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Why I Write: Assignment One
This was the first assignment of the Gateway course in the Sweetland Minor in Writing program. After having read and discussed various authors' 'Why I Write' pieces, we were sent off to reflect and explore our personal motives as to why we write. Although the prompt was short and simple, the process of answering this question was anything but - -
The final draft, Discovering the Grey, finally answers the question I had originally set out to answer at the beginning of this long, winding process. Although I am aware my perspectives are continuously shifting and molding to my environment and experiences, I am confident that my past acts as a large reason as to why I love to write.
This assignment allowed me the opportunity to fully dive deep into the depths of my own mind in order to answer a question one would think would be fairly simple to answer. It taught me a great deal about the writing process that I had never experienced before.
Click 'Discovering the Grey' to read the final draft of the 'Why I Write' assignment.
As I set out to write this piece I thought I had a clear-cut answer as to why I enjoyed writing. I thought I enjoyed writing because it aided my answering the deeper questions - about my inner thoughts, morals, and values. I thought I viewed writing as the one-way route to self-discovery.
I thought wrong.
Although this piece is still a pleasure for me to read, I view it now as a the draft that I needed to write in order to find the truth. I understand now I was merely grazing the surface of my true answer to this rather thought-provoking question - I could not write an honest essay, however, becuase I had not yet come to an honest answer.
Click 'Early Thoughts' to read my first draft of the 'Why I Write' assignment.
The revision process seemed less an assignment than the original piece. After turning in a rather disappointing essay, I was determined to discover my identity as a writer. Why did I like to write? What was it about writing that I found to be so therapeutic? I sought out to find the answers to these questions and came to the realization that it connected back to my childhood - cue she is majoring in Psychology jokes - 'the Bubble,' as I refer to it in my piece.
I began to understand myself as a thinker - an overthinker, really. Writing remained my tool to discover, but not just myself.
Click 'Steps Towards Revision' to read my second draft of the 'Why I Write' assignment.
Mollie Darmon
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