Out of the two articles, “I need you to say ‘I’”: Why First Person is Important in College Writing by Kate McKinney Maddalena and, Find your Style and Voice by Sister Molly Heine, Heine’s stood out to me the most. Growing up, I was very reserved, the opposite of what I’d think now. I never wanted to be shy but I never knew how not to. It was in everything I did, dancing, school, meeting new people, and especially writing. I didn’t know how to find the style and voice Heines talks about or that I even had one. I knew everyone else did but that wasn’t even an option when it came to me.
Heines summarizes what I did to find my style of writing. I always knew writing was my passion but I didn’t know it was something I did well. It certainly wasn’t anything I was dying to show anyone. In third grade, my teacher asked me to write about a time I had fun. There were no requirements but just to write. Little did I know that was for a gifted and talented school my teacher specifically picked me for. It sounds like a small event but it was from there that I realized maybe I can be myself in writing. Junior year of high school was when I decided to take writing seriously.
I read other people’s work like Heines recommends and I wrote whenever I could. She was right, the more you practice writing the easier it becomes to find your specific style. Even now, I find that as I write for different reasons, I figure out stuff about me that I didn’t know was there. It’s definitely a process.
I’m not sure if I got anything out of this article only because I figured this stuff out myself in my own journey. But I know it’s helpful for those who are trying to figure out their way of writing. The only thing I’d recommend is for her to go deeper on how to find it. When she says to read other’s work she doesn’t go into depth on how that helps or other things to try if none of what she recommends helps. I did like some of the quotes she uses, especially the one by Rodrigo Joseph Rodriguez, “The writer needs to be present and breathing on the print or digital page.”
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