Reflection (7.5)

At the start of the semester my primary concern was combating the intense writer’s block that seemed to seize me every time I faced a blank page. When composing my first theme I stared at an empty word document for forty-five minutes before I could bring myself to write the first sentence; now, I only need five minutes before I can begin to type. My second goal was to create a collection of interesting fragments that I could draw on when writing longer pieces. Of the 31 themes I have penned so far there are a dozen or so that I believe have the potential to become something more. Being able to meet these goals has been incredibly rewarding as has being able to peruse the tangible evidence of my work on my blog.

There have however, been some frustrations. I feel that my writing has not improved significantly since the beginning of the semester and while this was never a stated goal of mine it was a sort of subconscious expectation. During the last portion of the year I would like to use my themes as an opportunity to consciously improve my writing and to continue to amass material for future pieces. Overcoming my initial writer’s block has freed up time that I would now like to spend editing my work. My goal is to write my pieces in the first half of the day and return to them in the evening for a quick ten to fifteen minute edit. My success with my last two goals makes me optimistic about being able to progress and evolve as a writer during the second half of the semester.