This semester has been one with many challenges that needed to be overcame. Although it was challenging, I have learned a lot about what is expected of me and how to become a better writer. For instance, avoiding subjectivity and superlatives or expressions of speech. Trying to avoid subjectivity will be a challenge, but it is an easy challenge with the resources and understanding that I have gained this semester.
There was a great deal of writing techniques that I had trouble with, but the one that stands out amongst them all, attributions. In high school and community college they didn't teach us the proper way of handling attributions and writing in AP Style was a foreign language to me. During this class I had to get use to writing a professional attritibution. In all honesty, writing attributions has been one of my favorite things thus far. Besides attributions, I also had trouble with some grammar issues. These two things are easily achievable and have come along way for me.
Factual accuracies may be a bit easy for some, but it wasn’t for me. I have often times skipped over key pieces of something when it was in fact one of the most important pieces. As a future journalist, I want to make sure that my work is factual and there isn’t any discrepancies. I believe that the main goal is to tackle all pieces that are presented to you and present it factually to the best of your ability. Redundancies are also needing practice from me. In the past, I typically would be redundant with my words and not realize it. Now that it has been pointed out I can work on it. The only hardship with redundancies is getting out of the hang of them.
Writing has been a passion of mine since as long as I can remember. I would be lying if I said I knew every writing skill. When it came to learning how to write in the inverted pyramid style it was very hard for me, especially since I had never heard of it before. Overtime, I started to understand a little more about it. The inverted pyramid is a lot of fun, but it is also still a bit of a challenge.
Recently, a new AP Style book had come out with new material. Once this semester comes to an end, I will be purchasing the latest book to study on the new material, that way I will be informed. It is important to stay up to date with the new things that are being presented and by studying it I will only become a better writer.
Interviewing my classmate was a lot of fun. Whenever I got to interview him, I felt like I learned so much about the kind of person he is, the journey he’s been on, and the things that he is most proud of. When you take the time to sit down with someone and ask them questions that opens up all kinds of different types of conversation you really get to know them. One of the most beautiful things is to learn about someone, and that is what interviewing has provided me with.
AP Style is very informative, however, it has also proved itself to be a bit difficult to learn. I say it is difficult, because I had never heard of AP Style prior to this class. In high school and community college, we never went over it and I had assumed that it was the same as writing a regular essay. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Although it has been difficult for me, I still found myself enjoying it and now, I have a better understanding.
Learning AP Style strictly came from going to class and hearing my professor talk about it. When you go to class and your professor gives a lecture about AP Style and the correct way to use it, everything starts to make sense. In the end, it is entirely about whether you are serious about learning it or not. A technique that I found to be extremely helpful has been studying my book. If I would have just went to class and not have opened that book, I wouldn’t have learned a thing. It took going to class and studying to get it right.
Self-reflection is an amazing thing, because I never took into consideration the things that I was confused on in the past and the things that I have learned so well. Self-reflection can help your writing, because it will only make you wanna achieve things that you didn't think you could achieve and it’ll show you just how far you have come along.
