If your educational experience gives you nothing else, at least let it give you a an appreciation for writing.
Some may not have a field or future where they will use writing all the time. But think about how many things you have to read every day. The next time you're reading something, think to yourself, "does this make sense?" See if the writer has conveyed the meaning you think they meant. You will always need to know how read and write a little, so try to take away what you need.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Writing Jobs
I was given this website to look at when I asked the question, "How do you turn writing from an enemy to a friend?"(This link is a PDF, it may take a little time to download. If it doesn't work, here is the homepage for the link.)
Ten people were interviewed and asked how long they spend, each day, writing. Surprisingly, engineers, restaurant owners, Air Force mechanics, land surveyors, and math teachers spend a chunk of their day writing. And of course, so does the college student. It seems almost all jobs are writing jobs.
The National Council of Teachers of English has done some great research, finding writing everywhere in the world. Many of the people interviewed talked about how much time they spend on facebook writing. Also, many of the people expressed feelings similar to my mother in-law; they were surprised how often they had to use writing to communicate once they were finished with school.
Perhaps you can look at your own life, when do you catch yourself writing? Do you have a blog? Do you use facebook? What kind of writing are you involved in for your profession?
The whole idea behind learning how to write in college with our academic papers is to learn how to take our ideas and convey them in a way that makes sense to others. We don't want to be misunderstood. Even while you are in school, you can start applying writing to your future profession. Be prepared for whatever is out there.
What's Your Experience?
Appreciating writing doesn't always take a deep personal connection, but just a bad experience. Have you ever been reading an instruction manual that does anything but instruct?
Because of our new technological age, we must learn how to write. The internet connects almost everyone. We must learn how to speak to survive in the world. It's becoming more important to learn how to write well, simply to communicate your ideas to others with no confusion.
Because of our new technological age, we must learn how to write. The internet connects almost everyone. We must learn how to speak to survive in the world. It's becoming more important to learn how to write well, simply to communicate your ideas to others with no confusion.
Not an Assembly Line
Fulfilling the assignment for the teacher sometimes makes you feel like you're a member of a writing assembly line. There's nothing personal about it. How do you put you in your writing?
At the end of the semester, I asked one of the students I TA for how he felt about his writing, or how it improved. He said, "Well, I don't know, I changed all the topic sentences to how you like them."
I failed. Somehow, this student slipped through the system, feeling like he had to meet requirements that were meaningless to him.
Keep in mind that there are many different ways to write a good paper. The teacher usually teaches one structure as an example, but if your reader can understand your new, different, or creative style and you get your point across, then you've succeeded as a writer. You don't need to fold to the mold of assembly writing.
Unexpected
I had a conversation with my mother in-law the other day, she mentioned how important she thought it was to learn how to write well.
Her husband is a good-old-cowboy. About 15 years ago, he got a job as the editor and producer of a agricultural magazine. He knew a lot about the content of the magazine, but didn't have the editing skills. Luckily, his wife knew how to write well. Once she graduated, she never expected to be involved with any type of editing or writing; it came unexpectedly. She also said there have been many times where she has had to write letters to companies or government officials that she really needed to know how to write well for.
Learning how to write well, and love it, is important for many reasons than just academic writing. Find a way that writing will benefit you in your life, and writing will be a tool rather than a head ache.
Her husband is a good-old-cowboy. About 15 years ago, he got a job as the editor and producer of a agricultural magazine. He knew a lot about the content of the magazine, but didn't have the editing skills. Luckily, his wife knew how to write well. Once she graduated, she never expected to be involved with any type of editing or writing; it came unexpectedly. She also said there have been many times where she has had to write letters to companies or government officials that she really needed to know how to write well for.
Learning how to write well, and love it, is important for many reasons than just academic writing. Find a way that writing will benefit you in your life, and writing will be a tool rather than a head ache.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Writers Block
Perhaps you can relate to this kid. Writers block is real. I think the best way to overcome writers block is to either come up with questions that relate to the topic, and answer them; or to do something you love doing, watch a movie, listen to music. Do something to refresh your mind.
A Common Enemy
Based off a few of my TA meetings with students and the last blog post, I've concluded that we create enemies out of things we don't understand or have some sort of personal connection or value to.
Writing doesn’t have to be your enemy.
One of my first meetings as a TA, a student came, plopped down in the chair next to me and said, "Can I just say how ridiculous I think this is. The teacher grades so that there is no way you can get a good grade the first time through, making it so I have to come in here."
I didn't quite know how to handle this. So I tried to reassure him that this whole revision process was going to be useful.
