Even prior to taking this course, I have always taken pride in my abilities as a writer. It is always something that I enjoyed throughout my years of education, and each writing course that I took always added a new skill to my repertoire. However, one thing that I consistently disliked about writing was the process behind it. Free writing, outlining, and drafting all seemed like unnecessary work. It seemed like too many steps when you could just begin working on the finished product directly. It not only seemed like less work, but also more efficient, to remove the intermediary steps. However, since taking this course, I realized the value of the writing process. This process exists to produce the highest quality of work possible. Although it may seem tedious, this process helps to organize information, streamlining the process overall. 

I personally realized the importance of this process while writing the technical memo. The technical memo is a large assignment, with a lot of information having to be organized, referenced, and cited accurately. Doing both a structural analysis and an APA formatted outline not aided in organizing this information effectively, but it also allowed me to see gaps in my sources and supplement them. This helped to ensure that my evidence and reasoning in the technical memo was sound. 

Drafting was also extremely beneficial throughout this course. I first realized this during the writing of my Op-Ed, which happens to be my favorite piece of writing this semester. Doing a first draft allowed me to organize my information and clean up my diction in the final draft. It allowed me to do more of the complicated steps in the draft, so much of my revision was adding my own flair and making the piece really stand out. This was extremely helpful for me, especially because my Op-Ed centered around a topic that I wasn’t familiar with. The topic that I chose required a lot of research that I had to analyze myself. Therefore, drafting allowed me to format this research, and revision allowed me to construct the actual Op-Ed around this research. 

However, I believe that my biggest area of growth lies in how I view the process of writing as a whole. Prior to taking this course, I liked to believe that I could just alot a length of time to a writing assignment and complete it within that period. While the assignment may be finished using this method, it likely won’t reach the personal standards I have for my work. That is because writing is a process. The way we write changes based on the things that we encounter daily. Whether this change can be attributed to learning a new word or the mood of the author, writing truly benefits from this variety. It often humanizes writing pieces, even ones that are written in an academic context. While that doesn’t mean that one has to strictly follow a set process of writing, it is undeniable that there are benefits to organizing your thoughts and allowing yourself the space and time to grow in your writing.