Hello all! I recently read an article which I'm sure many of my readers can relate to called The Inspired Writer Vs. the Real Writer by Sarah Allen. Allen focuses on how real writing is not how many people perceive writing to be. While many believe in what she calls "the Inspired Writer": the writer with precise clean lines and prose where writer's block isn't even heard of. Although a lot of people (especially those who feel their academic writing skills are not up to par) can envision any professional writer as this god-like being, they'd be surprised to know that it's usually not the case. Allen discusses how her colleagues also suffered from poor writing skills, and - to my surprise - even Allen herself has suffered from the perils of writing throughout her undergraduate education.
This took me back to my junior year of high school, after three years of rigorous writing classes which centered around essays and grammatical structure, my writing skills were put to the test in a college-level philosophy course. Learning about philosophy was intriguing, and fun, but out of nowhere halfway through the course my professor reminded the class of the 12 page paper "we should be starting soon." Even though I had previous experience with writing, I felt extremely underprepared for 12 pages of non-stop writing on the morality of torture. I was bewildered. Torture? Really? All that was running through my head was: how can anyone ever write 12 pages on whether or not torture is morally justified?! In the end, I only managed to achieve a B on the paper, after pages and pages of just reiterating what I already covered in the very beginning. I felt it was near impossible to expand so much on a topic to cover 12 pages. With my bad experience over with though, I've been constantly mentally preparing myself for the workload college has to offer (like the 8 page essay that's set to be due on my birthday, uh oh!).
Allen gave me hope though, when describing a similar distaste for writing while also expanding on why she writes anyway despite all the nauseating work that goes into it. She says, "...there's the emotion, revelation, clench of teeth, slackening of shoulders, or any other response, that a text elicits from even it's own writer." This is important to me, because although I find writing to be a pain, all the work that goes into it is definitely worth it in the end when your best end work shines through the rubble of rough drafts and trashed ideas.
Something I also found interesting about Allen was her "formula" for writing about academic topics. She introduces the idea of imitating other writers, specifically ones who you feel are superior to you in terms of writing. Now, the vague idea of it sounds like it's borderline plagiarism, but I see what she means. Allen doesn't mean just taking people's ideas and writings, she means that the writers we look up to we should be influenced by. She talks about a writer from which she uses the same structure when writing a paper. Clearly, if you consider a writer to be phenomenal, there must be something structurally they're doing right, and you should take that in and allow yourself to be influenced by that for the sake of bettering your own writing. It shouldn't cloud your voice, rather it will make your voice and ideas heard more clearly.
Other than imitating, she also discusses the importance of getting another person's opinion on your writing. Not just have your friend or mom take a look at it, but really ask your professor or another person who is a professional writer to revise your work and see what needs to be changed. It's important to get your professors input to see what needs to be changed to get the best grade, but also another person to help make it more of a working text to be graded.
This article made me feel much better and much more prepared for academic writing in a college setting, and most importantly allowed me to let go of the illusion of the "Inspired Writer". I hope it's done the same for you guys, my readers, and best of luck to you when your next writing assignment is leaving you stressed and feeling inadequate.
Hey Sam! I never took a philosophy course in high school, but your view on the colossal 12 page paper made me think of my first research paper, back in 7th grade. I had to find a topic, any topic, and have a whole trimester of school to try and create a research paper. I was so overwhelmed with not only the possibilities that I could pick, but the great amount of work it took to make a research paper. However, just like you, I was able to work through the tough paper and look forward to tougher writing in the future!
ReplyDeleteI also had a huge paper my junior year and it was all the hype because everyone in my class was so nervous. We had to connect an American history topic with an American literature. It was difficult because I had to make that connection and then I had to write the paper. Like you, I was astounded to find that I had to write an argumentative ten paged paper. I wrote, edited, and rewrote. I'm a perfectionist so I would reread my paragraphs. I learned a lot from this paper and it gave me the confidence I needed to write essays at a college level. We all can learn from Sarah Allen and how everyone needs to edit and rewrite before any publishing. Knowing that everyone also goes through the same general struggles is comforting.
ReplyDeleteWow I completely understand your frustration of that paper. I find that assigning students to write twelve pages is utterly ridiculous. Who has that much to say about one subject? I too had to write long term papers in my history classes but I kind of enjoyed writing them and learned a ton of information from it.
ReplyDeleteI also think that she helped us give great advice about the writing process in college. I usually go to my parents to look over my essays and it's frustrating having to explain to them what exactly I should be writing about.