writing preface

I've never wrote so many essay's in so little time before this class.  Usually, I am a pretty good writer, but it's always hard for me to get started or pick a topic.  I am much better at writing things from my mind or from emotion, than from any research or information.  Research and information are hard to find for me, and they are hard to make into your own words, with only facts.  This class has opened me up to all different kinds of essay's I hadn't done before, and to get started on those, I had to sit down and not get up till it was done.  Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to finish them because I get very distracted.  

When I think about what I'm going to write, I usually just sit in front of the computer until i think of something good.  I also procrastinate a lot, although I did that more in high school.  I think I do this because I really don't like writing or just doing any work for school.  I try to find a main idea before I start writing so I can try to base the whole essay on this point, but sometimes the main idea isn't good enough and the essay broadens out as it goes along.  In this case, I have to adjust my thesis a bit.  I think it's beneficial for an instructor to read and comment on my writing, but other students can just make the same mistakes I do.  Or, something they comment could be wrong and unhelpful and if I didn't know that I could change my essay for the worse.  

My papers were good for me because I never write essay's, not even before in school, and I did all 4 essay's with confidence.  I arranged my paper's 1-4 chronologically.  I think they show my growth as a writer and how I improved my structure skills.  The teacher made a comment on my second paper telling me about how I needed a stronger argument because I needed to base everything on that argument and the thesis.  This helped me because then I took the time to find a much stronger argument and the rest of the paper came much easier and stronger.  Then when I went to the writing center, the helper told me that each topic sentence should reflect the thesis, and the rest of the paragraph.  This let me know what each topic sentence was supposed to be like and that helped me find arguments for each of my paragraphs that actually related to my topic.  

My writing has been thoroughly improved after all these essay's I wrote in this class.  After all the critics of my papers form students, teachers, and writing center helpers, I feel like I know how to break down an essay now.  From basing the essay and the topic sentences on the main idea and thesis, to finding a good enough argument to actually keep through out the essay, this class has taught me a lot.  I know that this semester will really help me excel next semester and finish up english.