Blog Post #1 #MillikinSMW17
My first blog post for my Social Media Writing course is all about what writing means to me.
Academic writing has always been fairly easy for me. I’ve always been pleased with the grades I’ve gotten on my papers, so I took that as a sign that I was a decent writer at leaset. I understand how to write a thesis, support my claims, and form counterarguments. I try to keep the grammar and spelling mistakes to a minimum. I feel very neutral about academic writing. I don’t love it or loathe it. Anytime a paper is assigned, whether it be a term paper or a reflection paper, I don’t look forward to writing it, but I also don’t dread it.
In a professional setting, I try to keep my writing short and sweet. My first experience with professional writing was during my junior year of college. In the emails I’d send, I would strive for clarity and brevity. Although I was nervous at first, it quickly became fun to craft these emails. I think that my professional writing is just that — professional.
Personal writing is the most difficult for me. I’ve never been one to keep a journal. On social media, I put a lot of thought into my posts. More people will read my tweets than will ever read my essays, so they better be interesting and error-free. I’m trying to write more, so I may post on this blog more frequently than just once a week for class. At first, I was very excited and thought it would be easy to write everyday. But I quickly discovered that it is hard to stick to a writing schedule.
I think my main strength as a writer is that I really know my own voice. I’m consistent in that voice. If I had to describe my voice, I’d call it relaxed professional. “Professional” because I try to stick to grammar rules that I learned in school. “Relaxed” because I think I can be a tad humorous on occasion. One area I wish I could improve upon is my vocabulary. I want to learn more descriptive words, so that I can avoid words like “pretty” and “very.”
I can’t think of a specific author who’s writing I enjoy. However, the past couple months, I’ve really liked reading GQ magazine. I think the writers are all pretty witty. Also, I really like Bernie Sanders’s tweets. He does a good job of putting political happenings in layman’s terms for his followers. And I haven’t read Chelsea Handler’s books yet. But I love her, so I think I’d love her writing too.
Moving forward, I’d like to become a more interesting writer. I want to write more interesting content. Like I mentioned in class Thursday, I hate writing all of my sentences starting with the word “I.” It is my hope that this course will make my writing better, easier to read, and more fun for my audience.
If you’re reading this, all my social media handles are @TreyPogue. So follow me on Twitter and Instagram, connect with me on LinkedIn, and swipe right on me on Tinder.
