Introduction
I find writing to be among the most fulfilling activities that I engage in. Through this media, I am not only able to express myself, but I also get in touch with my creative side and come up with fascinating material, which I believe my audience enjoys. While writing may seem to be a standard activity, I have come to appreciate that there is various kind of writers. Knowledge of the kind of writer that I am is of great importance since it enables me to capitalize on the positive attributes of my writing style while minimizing the negatives. In this essay, I will engage in a detailed exploration of the kind of writer I am and discuss what makes me this kind of writer. I will then consider my strengths and weaknesses as a writer and discuss my writing process.
My Style
If I were to describe myself as a writer in one word, the word would be “spontaneous”. The reason for this is that I do not limit myself in scope but instead let my writing guide me. While writers who are planners spend time coming up with a detailed plot of how their story will develop, spontaneous writers only have a rough plot and they let the story develop as it advances. When beginning my work, I only have an idea of how the story will eventually end; I do not know the various twists and turn that will lead to this ending.
I let my story evolve naturally and if an event that I had not previously thought about comes up or a character does something against my original plans, I do not stop them. Despite being a spontaneous kind of writer, I do come up with some plans for my work and I have a general idea of how my story will play out. In my mind, various key events will take place in my story.
I came to adopt this style of writing after I discovered that I could never come up with a full plan of how my story would play out beforehand. Whenever I tried to develop a detailed plan for my story, I always got overwhelmed and ended up not writing anything at the end. In addition to this, having a detailed plan of how my story would play out removed the sense of suspense and creativity since I had to ensure that my characters fitted into this pre-defined cast that I had made for them.
I remember a close friend of mine told me that while my stories were interesting, they were predictable and not very captivating. Following these revelations, I decided to adopt a writing style that did not inhibit my creativity.
Before I begin writing, I like to be well informed on the topic that I want to cover. This is especially useful when I am writing articles that are intended to be informative and my audience expects factual information. Being well informed is also valuable when I am writing fictional material since it adds to the plausibility of my story. I have also come to discover that fictional stories that are grounded in solid facts appeal to people more than those which are written with no regard to facts.
Strengths
My kind of writing has several significant strengths. Arguably the greatest strength of my writing process is that it keeps me engrossed since I do not have all the events figured out. The characters I am working with may do something unpredictable and I am encouraged to keep writing so that I can figure what happens next. In addition to this, I not get discouraged by my work as would be the case if I needed to figure every event in my writing beforehand. As such, I can begin writing with only a few vague ideas and as I progress, more material will present itself to me.
My writing style also complements the sources of my inspiration for writing. I get my inspiration from a wide range of places. As such, my inspiration may come from the sad and moving story on the 7 o’clock news to a beautiful and scenic view observed as I am traveling by bus. Since these are very random sources of inspiration, having a flexible writing style allows me to merge the new information I get from my everyday inspiration into my writing.
Weaknesses
For all its strengths, my writing style has several significant setbacks. To begin with, my writing style is not well suited when writing research papers where the writer has to have a clear outline before he or she begins writing. My spontaneous style predisposes me to begin writing without a clear outline in mind and in the case where I have an outline; I sometimes find it hard to stick to it. This is a major disadvantage since research papers are supposed to be well structured and at times concise. I, therefore, have to make a conscious effort to adopt a more structured form of writing where I have to plan everything before I begin writing.
While spontaneity has its advantages, it sometimes results in the writer being overwhelmed. This is the case since there are so many possibilities for the writer to choose from. Without a pre-defined outline and plot, the writer may take up too much time trying to decide on the best cause of action. In addition to this, since the story may take a turn away from the projected ending, the writer may be forced to rethink the original outline. I have found myself faced with these setbacks many times and have had to abandon stories midway. I also sometimes veer from my original theme which affects the impact of my writing.
Conclusion
In this essay, I set out to explore the kind of writer that I am. Through this paper, I have shed light on my writing kind and highlighted the various strengths and weaknesses that I possess as a writer. As can be seen, my writing style has its inherent flaws, which deter me from being an effective writer. However, I believe that each writing experience is a learning effort and as I keep writing, I will fine-tune my writing style to the point where it is almost perfect.
Over time, I have come to see that the most suitable type of writing for me would be somewhere between spontaneous writing and strict structural writing. By adopting such a process, I will be able to enjoy the advantages that each style brings about and therefore improve my writing proficiency.