College Freshman's Insight on Structure, Organization and Their Ability to help a Writer Achieve Great Success Draft 1

Coyotes howling, bears scraping their claws against the ground, the sound of non-existent snow falling on the ground because it’s summer. It was a usual day in Tahoe. The clouds were beautiful as always and it was crisply warm outside because we were a mile closer to the sun that sea level and we were in the mountains creating a perfect weather temperature.

Tahoe was especially beautiful throughout the day in the winter and the summer but there was one thing missing. The sense of freedom. I was in a group home long story short and I didn’t have the choice to just run outside and frolic through the powdery suburban streets like any child would want to. I could wait until the specific allotted time for going outside with a group home staff member that was paid and certified to be there to watch over my well being. Being in a group home was far better than the home situation that I chose to escape, unfortunately.

The day wasn’t as usual as I had expected because I was assigned a writing project that I didn’t know would shape my life as a writer. I woke up and made myself a five egg omelette like usual, brushed my teeth, like usual, met with the five other boys in the lounge room upstairs where we would take turns taking anti psychotic medicine, like usual, however when we went to our weekly school down the street we were given final projects in all three classes. We met once a week at the school down the street from the house that we stayed in and it was getting close to the end of the school year. In English class we received individualized writing assignments from our amazing teacher. Mine, as a guitarist and singer/songwriter, was to completely write and perform a song for the class. I had never done this before which gave me anxiety. I had only written little snippets of songs and never finished them all the way through, let alone perform them. Luckily my teacher gave me a detailed process rubric that worked for every type of writing whether it be music or literature and it guided me along the process of fully completing and performing my first song!

Both performing and writing the song opened my eyes to how wrong I was going about writing previously. In the past I would simply write a song or essay in one sitting, trying to finish it as fast as I could. I don’t have any songs fully written as a result of it because of the writer’s fatigue that I would experience. After being assigned the assignment I was able to grasp and utilize a better way of writing, allowing me to write a full song.

Did you know that it has been proven that simply trying new things makes you more creative? Trying out this new writing process really opened the door for creativity for me in ways that I didn’t think would’ve happened before this event. Finishing the song in its entirety, even though no song is ever finished, was a milestone that I was happy to accomplish. The creation of the song stemmed from trying something new.

This experience of reflecting helped me learn and understand that using your time wisely to separate and individually focus on each step of the process of writing allows you to create more efficiently and effectively. Creating more efficiently and effectively helps you become more creative and also helps you create more. I have written over twenty full songs since this event proving how efficient and effective the process really is. Using the knowledge that I have from reflecting on this past experience alongside the knowledge I gained from the event itself, I believe that I can and will pave a pathway for consistency in the writing process with everything I write, whether it is music or it is a writing project for college.

Overall I feel like I have developed a sense of well being along with a more structured sense of who I am as a writer after not only experiencing this event but also after reevaluating the importance of this event in my life. The well being I feel comes with the music and writing that I’m able to create in a manner that suits my progressive lifestyle. I also have a more structured view of the type of writer that I can become and am already across all mediums. With this feeling of well being and structured outlook I am able to progress faster and better than ever before, which is a goal of mine!