Reflection

When we were first told that part of this writing class would include posting a blog, I was not happy. I had never read a blog, and I certainly had never even thought about posting one. However, I found myself thoroughly enjoying our class blog. I liked reading what other people thought about popular shows, and I enjoyed sharing my own thoughts as well. I loved seeing how people's voices were apparent in their writing, especially as I got to know people in the class. Putting a face to a blog is an interesting perspective on a somewhat-anonymous way of sharing thoughts.

The hardest part of the blogging for me was trying not to repeat myself. When I start writing a blog, I find that it often takes on a direction of its own. Sometimes this direction is not at all what I planned on writing, but I like the new ideas that come to me as I'm putting together the blog. However, I found myself repeating the same main points and concepts in my blogs.

I also had a hard time coming up with ideas for my blogs. I didn't have much interest in summarizing a show, and since I don't follow many shows I found it difficult to find TV material to write about. However, by thinking about what shows I had recently watched that created some type of reaction in my thoughts (suprise, disgust, laughter) I was able to come up with some blog ideas. My Toddlers and Tiaras blog stemmed from the shock I felt after watching an episode of the show. The Biggest Loser concept came to me when I realized the irony of eating pizza while watching a weight loss show. Each blog was generated from some sort of reaction to a TV show.

My favorite part about the blogging was being able to connect a TV show to a larger concept. I found that this way of writing mimicked the way I typically think. I'm a "big-picture" type of person, and I tend to think about how a show fits into our culture instead of simply enjoying the TV program. I decided to write about Deal or No Deal because while watching the show, I realized that each contestant had very stereotypical personalites that tie into our idea of "good Americans". Although this can be a curse when I'm simply trying to relax and watch TV, I found the blogs to be a great outlet for these thoughts. I liked having the chance to share my thoughts with the blogging community as well.

I loved that we had so much freedom in terms of writing our blogs. Many writing classes that I have been in require a very structured and specific type of writing. I really enjoyed the opportunity to write about a subject of my choice. I think that this also made reading the class blog more interesting. Reading 17 blog posts on the same required prompt would have been miserable! Instead, we had the opportunity to hear the thoughts and opinions of our classmates, which always provides a unique learning experience.

When I went back and revised my blogs, I fixed a lot of grammatical mistakes. I tend to write fast, so this is an issue for me. I also tried to take out parts that felt repetitive or unnecessary to me. I noticed that throughout the course of the class, my writing seemed to flow a little better. I became more comfortable writing a free-flowing blog rather than a structured essay-type of blog. My first blog about Toddlers and Tiaras follows a typical introduction, body, conclusion setup, but my last blog about Wifeswap has a much less structured feel.

Overall, I thought that this was a great class that allowed for much more freedom and expression than most writing classes. I was pleasantly suprised by the assignments and my enjoyment of blogging! I loved getting to know my classmates through their blogs, and I thought that everyone had very unique outlooks on TV. My relationship with TV now involves a broader knowledge base since I have been introduced to so many new shows through my peer's blogs.