March 20, 2023

Dear Eugene,
Every registration pass time, from my first quarter of my freshman year at UCSB, I
would try to add Writing 2 to my schedule, but failed each time. At every attempt, I would get
excited about the opportunity to take a college level writing class, and was repeatedly hit with a
wave of disappointment each time I saw that again, the classes were all filled before I could get
to them. However, winter quarter of my second year, I was finally successful! As soon as I saw
the class on my schedule, I became excited to learn some new tools and strategies to become a
successful writer. I don’t normally look forward to classes, but I knew this is one that I really
needed.
Even as a second year university student, I’ve only ever had enough writing skills to just
get by. I made it through high school getting A’s and B’s in english classes, and have maintained
a good track record of passing paper-heavy classes in college. I’ve had enough writing skills to
be able to email professors and bosses and successfully communicate with my peers. However,
it’s extremely rare for me to write something that makes me feel powerful or creative. I’ve never
been someone who writes recreationally, and instead have associated writing with achieving
grades or creating something that will be marked as successful on a rubric. My goal entering this
writing 2 course was to get past the idea of just doing the bare minimum and learn how to
challenge myself creatively.
Oftentimes when I try to write, I don’t know where to start. If I can finally find a good
starting place, the odds that I will be able to maintain a steady flow in my writing pace for more
than fifteen minutes are extremely slim. My entire academic career, I’ve always struggled with
the process of effective writing. For example, I had a very simple writing assignment due this
quarter for my history class, where I was instructed to write approximately 4 pages on the extent
to which the American lifestyle is really based on “freedom”. I had a solid outline for my paper,
and my opinions on the subject matter were very clear. However, it took me about five hours to
write just the first page. I was stuck in an endless cycle of starting to write, going back to edit
what I had already written, and then deciding I hated all of my work and needed to restart. This
particular paper was not special, for this cycle has been something I have battled for a long time.
Writing 2 class introduced me to my new friend - freewriting. When I read Anne
Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” I finally saw a possible solution to my struggles with starting an
essay. It made me realize that I had never separated the writing process from the editing process.
In my mind, they were one task together, which made starting my paper feel like the first step on
a steep and never ending staircase. I dreaded starting because I knew that starting would mean
the beginning of hours of frustration. Write one page, go back and edit, take parts out, write
more, go back and edit, take more parts out, and cycle through again and again until I space out
or find a new task. I would never finish writing an essay and then go back and revise. Instead, I
would finish and just submit whatever I had because I edited as I went along. However, my
perspective changed upon reading Lamott’s opinions on writing the first drafts. She simplies the
writing process by saying I just need to “start somewhere” and to do so, “just get something -
anything - down on paper” (Lamott 25). Reading Lamott’s essay really helped me grasp the idea
that successful writing pieces should not be great right off the bat, and the most efficient way to
get into the writing flow is to just get ideas down. In addition, the constant use of freewriting and
journaling in class let me put this new concept into practice, and I feel that I have grown to have
a much more efficient writing process after taking this course.
While Lamott and freewriting has helped me become more efficient at creating first
drafts, I then also grew to realize that I had been seriously lacking revision skills. No high school
or college course I’ve ever taken has taught me how to effectively edit my writing. As I said
earlier, I have always viewed editing as something I am supposed to do as I write, and that
writing and editing were events that were supposed to occur simultaneously. Reading Doug
Downs’ piece “Revision is Central to Developing Writing” helped me get back on my feet as an
editor. Personally, I felt a little bit called out when he wrote “writers who don’t revise are likely
to see fewer positive results from writing” in comparison to “those who build time for feedback
and revision into their writing workflows” (Downs 66). While it did sting a little to read this, I
understand that if I want to grow as a writer it is necessary to acknowledge my weaknesses and
put effort into making changes. In addition, I have found it very helpful to practice the feedback
and revision process through the reader response activities, meetings with you on Zoom, and the
time I’ve spent editing writing projects 1 and 2 for my final portfolio.
With what I have learned this quarter and the feedback given to me by you and my peers,
revising project 1 was an easy and fun task. I completely reformatted my project from how it was
originally, turning it into a piece that is more engaging and better incorporates the element of
surprise. My original draft had a goal of translating an academic journal article about El Nino
and climate change in Isla Vista into a fun mystery story that would appeal to a younger
generation. However, it was written out very plainly, like it was an article or book excerpt, and
didn’t capture the mysterious and spooky vibe that I was hoping for. Using Google Slides, I was
able to create more of a visual timeline - moving from clue to clue and clarifying each piece of
scientific evidence with pictures. I had a lot of fun creating this piece, and I know it’s something
I would have personally really enjoyed as a kid. With the format of the slides, you really cannot
tell what is coming next, and I think my revisions will do a better job of keeping my audience
engaged. In addition, in my original draft, I really only incorporated the scientific evidence into
the first half of the mystery story, and I didn’t find it to be very cohesive. Therefore, in my
revision, I incorporated more scientific evidence into the clues on the second half of the story,
which overall makes it feel much more thorough and conclusive.
I had a much harder time revising my writing project 2. In comparison to writing project
1, my writing project 2 lacked vision. I felt like I was battling confusion for the entire creation
process. I originally wanted to build a website to help teachers and educators increase reader
engagement with their writing pieces by acknowledging potential diversities in reader
backgrounds and how readers’ emotions can impact comprehension levels. I wanted most to
convey that there is a very important connection between readers and writers, and that there are
ways to increase effective communication between these two groups. My first draft did not
match my expectations for what I wanted my website to look like, at all. As I created my first
draft, I thought that my vision had been changing a little bit here and there, but that it would all
come together as a cohesive project in the end. However, I learned through the feedback from
you and my peers that the purpose of the website seemed confusing and messy. In my revision, I
decided that I needed to go back to square one and really clarify my goals.
I decided that my chosen genre was not a relevant way to push out my message. When I
felt confused by why this genre wasn’t working, I remembered Kerry Dirk’s “Navigating
Genres” piece. Dirk explains that it is crucial to think of how all of the different genres function,
and to pick the one that will best convey your message. So, I contemplated what the functions of
websites are. I came to the conclusion that the purpose of the website is to sell something (for
example, an item or an idea) to a specific group of people in need. Before, I had just been using
my website as a means of displaying a bunch of information about the burkean parlor
conversation, but it didn’t offer anything to “sell”. I decided that to make the genre most
effective, my website could “sell” strategies to writers, who “need” to increase their connection
to their readers.
This would also entail making my intended audience much more clear. I highlighted that
the website should appeal specifically to educators, authors, and academic individuals who were
looking for ways to increase reader comprehension and engagement. Once my audience and
purpose were clarified, my next step was to rearrange the contents of my website to make the
setting and purpose of my burkean parlor conversation easier to understand. I ultimately
reorganized, removed distracting visuals, and fine-tuned the entire contents of my website,
leaving me with an almost entirely new project. It was a frustrating process, but ultimately I feel
that it was worth the hours of revision.
I was sitting in the UCSB library with my friends when I finished my revisions of writing
projects 1 and 2, and I caught myself experiencing an urge to show them all what I had
accomplished. Could it be? Could I be feeling proud and powerful after completing writing
homework? It’s true! I don’t remember the last time I finished a writing-based homework
assignment and felt proud enough of my work to want to show it off to my friends. I don’t think I
have ever felt that way. This was a monumental feeling for me. I spent so much time on
perfecting each project, and I am really excited about the final results. I am confident in my work
because the revised projects both display how much I have grown as a writer in just one quarter,
and I am excited to apply my skills into the rest of my academic career.

Sincerely,
Megan Lazzarini