~Writing With *SsTyLe*~

Style is defined as "a distinctive manner of expression" (Webster). I personally believe that everyone has their own distinctive style with everything, eating, speaking, learning, driving, etc. However, when it comes to writing, having a good personal style is probably most important. The reason for this is that your style (particularly in writing for the media) will define whether the receiver or person reading it will like and enjoy it...which in turn will decide whether they read what you have to say later on in the future. For this reason, it is important to be unique, clear and captivating in your style, so that people understand and like what you are writing about.

Defining a certain "style" can be difficult, but chapter 3 of Writing for the Mass Media did change my thinking about style a bit. In a way, your particular style includes how clear and precise you are, whether you are "just to the point" or you go aroung the point countless times. Your style also includes your transitions and how smoothly you use them, how specific you are, whether you use the "inverted pyramid" style or not...and so on. All of these concepts are important, and how often you use them and the way in which you use them probably define your particular style. As the book states, the most important concept to have is accuracy. If you are writing for the media and it is something that will be published, then this is obviously by far the most important concept because people are always looking to read the truth. When you dont write the facts accurately, you lose credibility, and then there is no point in reading from an author that you feel there is no reason to believe in.

Style is probably the most important thing to consider when writing, but most likely the majority of people dont even think about it, they just write. If you are writing for the media, however, it is important to keep in mind all the points that were covered in chapter 3, just because as it was stated, there are certain rules that you must keep. Finally, practicing "KISS"can be a major point in having your writing stand out and appeal to readers...as Professor Proctor says "Keep It Simple Stupid!!!" :)

"Writing is Thinking..."

"Writing is thinking" is a quote that many writers live by, and I happen to definitely agree with them. When you write, you are inadvertently portraying everything that is going on in your mind, regardless of the type of writing that you are doing. Whether its fiction or non-fiction, a journal entry, writing for a class, writing lyrics for a song, or any other type of activity that involves writing, you are expressing your inner thoughts and feelings. The reason for this is that when you write, you are using your imagination to depict whatever it is that you might want to put out there, whether it is for others to read, or if it is writing just to let your frustrations out. I myself can definitely vouch for this, because sometimes I feel as though something might be bothering me, but I am not quite sure of what, so I write down everything I'm feeling, and I end up feeling much better, because I've been thinking and analyzing the situation without really even being aware of it.

At the same time, many people also feel that when they are not able to express their feelings, thoughts, or emotions verbally, it is easier for them to express it through writing, for many reasons. First of all, sometimes we might be scared to confront someone and tell them how we really feel about them, or maybe we are scared of what their response might be, so we choose to tell them in writing, so that we can express ourselves fully, without interruptions. Some other times, we just find it easier to communicate that way, because we don't have to be looking up at that person, or searching for their immediate reactions. In this way, we are expressing our thoughts through writing. Finally, I would like to point out that as you write, more and more thoughts come to your mind, making you think more, making "writing" the same thing as "thinking".

Blog 1

If you ask most people to go back and think of the so called "good days", most will undoubtfully refer back to their childhood days. I am no different. Don Pedro Albizu Campos School, the elementary school were I started both my social and academic life, is where I spent my days from age six until age twelve. There I formed great friendships that i'm still blessed to have today. At my sixth grade graduation, or "closing ceremony", as our principal Mr. Rodriguez called it, I was nominated valedictorian, due to my oustanding grades. I went on to attend junior high school only two blocks down from my beloved elementary school located in west Manhattan. There I was a part of the business subschool, were we learned much about computers and took great trips, such as visits to banks and the stock market at Wallstreet. Not being fortunate enough to graduate from there as the valedictorian, I still went on to a great high school, Manhattan Center for Science and Math. However, after only attending MCSM one year, my parents moved us to the Dominican Republic, were they are originally from. I continued my high school education there, in an American school by the name of George Washington School. I grew to love and respect my high school and the students there as well.

Jose Flores, who is now the vice president of enrollment manager at Manhattanville College, came to speak to use at my school. He told us all about Manhattanville and how it is a small school with a beautiful campus and small classes in which professors get to know you by your name. My first choice was Columbia University, but being that I was in the Dominican Republic at the time that I was applying to colleges, I didn't really have many ways to reach schools and visit them. So I decided that I would only apply to Manhattanville and if accepted, then I would attend it until I could go see and apply to other colleges. After being accepted and moving back to New York City, I started attending Manhattanville College in late August of 2005. I definitely loved the campus, but I was having a hard time adjusting and became home sick. However, like with most things, I got used to my environment, and grew to love and care for my surroundings, especially the people I was meeting. The classes at Manhattanville were great, mostly because of the professors, and I decided (based on the intro classes that I took) that I wanted to be a double major in psychology and communications, which is what I am working on now. Within the psychology field, I like Industrial Psychology, and within communications, I am interested in public relations.

For the future, I plan to hopefully graduate at the top of my class (I am keeping my fingers crossed), and get a few internships in both the psychology and the communications field, so that I can then decide which one I like best. Soon after, I hope to be attending grad-school, I am not sure of where yet. The good thing about both my majors is that even though it might not seem so, they overlap. All psychologist have to be good communicators to understand their patients, and all communicators must be able to understand people in order to successfully communicate with them.

This course definitely fits into all my future plans in many ways. First of all, if I plan to achieve my future career plans of being a public relations specialist, then I need to have great writting skills because we all know that public relations has a lot to do with press releases and such. Every time that I look into internships, one of their requirements is always "outstanding writing skills". Another good thing about this class is that we are going to learn how to write for the public relations field, which again benefits me because I need as much experience as I can get! Writing is such an important part of most professions, it can make or break you, especially in the public relation business. For these reasons, I believe this course is one of the most important ones that I will take towards my communications degree.