Magazine Reflection

Due to the magazine project I've developed and learned a good use of writing qualities such as “Concerts not Pancakes” and keeping my nouns and verbs in the beginning of sentences. Those qualities improved my writing throughout the multiple drafts because I can see the difference from where I started, and where I am now. By keeping “Concerts not Pancakes” in mind, I was able to take out lots of sentences that would “nauseate” the reader and replace them with more exciting things to write about. Also, by changing the first sentences in my paragraphs so that the nouns and verbs are at the start of it, I was able to hook the reader to continue reading.

I was able to learn the new techniques by practicing with two different articles I contributed to the magazine instead of just one. I got the best benefits for doing so because I got the chance to practice everything I just learned while it was still fresh in my mind. I now focus in turning everything I learned to a natural habit for my future writing.

I can spread all nine drafts of “My Contribution to an Anniversary Retrospective Concert” and see the transformations it went trough to get to its final stage. My biggest improvement was my use of clarity when trying to explain what I saw and felt like when I went through the archives. Clarity is sometimes my biggest problem because I can have this great idea in my mind and it makes complete sense to me, but as soon as I try to put it down on paper it becomes a jumbled mess. Writing nine drafts helped me experiment with techniques to clarify and bring my work to its fullest potential.

Looking back to my very first draft, I realize how rushed, unimportant and redundant my article was. You can even tell by one of my paragraphs all the changes it had to get better.

“Digging through the archives was a whole new experience because it was like looking through someone’s greatest moments. I saw the first photographs of Jean Isaacs dancing, and watched time rush before my eyes as articles grew older and older. The newspapers told me stories of her successes and falls, of her goals and futuristic plans, and by being able to see this as an outsider was intriguing because I knew all the final outcomes.”

In that paragraph, I have no idea where it was going. The point I was trying to make was how I felt like I was time traveling, and how interesting everything was because the news occurred when I was growing up or before I was born. Here is my latest version.

“…In the process of doing so, I uncovered a window that showed me life before my time, the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. I saw what was the latest news-I saw their latest fashions, their newest moves including “E.T.”, their advertisements for the “latest” inventions and their entertainment. It was all different from what I see now with my surroundings. It took me longer to find Isaacs’ dances because everything I saw intrigued me to read more and learn about growing up in the past.”

I feel like my idea is clearly written in a relatable way that the reader can connect with.

I learned lots of new techniques to keep in mind when writing. I feel like the one I used the most was putting meaning in the start of my sentences instead of later. So by putting the noun and verbs in the beginning, I made my paragraphs more interesting. I also tried to remove my excessive “-ings” because I had a lot of those.

I didn’t face many challenges along the way, the only tedious part was sometimes I would have to revise my essay in class and I would not happen to have the latest version of my article with me. Which meant I had to retype the whole thing again. Now I know to always have the latest draft with me in either a hard drive or email, but in a format I can access no matter where I am to be prepared for class.

My organization and timing went really well while creating my magazine because it benefited my process and final product. Since I remained on top of my work I finished my article days in advance and had enough time to paint my honors art piece along with an artist statement. I also started my first article by scratch because I wanted a more original piece of writing in the article instead of a photo essay or interview.

The techniques I learned are important because they did make a difference in my writing. In the end, I was capable to expressing my ideas in a clear way for the reader to understand, my starter sentences were interesting due to use of nouns and verbs and my paragraphs started and ended strong like a concert. Those are all valuable techniques for a successful article and I am grateful for learning them at this age before college instead of later on.