This reflection was written for my Capstone 3500 course as a way to analyze my own writing. I was challenged to look at the pieces I had selected for this portfolio, and reflect on my journey as a writer during my time at DU.

In beginning my writing portfolio for this course, I have been forced to reflect on my own journey as a writer, as well as all of the aspects which make up my writing. Throughout my life I have picked up little bits and pieces of knowledge which I now apply into my work as a writer. From a young age I was taught the fundamentals of academic writing. I believe that my roots in academic writing come out more often than not, as that is most of what I have done in the past. As a science major, I have had the strict constraints of a lab report seared into my brain, and sometimes I find it difficult to stray from this. That being said, I feel that my writing maintains a readability that is comforting to readers. My roots in academic writing are especially visible in my Personal Article and my Theory of Writing. It was not until taking up a writing minor that I truly began to explore the creative side of writing. Though this is a relatively new and challenging style for me, I have thoroughly enjoyed diving into the creative and fictional side of writing. In my opinion, my biggest challenge has been finding the right balance of structure and creativity to produce writing that is both credible and fun to read.

When I look at the pieces that I have selected for my portfolio, I feel proud at the writing I have produced, as well as the journey I have been on as a writer. In the three pieces that I used to create my mind map, there are three completely different pieces with different genres and constructs, yet I feel strongly that my voice and style is somewhat consistent throughout. In looking at my work, I have learned what aspects of writing I favor over others and what overall patterns I exhibit in my work. For example, I now see that in almost all of my writing I attempt to embed some type of message into my work. In turn, I feel as though this says a lot about me and my desire to express myself and my ideas to the world. I believe that my easy to read style will make my messages seem more subtle and less forced upon the audience. I have certainly taken many risks in my writing since beginning my exploration of creative writing. This is especially prevalent in my Short Story piece titled Slender Man. I have never written a story entirely from my own head, and a definitely questioned myself at times, but I am proud of the finished product because it is so different from anything I have done before.

Even though I have written in many different genres here at DU, I am hopeful that readers are able to distinguish my voice from the crowd. Even if someone does not particularly like my writing, I want them to be able to read it and say, “This must be Merrill.” I may not be there yet, but I feel confident that I am on the right track to finding my own unique voice as a writer. Though I have always loved writing, until about a year ago I would not have considered myself a writer. This is due to the fact that almost everything I had every written was very academic and procedure based, thus I did not feel I was able to express my own voice. Anyone can follow directions write something, but it takes a true writer to do all of that while also making their writing unique and distinguishable from the rest. After experimenting with new genres and combining them with old ones, I finally feel as though I am coming into my own as a writer and I am excited to see where writing takes me.

Going forward, I hope to further establish my writing style and continue to push myself in experimenting with new genres. Every piece I have ever written (especially those in my portfolio) has helped shape me into the writer I am today. While I am on the right track, I know I am far from perfect. In the future, I feel that it would be helpful for me to get things done earlier so that I have a day to take a break post writing, then go back to proof read before handing in finished product. This project has helped me realize that I notice so much about my writing that I want to edit or change when I go back and look at it on a later date. I feel confident that making this standard procedure will result in an entirely new level of writing for me. I plan on continuing to learn and grow as a writer for as long as I can, and I am certain that the work I put into this project will only help me in doing so.

I made this mind map as a way of visualizing my writing process. This mind map allowed me to visualize my process for writing my reflection.