THEORY OF WRITING
The theory of writing was unfamiliar to me, my previous writing portfolio only required me to write a self-review section, but never really made me think of the practices I used for my writing. Throughout my academic career, I found it difficult to start a writing assignment until I’m under pressure to do so; maybe it was the need to make it perfect, or the atmosphere I was in, or maybe it was just plain procrastination. I know most of the time, however, I always write my assignments with the mind of entertaining the audience; like the stories told in videogames.
What is important to me in writing is the ability to let the readers imagine a story all from words written down in text, whether its from practical, real-life, applications, or fantasy and fiction. I try to shape my writing so whoever reads my writings will be able to picture the scenario I’ve made up in text. I believe that this method is crucial for me to be satisfied in my own creation. Writing can be boring, yes, but in most cases it can be magical.
The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the many “once in a lifetime” events that people experienced, including me. Like many, it had taken a great toll on my mental health and my education, affecting my quality of work. Of course, videogames were still available; a new one was released a few months prior to the US pandemic, titled “Outer Wilds”. In short, you are part of a species that explore their solar system in search of an ancient civilization that came and died beforehand, a sort of alien paleontologist in space. There is no combat in this game, no character progression, and you must start all over from the beginning in 22 minutes; what made this game so compelling to me? — the writing. Filled with more and more knowledge you get from reading ancient writing, you can progress through the game and uncover even greater tales. Playing and writing about my experiences with this game (A Personal Experience Essay) showed me how writing can conceive such rich storytelling and tailor each readers’ experience uniquely.
Given that ENGL 21007 is more of a technical writing class, there were limitations in the theory I generally use for writing due to the requirements to the assignments given to me, but there were some parts that allowed me to share a story with the audience. I will be briefly going through each assignment and how I applied my theory of writing to them. The cover letter features my goals and the history behind those goals. The memo allowed me to write about reasonable scenarios that could happened due to the problems created by the deterioration of a building. The rhetorical analysis I wrote focused on how well lab reports used rhetoric and its effect on the audience, this allowed me to understand how rhetoric can be used efficiently to get a point across. The article, “How to Build an Artificial Heart” showed me how storytelling can enhance something technical like a technical description, this will be a great reference that I’ll use for any future technical writing assignments. Both the technical description and the proposal had segments of storytelling to help the reader understand and get interested in the more technical aspects of the paper. The annotated image done over spring break was one of the assignments where I was able to apply my theory of writing the best, using rhetoric by storytelling to bring my readers in and to show them the beauty of thoughts and imaginations from just a picture.
Affected by the charm of writing in storytelling, I have been influenced by it and try to include it in my writing to give the reader an experience they can only get from reading.
I want them to feel like they’re flying through the stars.
