reflection 2

1. Overall, when you think about the big picture of your writing, what improved? How did it get better? Why?

A lot changed in my writing during this time that we were working on this magazine. I was very used to writing one certain way all of the time. I was used to writing in like I was writing a five paragraph essay. For projects that is just what i do for everything. When i first came into this project that is the mindset that I had, I was going to write another five paragraph essay, that would be easy. Everything changed on the day i first turned in what I was going to input to the magazine, Randy told us that we had to write more like in article format, something that is interesting to the reader as well as informational. I had to change the way I was going to write this paper. We looked at articles in different magazines in order to see how they are written. This was a very good process because we get to see how different people start off their articles and how they get peoples attention. I think that something that really improved in my writing was that I was able to change the way I was going to write instead of having it in a five paragraph format, I had to write it like a magazine article now and I was able to do so with the help of Randy's critique. It is very good that I am now able to expand on my writing in a different way

2. Overall, when you think about the big picture of your writing, what still needs work? What do you think will help you improve? Why?

Something I really have a problem with is that i am very repetitive in my writing. I notice this in many pieces of writing that I have done. That is definitely something that I have to work on when it comes to my writing . I have to learn to express my ideas in different ways instead of making things sound repetitive, even if that explanation is short and simple. I should just be enough information for the reader to know what I am trying to get at in the piece of writing. i also have to learn to make smoother transitions from one subject to the other instead of just jumping from one topic to the other. If I am trying to get a point out I should just automatically state it instead of making a long story of it, I should "Cut to the chase" like Randy said while critiquing my article.

3. Specifically, show us something that improved and describe the path it took to get better. You can quote your article, your drafts, link to evidence, etc.

Something that needed work on basically throughout the whole writing process, is something that I did not know how to change when it was explained to me. I would change it a little bit but it was not the sentence that it now is. In my first draft this was the sentence "Tijuana is 300 feet above San Diego, after rain, San Diego and Tijuana are both impacted by the trash washed down the Tj River."

When that sentence was critiqued by Randy he wanted me to be way more specific with that sentence and I could not understand that. My sentence would get better everytime but it wasn't getting to where it needed to be. By the end when I finally got the sentence toits best it read like this, "However after the rain trash travels down to San Diego through the Tijuana River, because much of the city of San Diego is on the coast and Tijuana is uphill, and upriver, 300 feet above sea level."
In the end when I was all done with my article I felt that the sentence was at its best.

4. Describe something specific (or a few things!) that you learned about writing.

I learned so many things about writing while writing my article for the magazine.
something I learned was structuring the writing, using the loop starting and ending with something good and using the middle to tie them together, the middle not so important.
I learned how to use the verbs and subject better in a sentence, like how to start of strong by having the subject and verb in the beginning of the sentence, which does make your sentences sound better.
I now avoid using sledgehammer words in anything that I write unless they are really needed which is rare but they might be needed at some point.
I think doing copyediting to your work is good as well that way you can get it critiqued many times by many people and by the end your writing becomes a great piece of writing.
I learned how to explain things thouroughly with a little bit of writing instead of a big explanation.

magazine reflection

1) What went well for you during the process of creating this magazine?

The thing that really went well for me during this process the critiqueing process. I love getting my work critiqued because that way many people can give me their input on my work and whether something should be changed. I like it when people are really blunt and honest when something does not make sense, or does not work, I will take the advice so don't be scared to let me know what is wrong with my paper. I always like to ask Randy to critique my paper because he does all of the things that I just mentioned which is really good because I always feel that by the end of the writing and critiqueing process my work is the best it can be.

2. What challenges did you face as you moved from an early draft or idea to a final product?

Whe we first started writing our articles for the magazine, I really had no idea what I wanted to do for my article. I chose to put in my photoessay which was already completed, but then Randy was talking to us about other things we can do that way it could be something sort of new. So that gave me the idea to take parts of my photoessay and parts of my mentor interview and put it together to make my article. I was able to incorporate those two things together but also make something new with it. I was able to change something about it all make make a whole new article, so that was something that I struggled with in the begining.

3. What other examples of work—student and professional—stood out as exemplary and served as a good model for your own work?

I like a lot of people work, whe leo asked me to critique his paper I read it and I really liked it. I felt that it was very professional and that it was a very good topic that had to dod with him and his internship. He made a lot of sense and I just really liked reading his as well as other peoples articles.