Sample Composition Paper on Writing
I grew up in a family that liked reading. I remember my first book was a picture Bible that was given to me as a birthday gift by my parents when I turned three years old. My mother and father developed a reading culture in the family and it was compulsory for them to sit by my bedside to read out a bedtime story before I went to bed. It was also compulsory for them to read out the bible for us every morning before breakfast. This developed the interest in me to read more and more books. As I turned six, my class teacher, Ms. Jones came to class to teach about writing compositions. I remember, my first composition was about my family. This was an interesting adventure as I tried to put my thoughts into writing and looking out for words that would fit my compositions.
I can remember how obsessed I was with the word “awesome” such that I used it on almost all of my sentences in my entire composition. This was hilarious to Ms. Jones and her first lesson to me was to use synonyms in my expressions. As I gave it my second shot, I realized that writing was such an interesting journey and before long, I started to write about almost anything including my pet dog Lynn and cat Rozie. My writing skills developed the more I practiced and before long, Ms. Jones started reading out my compositions to the class as an example of one of the best English compositions in the entire grade.
During my second year in High School, I was shortlisted for a writing competition that involved 100 other students from the entire city. My English teacher then, Mr. Roberts, came to class and broke the good news to me. Out of the 100 students, only ten of us were to go to the finals. The winner of this competition was to be awarded a trophy, free training course in excellent writing, and a $200 cheque. I knew beyond any reasonable doubt that this was my opportunity. I gave this opportunity my all. I followed every of the instructions given on how to write and even engaged my elder sister to help. The results came after three weeks and unfortunately, I did not make it to the finals. This broke my heart. I felt like it was unfair. However, I picked myself up and decided to pursue writing regardless of the failure.
My moment of transformation in writing came after this incident. I decided to learn more about writing by reading different materials that contained tips and new ideas in writing. One day, as I went through the internet, I came across tips by Stephen King on how to incorporate the art of fiction in my writing. One of the elements that stood out was the fact that he insisted on wide reading. I came to learn that one of the major things that led to my failure was my inconsistency in reading a variety of materials. I believed in his conclusion that insisted on constant reading which would pull one into the place of writing where one can do it without being self-conscious (Cohen 182). I also learned that there are two categories of books; the good ones and the bad ones. King emphasizes on the fact that good books will teach one on how and what to write. Bad books, on the other hand, do not give one any motivation for writing. Instead, they contain information that cannot be used as ideas for writing. This ignited the fire for reading good books. As I went to the library or to the store for books, I started to be highly selective on the books I bought or rented.
Secondly, I learned that consistent reading was crucial in improving one’s writing. Earlier on, I believed that reading was only meant for closed doors or during the times I would go to the park for a walk with Lynn and Rozie. Through reading King’s book, I realized that inconsistent reading was an undoing towards my writing skills. He insists on taking a book with me at all times, everywhere, regardless of the amount of time I have. In his view, reading in bits as well as in chunks improves one’s writing ability at all times (Cohen 190).
To sum it up, I have made huge positive steps in my writing career. I have known how to apply different styles of writing which has opened many opportunities for me. At the moment, I am working on a project that involves writing poems that can be adopted by institutions in the near future for their literature classes. I also intend to write a fictional play and book as a way of practicing my acquired skills. As a way of giving back to the society, I plan to mentor young girls and boys and initiate a program that will enhance their writing and reading skills.
Works Cited
Cohen, Samuel. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. NY: W.H. Freeman, 2003.