Since the minor is focused on sharpening the craft of writing, it pushed me to reflect on my own writing habits. This reflection forced me to confront my frustrations or "demons" face to face. However, it also helped me analyze my own thoughts to discover why I might actually like writing. For example, reflecting on my writing process led me to understand my own quirks as a writer and the environment that I would need to create in order to persuade myself to write. It helped me understand that some past frustrations with writing may have risen because I had not had the proper environment to write. As I continued to reflect, I realized that words actually had the power to excite me. The same concept of infinite possibilities that had scared me before (see part 1) now made writing more interesting. 

 

The pieces "How I Write", "Why I Write", and "Why I Don't Write" are three reflective pieces I wrote in the gateway course to the writing minor. In essence, reflecting made me reconcile my beliefs on writing. After writing these pieces, I was able to understand and actually define myself as a writer. So, while these pieces are not the most polished, they are still very important to my greater respect for writing.