Orozco Narrative

Genesis:

Where Did My Writing Skills Come

From?

In the beginning there was a pack of number two, wooden pencils all
sharpened and have not been used yet. They were all still pure and have not
yet been touched by paper. Their pink heads were perfectly pink and
cylindrical without any smudge or dents. It has now come to the time where I
have to write my story. I wonder how these pencils would feel or what they
would think about when I script words about how I got my writing skills. One
pencil will be moving through movement of my thoughts and how I tell my
story. My genesis is the birth of my skills in reading and writing. During the
dash between June 13, 1996 and present I have learned and relearned
throughout my school career the art of writing.
The way I talk with others can have an influence on the way I write. In
a class setting, I would not talk the way I talk at home, to my teacher, or
professor. I would certainly not whine but instead address them as, Yes
maam. At home is where I first learned to talk through the nurturing from
my parents. Being a Hispanic, I was always babied; and to this day, I still talk
chipl or babyish to my grandparents and my mom. Since I was a little girl,
I would behave a bit nave to get things that I wanted. My mom would give
me sympathy a couple of minutes later after she was upset about my
mischievousness. I still have that kind of language at home because that is
how I was raised. As life goes on I learn how to talk to others based on their

discourse community. For example, after a few weeks of working at my first

job, I learned how to approach customers by giving them customer service.
When it comes to writing about me, I can describe it as informal because it is
a reflection of my personality. If it was a persuasive essay or summary, I
know to use proper vocabulary. As for the way I speak, depending on the
type of person or group, I know different ways of how to talk in different
types of writing formats. For instance, in elementary school, I was prompted
for what I was going to write about.
In elementary school, I was told to write stories many times; and these
were based on my imagination. I remember I wrote a creative story about a
snake-like monster I encountered living under my bed. The creature had an
access to a portal to another dimension. I remember it was four pages front
and back long. I was excited to let my classmates read my story. They all
complimented me with the same words, That is creative. Now, when it
comes to writing my narrative or my story, it can be a hassle. Writing my
story is so broad in my opinion because my story can mean a personal
experience or a made up tale. So why is it hard to write a story now? Is it
because of when I was a kid I had a head full of imagination and now I am a
reasonably logical grown-up? I have heard that kids are the most creative. As
we grow up, we tend to lose our creativity because we are experienced
solving complex problems, engaged in thinking skills, reasoned and lived up
to the high expectations in life. While I have learned and relearned ways of
how to write, what to put on paper, one thing I have noticed as I moved up to

higher grade levels to high school is that teachers lack the emphasis of
creative writing.
In elementary, before going into middle school, I was told, as long as
you have a beginning, middle, and end you will be good. It only makes sense
for us to follow that order because it would not make sense to start reading
from the end of a novel to the beginning or the chicken coming before the
egg. Where did it all start? It seems to me that I have not heard anyone
question, Why do we start from the beginning and follow that specific
order? Sometimes as student, I do not like to question the obvious, if it is
even obvious. I could get a duh answer. Sometimes we follow the rule it is
just the way it is and there is no such thing as an answer. In contrast, I have
read stories and even watched TV shows like the new one I watch on the
Disney Channel, I Didnt Do It where it does not start from the beginning. As
a matter of fact, the t.v. show is enhanced by showing a few minutes of the
ending then go back to the beginning so the audience can find out how they
got into their sticky situation. To question myself, why was I taught to start
my writing with a thesis?
I was first introduced to what a thesis was in the ninth grade; my class
spent the entire school year in English on how to write a strong thesis. I
remember sophomore year, I got in trouble when it came to literary writing
because all essays were based on a prompt about the novel. Thus, I did
poorly on the essays because I could not prove my thesis or did not even
have a strong thesis. I could not support my thesis because I would either

not read or easily give up on the novel. I will fall asleep or I would not even
know what I had read because I just read words that I did not comprehend.
My teachers had always told us: first is thesis, then supporting ideas. These
supporting ideas will be our paragraphs in our body. Then the conclusion is
basically a summary of the introduction plus any thoughts about the topic. In
high school all my essays were based from reading, research, or anything
else that is not from the imagination. From what I experienced when I was a
sophomore I did not see the joy in writing because, if I can recall, we rarely
did any creative writing. Sure I learned ornaments to make our writing
interesting and coherent like transitions, metaphors, similes, onomatopoeias,
and imagery. But, how can I use this stuff if I have trouble trying to write out
the structure of my essay?
If I did not struggle and had the joy of writing something I would
definitely add some adornments such as onomatopoeias. In high school I
rarely used any in my writings because all of the essays were based on a
reading; if I remember correctly. It makes sense to me to not have a sound
effect when I am trying to compare the differences in the two families of
Romeo and Juliet. Maybe onomatopoeias are a way to grasp attention. DING!
My light bulb just turned on! This type of embellishment entices me to
express myself in my writings.
However, there are many factors as to why writing can be difficult.
First, sometimes I am limited to vocabulary that is expected of me. I know it
can be hard to avoid elementary words such as good, like, bad, and

said, but that does not make me a poor writer. Maybe using common words
is a reference I choose when I am having trouble trying to say something
because everyone understands the language of simplicity. I have some
advanced vocabulary in the dictionary stored in my brain. It just depends on
when I can use those words and when are they appropriate.
Maybe, another reason why I struggle with writing is the constant
thought of thinking of writing. The more I think, the higher the amount of
energy I will lose. So, instead of just thinking of thinking to write, just do it.
Then that energy I have inside of me is used efficiently; just write! The same
can go with reading; and I have been improving. Mostly, what keeps me from
wanting to read is the thought of having to read which pulls my focus to
How many pages have I read? Is the chapter almost over? and What
time is it? I am a very distracted individual when it comes to reading. All in
all, to avoid the preoccupation of reading and writing I learned that just
practice, practice, and practice would help improve my self-esteem in
reading and writing.
Interestingly, when I started community college I learned a totally
different way of how to write; and it is not starting from the beginning.
Rather, start anywhere! The end, middle, or anywhere else because it is
more efficient just to write out whatever I have in my head right now than to
just think of how to write. But, focus is very important meaning each
paragraph is focused in one topic. It may work when talking to a person and
just jumping everywhere with what you have to say, but not in an essay.

Anyways, I find this pleasant because this new advice I received just saved
me a load of time by just simply writing.
To sum up, my writing skills are the way they are because it is all of the
lessons I have retained from elementary to now. This paper is probably a
representation of how strong my writing skills are and I know I can be better.
I basically have applied everything I learned in all my years of school onto
this paper to explain where my writing came from. This essay was actually
pretty fun to write because I let out all of my confusion and my opinions to
share with others. It was like a therapy session where I just describe my
thoughts; and the little Cassandras in my brain are happily shredding all the
thoughts in the shredder as I flush them out of my mouth. Now fewer
thoughts to carry!