Opinion Editorial Reflection

            Initially, I was tentative about the opinion editorial assignment, almost as if it were a new menu item at the burger grill that had great advertisements, but in actuality tasted really awful.  The whole concept of the paper sounded scrumptious--creating your own ideas, expressing your own personal convictions pertaining to a specific area of interest--, but the tedious, redundant nature of the writing/drafting process proved to not be all peaches and roses.  It consumed hours, focused concentration, excavation into the deep creative caverns of the mind, a considerable expenditure of mental energy.  Despite these rigorous qualities, however, it was a healthy, growth-promoting task, and one very satisfying to conquer.

            I began the whole assignment, after the idea and thesis/supportive reason proposal, by constructing my paper through a random spill of ideas.  Basically, any thought or idea that cropped up in the garden of my mind, I jotted down into the meat of the paper.  After all my surface creativity was spent, I confronted the scattered ideas and organized them according to their proper topic sentence pertinence.  Then the editorial started to take shape, and have meaning and purpose, not just a jumbled vat of unconnected thoughts.  Eventually, the first, rough body of the paper was completely hewn, and offered up for peer/teacher review.  Of course, it was pocked with frequent imperfections, of which I was the head reviser of.  I added, cut, rearranged, slimmed, bulked, and polished the paragraphs to produce a cleaner, more powerful piece.  Thus, the final draft eased forth into literary existence.

            I definitely employed certain tools and tactics in the writing style of my article.  One thing that I certainly love is creative, descriptive language and story-telling, and, since I focused my ideas greatly upon the outdoors, I wrote about specific places or scenes in nature that I've enjoyed, and the feelings attached thereto.  I just hoped that these detailed digressions would foster welcoming avenues that pulled audience readers into the paper, and kept them happy to be rolling along.  Another device I used was to include logical, evidential points about how being outside and doing those hearty activities provides legit health benefits, mentally and physically.  I also mentioned the social and spiritual consequences of prolonged indoor existence.  I also hoped that the interspersed scriptural references, general conference/movie quotes would bolster my argument.  I tried to use as much authority in my writing, and boldness as seemed appropriate and effective.

            I felt that I could've improved in a couple various areas.  My own personal experiences and growth with getting to know and appreciate the beauty and power of nature haven't been limited to only scouts or family trips, but also were due greatly in part to sports.  I failed to mention those uplifting adventures.  Also, I feel like, even after some revision, I completely discredited and shunned the modern-age technology, which really does have some good benefits.  In fact, if it weren't for my laptop, I wouldn't enjoy the privilege of writing my papers conveniently, or being able to quickly message my family or friends in far-off places.  Lastly, I should have found more of the true, impressive statistics that correlate with my desired message; there's lots of good stuff out there, but I didn't really look into that realm too extensively.