Writing Diagnostic, Essay Example

Last year I agreed to write a feature article for a widely-circulated news magazine about “An Unsung Hero” living in my city. What I found most challenging about this assignment was finding a person who had, without any expectations, helped others in many different ways and whose praises had not yet been sung. When I felt that I had found somebody, that person was too humble to agree to be recognized in such a public way. As with other assignments, I once again found getting started on the writing to be the most challenging.

I finally found someone who met the criteria laid out by the editor and who agreed to be featured in the magazine. What a frustrating experience that turned out to be! The focus of the article was to be on the deeds that qualified her as an unsung hero, not about her family history, the various places she had lived, her scholastic ability and her vacations. If the editor was not expecting this article, I would not have completed it. Finally, however, I completed an article that the editor, the unsung hero, and I found acceptable—and the readers loved! Consequently, in the end, this had not only been a great learning experience, but also a rewarding one.

Writing for newspapers and news magazines is somewhat different than academic writing, but not at all difficult. There are, for instance, many one-sentence paragraphs. References are handled differently as well. Since I love writing, I was pleased to have learned to write for another source. I actually enjoy that style of writing so much that I have written several more such articles. The easiest part of the assignment was making sure that there were no spelling nor grammatical errors, that it was well developed, that there were good transitions and that it flowed. I get totally engrossed in my writing and lose all track of time. If what I am writing, holds my attention that much, it will surely hold the reader’s as well, which is very important.