Past Writing Experience Writing Response

Negative writing experiences can be found littered throughout my past.  I wouldn't call the frequency high, but conversely I cannot say that the frequency has been extremely low.  I find that instead of a specific teacher or paper my worst writing experiences have been those where my general condition does not meet the qualifications below.  I remember a particular experience writing a college entrance essay.  My time was short; it was due in a day or two.  I was at a critical period in high school and my workload was higher than our dorm's trash pile.  Pressure was increasing with that slow squeeze that constricts macrocosmic views until one can get lost in the details.  In my finished product it was evident that I was not prepared.

On the other hand, occasionally a gem will emerge from the raw carbon.  As I have done most writing in some sort of formalized class it is no surprise that good experiences have come out of AP English Literature.  Frame of mind is very important for me, but my frame of mind is predicated almost exclusively on the environment.  As my roommate can attest, I cannot work in a crowded, half-lit room on a small desk.  Things need to be clean and have space around them.  I recall one time in English class we wrote a forty minute essay in class based on a prompt our teacher put up on the whiteboard.  I was in a good mood that day, well-fed and smiling (smiling often goes with being well-fed).  The surrounding desks were clean, the pure white page smiled up at me like a window through the desk upon which it sat to a whole new world.  When I wrote my hand did not tire as fast.  As I turned it in satisfactorily at the completion of the excercise, I realized that I had just had a positive writing experience.

What makes the difference?  What is it about an individual situation that makes writing so easy or so difficult?  I can think of several factors.  Although these are ordered here, I believe the order is unique to each individual.

1. Environment, including surroundings, time constraints, noise level, amount of personal space, stress or pressure from other activities, and light levels.  The environment should especially be conducive to the Spirit.

2. Preparation.  This could be anything from eating the requisite amount of Cheerios for stimulating neurological impulses to hours and hours of research on the topic.

3. Frame of mind.  The writing frame of mind comes, to me at least, only at certain times.  Perhaps a frame of mind can come as a result of preparation.  Free writing and zero drafts may help to accomplish this goal.  Frame of mind can also be a direct result of the environment.

4. Mastery of Vocabulary/Grammar.  These fundamentals of the English language are the instrument with which ideas can be expressed.  A single idea can be expressed so differently between two writers, and it is their own unique expression of vocabulary and phrasing within the grammatical context of English that facilitates each writer's unique take.