Has anyone ever noticed how much your writing style can change in a single month, let alone six? Hmm... Perhaps I should provide some context before I ask such a question, or at least attempt to.
You see, when I first joined Mizahar I'll admit, I thought I was a skilled writer. I'll also admit that I was dead wrong. In comparison to some of you fabulously talented people, I was nothing, I still am probably. My point is, I was dumbfounded by some of the comments graders were giving me. Not because of any arrogance, but simply because I didn't have the skill to translate their suggestions into my writing.
Now, I look back and cringe at the stuff I was writing last month, let alone in January. I even go as far as to avoid reading old threads entirely sometimes. Though, once you sit down and look through them and ignore the anguish-bringing infernal critic I've found that you can learn a lot, or at least I can.
Indeed, I've learned a lot about myself and my writing by doing this. For example, I used to overuse large and hefty words. I did this simply because I thought this was an indicator of skill, if only subconsciously. No, I wasn't doing this on purpose, but I was still doing it and it made my posts a little wordy and a good bit harder to read.
In comparison, I don't necessarily use smaller words six months later. But I have learned to space them out throughout a post. I've learned that readability should be a writer's first priority. I've learned how much I have to learn and how much room there's left to grow. Mizahar has fostered this and for that I'm thankful. I truly, truly am.