Letter Writing
I have fond memories of letter writing. Ever summer starting at the age of 10, I attended a sleep away camp. Before I departed for the first time, my mom sat me down and taught me how to write a letter. She first showed me where to address the recipient’s name on an envelope and where to place the stamp (always on the right side and not on the left). She then told me to always begin writing with the word ‘dear’. This was all very interesting to me! Never before had I ever written a letter, I had only received letters. So you could believe my excitement when I received the brightly colored Target stationary I had chosen only hours before. I can still remember the dark turquoise envelope sitting on top of the stack.
I wrote many letters that first summer. At the beginning, there were many letters I wrote begging my parents to fly me home because I hated camp. I used these letters to express my thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Whenever I felt homesick during the course of the summer, I would sit on the wrinkled sheets in my bunk house, take out my yellow legal pad and write. As the weeks progressed, my emotions changed and I started to have a great time! My letters began expressing the friendships I was forming, the activities I was participating in, and my disbelief in how soon I would be arriving home. Since my first year at camp, I have compiled every single letter I have received. It is fun to go back and examine these letters which document my camp career.
When I was looking at college courses to take for my freshman year, I was very surprised and pleased to see that a letter writing course was being offered. I immediately placed this course on the top of my list, registered, and fortunately I was accepted! I am so excited to examine a variety of different letters and see how letter writing has evolved and changed over time. I’m very interested to see how my writing improves over the course of this semester and how I progress as I writer. I do think that examining these letters will make me more cognizant of my writing abilities. I recently returned from a gap year this past June and I am concerned that my writing may not be up to par after not writing for over a year. Other than that concern, I am looking forward to attending this course.
My Writing Process
If I can be completely honest here, I really don’t like anything about my writing style. It is so hard for me to write because I’m constantly editing my words, phrases, and ideas. This results in assignments taking 2-3 times longer than they should. This year I would like to be less judgmental of my writing and learn how to better structure my thoughts as well as improve on brevity. The most important part of writing is communicating your thoughts clearly and in a straightforward manner. If you don’t do this, your message won’t be coherent. I would also like to improve and grow my confidence as writer. Every time I begin a new assignment, I get a pit in my stomach as I stare at the blank page staring back at me on my laptop. This fear prevents me from putting my thoughts to paper and fills me with anxiety. It is very important for me to trust in myself build my confidence as I seek to pursue a degree in English.
