Theory of Writing and Word Cloud - Michaela Dugdale

     As I began this assignment I didn’t really understand why we were putting an entire paragraph into the word cloud generator.  But, after seeing the results I fully understood.  My word cloud chose only important words as well as all of my key terms.  the giant word in the center of my cloud is ‘writing’.  This is because it was the most frequent word in my paragraph.  Being front, center, and giant further shows how important the word writing is to my cloud.  I feel that it is important for my word cloud to mirror my thoughts in the journal because the words used, such as creativity, symbols, opinions, and topic, all connect to my writing in the journals.  My word cloud does not make me rethink my key terms, but instead makes me think of more to add on to my list.  The most intriguing conclusion I drew from this exercise about my ideas on writing, is that writing is personal, and can be described many different ways by many different people.  There is no writing standard.

     Writing is an emotional outlet to many people, including my self.  Writing is about expressing your feelings, whether its in the form of a novel, magazine or even a blog.  To me, there is no writing standard.  As I continue to grow, I begin to realize that, although writing isn't my strongest area of expertise, that doesn’t mean my writing is wrong. Emotion is the strongest asset a person could have to connect their writing

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     When I was asked what my ‘theory of writing’ was I was very confused.  At first I thought that I was supposed to give advice on the concept of writing, but after better clarification I soon realized that this was a fancy way of asking what I believe writing is.  My theory is somewhat similar to the rest of my groups. For example, I can connect Juan’s theory, he believes that when an author writes he/she is writing to send a message, to my theory, I believe people are writing to express themselves and is an emotional outlet.  I think that having a theory of writing might be useful to some people because it allows people to have guidelines and allows them to write from their heart.  My writing ability is not the strongest. Today, even after years of writing classes, I can still say I am not the best writer.  While some people have the natural ability to connect words and use correct grammar, I do not. Therefor, when I write, it is usually something short, simple and to the point. My identity as writer is someone who is passionate about learning, who wants to succeed in the writing world, who wants to grow as a writer, but finds it very difficult to do so. 

     This activity was a lot of fun.  At first, I did not realize why we were drawing, but then after my map was complete and I spoke with my group I came to the realization that just like maps are all connected, writing is too.