Rough Draft Reflection

---My writing philosophy is to write about your own beliefs and opinions. You have to make your own choices and be your own person so why shouldn't your writing be your own thoughts as well. You can listen or read about what someone else thinks or says about a specific topic but you should always write about how you feel about it. When I get the chance to write about how I feel about a topic it makes it a lot easier and more enjoyable to write. I believe a lot of people can find themselves in writing, it gives you a better understanding of who you are.
---Writing my first essay as a college student I was still very comfortable with the five-paragraph technique. When I started writing this first essay I was using my original writing process. As I got more detailed with my paper, I found myself all wrapped up in quotes and templates, I lost site of how I felt about the topic. In doing this it ended me up with a paper that wasn’t truly how I felt. Learning this different writing technique was a difficult process, but I know it was worth it and I can use this technique on future writing assignments.
If I could go back and fix a mistake I made in this writing process, I would definitely take more time on choosing my thesis. I felt so rushed to choose a topic I ended up with a thesis that held back a lot of information I found interesting. When I started writing I never realized I could have changed my thesis, looking back on it now I think if I would have known I would have done just that. I understand now that my thesis was more of an opinion than an actually statement.
---What I learned from this writing process is that when you’re writing about history you need a lot of resources. Many different historians have different perspectives on historical events and it is important to be open-minded and take in all of the different point of views. Then, it is just as important to be able to put down your own words on paper with your own opinion and views of the topic or event.
For the second essay I wasn’t quit as nervous and I felt more confident. The only thing that got to my nerves was the time limit on this paper. The first essay we had _weeks and this time we only had _weeks. I think I could have made a better outline for this essay because when I started writing my rough draft I had a big unorganized mess. Unlike my first essay where I had a very detailed outline that I barely had to add anything to make my rough draft. This being my second essay I would have really liked to go forward with my writing skills rather then backward. I found a lot more research for this essay then the last one. I feel like my last essay didn't meet many of Ben's requirements, so I tried really hard to have good historical facts this time and still incorporate Craig's requirements too. I regret scheduling my meeting with Craig on Thursday, I think it would have been more beneficial for me if I would have made it a day or two earlier so I could have had more time to work on his specific comments. Meeting with Ben on top of meeting with Craig was a good idea on my part, his comments were very helpful too.