idea of what you will be writing about, but also an outline of how you are going to write it. Establish the mood of the essay: will it be funny, charming, scary, or quirky? Grab a cup of tea, sit down in the most comfortable chair in your house, and then start writing, with the full knowledge that you will delete the first several sentences several times. Have a statement, and give examples that provide evidence and also connect with the reader. Don’t overuse the synonyms word document provides just to have a variety in your writing and sound intelligent. If you’re like me, maybe you will cry a few times, but know that isn’t necessary to completing a good piece. What is necessary, is time. Don’t throw a story together and think that you are a good writer because of the amount of time it took you to complete. Use rhetorical elements as a guide, and don’t forget the purpose of the writing assignment.

            All of these are guidelines that all writers should consider through the process of writing.