blog entry #6

Strengths :

I do not struggle with actually writing. Putting my thoughts down into text and formulating my thoughts in a way that is understandable and clear is rarely an issue for me, I tend to write coherent and well-linked texts, which flow easily, despite my troubles with being concise.

I enjoy writing. I've considered myself a writer for probably longer than I was technically supposed or allowed to. Writing from a very young age and gaining a significant following for it from pretty early on was extremely motivating, leading me to continue writing in earnest. To this day it remains one of the core parts of my identity and I truly enjoy the act of writing itself.

Weaknesses :

As mentioned in class, I tend to do all of my writing in a single sitting. While this applies mostly to what I write in my free time, it's bled into my academic writing habits as well, often leading me to pull all-nighters or procrastinate on essays, as they feel like such an insurmountable mountain of work. In reality, I built the mountain myself by forcing myself to get everything done at once, which is quite literally impossible to do anymore, especially for this project. I intend to try and remedy this by planning what I want to write and when I will do so, essentially separating my essay in multiple little bursts of writings, letting me finish those in one sitting and eventually putting them all together. I will also practice writing in multiple sittings with my personal writing during the study break.

I also struggle with being concise. Coming from a french education background, where long, drawn-out sentences were highly encouraged, I feel weird having to cut down on all of those extra words I've been taught to use. I also was very praised for it, making it a pride of mine which makes it even harder to get rid of. I will try to fix this by revisiting my previous (non-academic) writings and trying to edit them down to a more concise style, I will also try and focus on staying concise as I write new things as well.

Harness, Lacy. “The Process of Inventing Fictional Languages.” Boise State University. www.boisestate.edu/presidents-writing-awards/the-process-of-inventing-fictional-languages/.

This article will provide me with a simple and clear picture of the process of language making. It will help me explain this process in simpler terms to the reader.

Peterson, David J. The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves to Sand Worms, the Words Behind World-Building. Penguin Books, 2015.

This book explains the process mentioned in the previous source in more detail, and from a first-hand experience as the author is an expert in the field of language invention. This will help fill in any gaps that might've been left in the previous article for the sake of conveying a simpler message. This book will be more thorough and give more precise insight into the process.