Writing Goals

Izzy Bonecutter
A specific goal I would like to achieve this year is providing evidence in my writing to back up my
statements and add complexity and value to my paper through describing and digging deeper
into my thoughts with specific evidence. In the last paragraph of my seminar reflection paper I
argue that I am not cynical and that I reflect on myself and I explain that when I am put into
certain situations I always approach them with an open mind and prepare myself for various
outcomes. Throughout this paragraph I do not use evidence and specific examples of times
when I have encountered a situation where I am using an open mind. Not including specific
evidence made my argument weak and my points unconvincing. Moving forward, I can improve
the skill of incorporating evidence into my writing by outlining my paper, making note of each
point/argument I make in my writing, and making sure that each one is followed by supportive
and clear evidence.
Another goal I want to accomplish in my writing is having clear and concise sentence craft to
simplify my paper and make it easier for the reader to interpret my ideas and thoughts. In my
recent college essay I noticed that my sentences were very complex and run on. This is a
common trend in all of my writing and in the long run it makes sentences harder for the reader
to comprehend and it makes the paper as a whole loose flow. In one area of my essay for
example, I wrote: Though I have lived in Durango for most of my life and am eager to immerse
myself in the world, I am more drawn to temporarily linger in my home town where I can
continue exploring my interests through connecting with the community that has grown me and
who which inspired my passion in mindfulness and the human mind. To me, this sentence
could infact be broken up into two or three sentences that would allow each sentence to have a
specific impact on the reader vs. one long sentence they need to comprehend. To work towards
improving this skill for my next piece of writing is simple. PERIODS. Almost all my writing
includes numerous amounts of commas in each paragraph (where some aren't even needed.)
Revising my paper when I am finished and replacing commas with periods in appropriate places
will improve my sentence craft significantly.
Lasty, a goal I want to work towards with my writing is word choice. Throughout highschool I
have revised, critiqued, and read a large amount of various papers from students with various
writing skills. Throughout the process I started to realize that the papers that used a variety of
vocabulary and more complex wording were more interesting and impressing to read. I myself
can compare some of my papers that used more complex word choice to my papers that used
more basic word choice and I notice that the papers with well thought out wording seemed to
be my most well written papers and accomplishments in writing. The larger word choice made
an overall impact on the sentence and how I interpreted it. Although it is very simple to use
basic words that are engraved in our vocabulary, there is a variety of reasons why taking the
time to use larger vocabulary can benefit your paper in the long run. To overcome this weakness
and to improve this skill for papers in the future I can revise my paper at the end and underline
basic word choice, (adjectives, etc) and go back to those words and use a thesaurus to replace
the words with higher and stronger vocabulary.

Writing my first college essay wasnt as simple as I thought it would be, as the prompt I was
writing for was more complex and longer than I imagined, I received more feedback in critiques
than expected, and talking about myself while focusing on my future wasnt easy. Overall I think
the skill that improved the most throughout writing this essay was image and description. This
skill played a large part in my opening paragraph, which is essential for catching the reader's
attention and hooking them instantly with interest. My opening drastically changed throughout
refining my drafts before I created my final essay. In my first rough draft, my opening paragraph
immediately and blandly stated that I took a mindfulness class, gained an interest, and needed
a scholarship to college to help me pursue my passion. Right off the bat I covered at least three
of the prompts in one paragraph instead of focusing on just hooking the reader with a strong
opening and then creating three separate paragraphs for the 3 writing tasks that I squished into
paragraph one. With feedback from other students and reading other students openings, I was
inspired to take advantage of this opening paragraph and go into detail, imagery, and a personal
experience to hook the reader and share myself. My opening then read, Both eyelids shut as
my legs crossed one on top of the other on the earthy green pillow embroidered with yellow
stitching beneath me. I allowed my breath to soften and my mind to clear as it fell deep into the
present moment. I felt the breeze in the room touch my skin, and the sun's rays kiss my cheeks
through the open windows around me. I listened to every soft word that flowed out of her lips
guiding the start of my first mindfulness meditation class. A week into the course and a week of
applying the mindfulness based skills I acquired through each session to areas in my daily life,
allowed me to recognize the relevance and importance of the mindfulness practice. This
opening created a drastic change and feel for my paper as a whole. The process of improving
my opening included self reflection and returning back to the moment that started it all. I sat in
my desk and clearly thought about what it felt like to be in that specific moment, what it meant to
me, and how it impacted me. I wrote the deepest, raw memory of one of the most impactful
classes that inspired my passion and that which the scholarship essay was tied around.