Writing can take many forms for different people. It can mean freedom for some, expression for some and just peace of mind for others For me I think it is a little of all of these. I like to write to express myself and to tell the story. I think it reflects back to who I am and in some sense it allows the reader know some parts of me and my life. It allows me to say what I want in so many words. It is not easy to write sometimes. The hardest thing is when there are people around and I can't concentrate. I tend to write when there are no interruptions and can stay focused. There is always a problem with making it perfect, because I am such a perfectionist, I want everything to be just right. I am not the best writer by far but I strive to be better. I know I need to build my vocabulary in order to write better. I procrastinate beginning any writing assignment because I have to think about how it needs to be set up, then review it and then review it again. Sometimes I end up starting all over because I don't like how it turns out. This frustrates me and in the end I just accept what I have written and turn it in. It is far from perfect and I am disappointed in my work. Writing is a skill that I need to perfect and only through time will I get better.
In my job, I write to document the facts as I see and hear them. This is definitely different from free writing. It takes skill into not allowing your personal opinion to muddy up the reports. This is intense and hard to keep your opinions out of the reports. Sometimes I see manipulating words in favor of the social worker in order to make a point being used. I think there should be no manipulation of words to benefit the social worker but I just view it as a writing skill. Is it a skill I want? No, not now. I may change my mind but for now I just want to write the facts as I see and hear them. Don't get me started on the grammatical points of writing. I can barely understand the simple English rules and then they throw in even more difficult ones to confuse me even more.
Some days, I can just sit down and start writing and other days I have to really concentrate to find the right (perfect) words that I want to use. I'm told that Rome wasn't built in a day and that things take time but sometimes I don't have the time. Does writing ever get easier? Why does writing come so easy to some and others have to work at it? Well, till next time, keep on writing.
Sheila, I know your frustration as I do the same thing. I think and rethink so much of the time that I start dwelling on how much time I've wasted. I have also trashed something and started it over and have turned in papers that I was only somewhat satisfied with. As far as our documentation in Child Welfare, it is supposed to be facts yet we are also supposed to note our observations and that requires subjective writing. I agree that there can be manipulation put into documentation and that can cause doubt in the reader's mind. It is important even for our observations to be fair and accurate. It is difficult to get all the important information in and yet write without personal bias.
ReplyDeleteSheila, I am so with you on your stance. I sit her and wonder for days what I am going to write. Almost formulating my paper in my head...and then the real struggle comes of writing it down. I wish I new the magic formula to write...it would make things a lot easier.
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