Weeks down the road, during our last conference, he said "I see how this can be beneficial. Sitting down with someone to figure out what's wrong with the paper is like having your own personalized grader. It's hard for the teacher to make all the grades for their students fair, but having someone help you one on one focuses more on each person’s needs."
I was stunned when I saw this person's transformation. I asked him a few questions to find out more of how he felt about the whole process. The conversation basically concluded with the idea that he always thought writing was annoying and not for him. But now he feels like it has purpose, and that it doesn't have to be a horrible experience.
One key point to this story is that he found a personal way to connect to writing. Hopefully the revision process can do this for you. If you don't understand, find some way to make writing important, meaningful, and/or useful in your life, and it won't be so bad.
Writing doesn’t have to be your enemy.
One of my first meetings as a TA, a student came, plopped down in the chair next to me and said, "Can I just say how ridiculous I think this is. The teacher grades so that there is no way you can get a good grade the first time through, making it so I have to come in here."
I didn't quite know how to handle this. So I tried to reassure him that this whole revision process was going to be useful.
Weeks down the road, during our last conference, he said "I see how this can be beneficial. Sitting down with someone to figure out what's wrong with the paper is like having your own personalized grader. It's hard for the teacher to make all the grades for their students fair, but having someone help you one on one focuses more on each person’s needs."
I was stunned when I saw this person's transformation. I asked him a few questions to find out more of how he felt about the whole process. The conversation basically concluded with the idea that he always thought writing was annoying and not for him. But now he feels like it has purpose, and that it doesn't have to be a horrible experience.
One key point to this story is that he found a personal way to connect to writing. Hopefully the revision process can do this for you. If you don't understand, find some way to make writing important, meaningful, and/or useful in your life, and it won't be so bad.
Redfine the Thesis
When we have to write a paper, it's easy to scare ourselves. You've loathed writing since the day you were introduced to the words: sentance fragment, comma splice, topic sentance, and thesis.
This video teaches a great point. We need to redefine what we learned in grade school. This guy tries to redefine how you look at the concept of a thesis statement.
This video teaches a great point. We need to redefine what we learned in grade school. This guy tries to redefine how you look at the concept of a thesis statement.
Deliver
When you get a letter in the mail, the mail man doesn't have to stop and explain the situation. You know that someone, a company or a friend, has sent you something. You take the letter and open it, no additional instructions needed. This is such an ordinary process; it's hard to imagine that it would be difficult.
One of the main purposes of writing is to clearly communicate ideas from one person to the next. Many times you won't be there to explain what you meant when you wrote your paper, or when you wrote a "how to" manual for some software. Hopefully there will be no oral explanation necessary.
Again this emphasizes the idea that you need to revise your paper as much as you can. Have someone read your paper to themselves. You could email it to them and ask them to read it before you come to talk to them about it. When you talk to them, ask them what they felt your main ideas were. If they explain what you were trying to say, you've done a great job. This is a great and helpful process.
One of the main purposes of writing is to clearly communicate ideas from one person to the next. Many times you won't be there to explain what you meant when you wrote your paper, or when you wrote a "how to" manual for some software. Hopefully there will be no oral explanation necessary.
Again this emphasizes the idea that you need to revise your paper as much as you can. Have someone read your paper to themselves. You could email it to them and ask them to read it before you come to talk to them about it. When you talk to them, ask them what they felt your main ideas were. If they explain what you were trying to say, you've done a great job. This is a great and helpful process.
Pot Holes
They plague the streets of Rexburg; you can't avoid them. Pot holes are everywhere. Once, for a photography project, I scouted out and took pictures of some of the worst pot holes in Rexburg. Before I began looking, I wasn't sure how I would find some of the worst ones. I quickly learned that just by driving around the city, it wasn't hard to find them.
Trying to find all the little problems in your own paper after hours of reading it over and over again can seem near to impossible. Give your friend the steering wheel of your paper. As they read it out loud, you will undoubtedly find all the little pot holes.
I have been doing this as I work as a TA. The student will sit next to me, we put the paper between each other, and then I read the paper to them out loud. With a pen in their hand, they always find something to mark and change. Don't be afraid to have someone help with your paper. The more eyes that read the paper, the more mistakes you'll find.
Trying to find all the little problems in your own paper after hours of reading it over and over again can seem near to impossible. Give your friend the steering wheel of your paper. As they read it out loud, you will undoubtedly find all the little pot holes.
I have been doing this as I work as a TA. The student will sit next to me, we put the paper between each other, and then I read the paper to them out loud. With a pen in their hand, they always find something to mark and change. Don't be afraid to have someone help with your paper. The more eyes that read the paper, the more mistakes you'll find.
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