Workshop Draft Paper 3

Aglay Saenz

11/19/17

ENC 1101

Intro

Writing methods are unique, much like the style of ones own handwriting or drawing.

We each have our own ways of going about how we write, from time constraints to how we

come up with ideas on what we write. I would like to explain how I write, though not with a

conventional essay paper. I will be using my own texting as the subject, and go about explaining

how I write, or text, to others.

Body

Who do I text?

As of Friday, November 17, 2017, the people that I text the most are my parents, my

friends, my cousin, and my engineering group. These will be the four groups that will be

described and talked about in this paper.

What do I text?

With my parents, we mostly talk about how each others day went, and if we were all

right and safe. On occasion, we would send pictures of what we have done for the day. For

example, my parents went out to eat to a local Japanese restaurant back in Tampa, and they sent

me pictures of themselves smiling and eating the food. I can appreciate that, as I have not seen

either of their faces in a while, and respond happily with a cheery text and a positive emoji. In

return, I usually send them photos of what I have done in the day, specifically what I have done
 Workshop Draft Paper 3

in Engineering as they were most intrigued by what I do in my Intro to Engineering class. They

would usually respond with a happy and/or confused-looking emoji next to what they would say,

which is along the lines of wow, interesting!

Now, with my cousin, I text her everything and anything I can, as she is unavailable most

of the time and cannot respond with a phone call. What I text her ranges from how my day went

to what my somewhat-annoying roommate has done this time to what I have done for homework

or drawing. I snap photos of the things that I see or have done and put little captions underneath,

exaggerating what I truly mean in hopes of entertaining her. She understands what I tell her, and

would respond with one word, which describes her reaction to what I say, then continue the

conversation in another text, prompting me to tone myself down and give her the real story

behind what I send her. In addition to this, I send her my drawings from time to time, requesting

that she send me constructive criticism (as she is the one in an artistic magnet school). When she

has the time, she provides feedback on my drawings and also adds cheeky comments, such as

lol the eyes are kinda big though, and I would reply with lol why do you have to be so rude,

those are MY eyes!

Compared to writing to my family, I water things down and stay simple with my friends.

As we see each other often in person, what we text is usually what assignments are due when,

and ask each other for help on certain topics. For example, my friend Becky is in College

Algebra with me and she would ask for help on certain topics, such as finding domains of an

inequality or finding half-life of an element. The texts I respond with are usually short, but I try

to keep it concise and as clear as I can get it, as to not confuse her. Once I respond, she texts

further queries on what to do, and this time I attempt to give a more detailed explanation on what

to do.
 Workshop Draft Paper 3

Continuing on, the odd group out is my engineering group. As we were assigned to each

other for a project and had no idea who all the other people were, the texts were limited to telling

the group what is due and what they should be doing to complete the project.

As time went on, we grew more comfortable with each other and started telling jokes and

sending memes, as to boost morale, but the messages were usually straightforward and

uninteresting on my part, as my only interest was getting the project completed with a good

grade.

When do I text?

As my parents are not usually working at night, I send them texts at night, as to contact

them in a more convenient time for all of us.

With my cousin, I text her whenever I want, even late at night, and wait until she replies

with something. When she replies, it means that she is available and we can talk for a bit.

My friends are also on a whenever I want basis, although I do not text them any later

than midnight, unlike with my cousin. To add, my friends are the ones that text me first, so it is

more of a respond whenever I want basis.

My engineering group is much more of a restriction than any of the above. Although this

group is also a whenever I want basis, I rarely text them at all, unless it was to direct them on

what to do or answer their questions.

How do I text?

Most of the time, I actually text as formally as possible. Even with my family I do my

best to be grammatically correct and have correct spelling. And in keeping up with my formality,
 Workshop Draft Paper 3

I rarely use abbreviations such as lol (laughing out loud) and rofl (rolling on floor laughing),

instead using Haha! or Hilarious!, to name a few replacements.

With my parents and cousin, however, I do use emojis extensively. The reasoning for this

is that with them I do care about communicating my feelings through visuals, this case being

emojis. For them, it is much easier to see what I am trying to tell them, or simulate what my face

would look like if we were talking face-to-face. On the other hand, I rarely use emojis with my

friends and my engineering group. If I did use emojis with either of these groups, they had to

have said something extreme, whether it be good or bad.

Why not use something else, like Facebook or Email?

Compared to using social media, email, or simply calling someone, in my experience I

find that the people that I contact most often are more likely to respond more quickly with

texting than any of the previously mentioned methods. As texting provides faster response time, I

assume that they prioritize texting as a go-to for immediate contact. With social media, calling,

and email, it can be an inconvenience to have to take more time in responding to me by the

processes the medium they use demands of them. With texting, it is more convenient for

everyone, especially if they just need to let me know they are busy with something. They could

simply write I cant talk, busy! and I would understand that I can contact them later, at a more

convenient time.

Furthermore, focusing on social media, I am not much of a social media person to begin

with. I do not have Snapchat, or Kik, or any other popular app that allows me to communicate

with others. The only app I have is Instagram, and I barely use that. The instances I do use it are

only for looking at dog pictures, memes, and art reference pictures. Rarely do I ever actually post
 Workshop Draft Paper 3

something, let alone write to anybody, whether it be through Direct Messaging (DM) or

commenting.

It is not very effective for me or anyone that I talk to to use social media as an outlet of

communication between me and them, as I do not prioritize social media as my go-to for

immediate contact.

Conclusion

[Ill make one soon enough]

Another note: I will eventually curve back to the writing process in each section, but I

will have to do that later.