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College student hoping to expose people to thoughts and ideas they might not necessarily come across on a regular basis.

Scribble scribble,




Academic writing is usually quite boring. It really doesn't have to be a drag, though. It certainly isn't going to be fun, but it's important to find a way to negate the dull monotony of typing factual information, connecting ideas together, and including quotes that are meant to substantiate your statements.

I'm working on an 8-10 page French paper about religion and communism in this book, Masters of the Dew. Excellent book, loaded with religious and communist symbolism, and not all together unpleasant to write about.

But so often, I hear people tell me how much they hate writing essays and papers for school. And while I certainly don't love it, I've never found it difficult.


And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.
--Sylvia Plath

Many times, I hear people say that they're no good at writing, and they always get bad grades and they can't stand to do it. Well, the first and most serious problem that these people face is that fact that they think they aren't good at writing.

There is no formula for good writing. A+B does not always equal novel. Sometimes it does, but sometimes A+B = nothing. The important thing is to find a style of writing that fits you.

With academic writing, there is less room to maneuver, of course, because it requires a person to be formal. But let's look at this for a moment. There are different ways of arranging thoughts, different vocabulary you can use, and if you've got the imagination for it, you could connect two ideas together in an entirely new way that might make the person grading it sit back in surprise and decide that you've just struck upon something great.

The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say. --Mark Twain

One thing I would suggest doing, whether it's academic or recreational writing, is to just pour it all out. Get it down on paper, or on your computer, and don't worry about it being coherent or grammatically correct. Just see where your thoughts take you. Follow the flow of the information that spews from your brain. Make a note of where you think this is going, and then, just take a break from it for a bit. Give your brain time to rest, do something relaxing, and when you come back to it, you'll have a fresh perspective.

This approach is not a universal one, and as a matter of fact, I don't even do this. Once I start thinking about things, I don't like to stop because I'll lose where I was going. However, at the same time, I don't get overwhelmed by the idea of writing a large paper.

The thing to do is not to think of a writing project as some great wall that stands in the way of your success. Rather, think of it as a ladder. The first few steps are easy, right? And it gets a bit more precarious the higher you have to go, but once you've made it to the top, you're there! You've reached your destination, and unlike ladders in real life, you don't actually have to climb back down.

Just remember, there is no one right way to write a paper or story or play or whatever it is. There may be a preferred final form, but there are many many ways to get there. Do whatever it makes you comfortable. Write incoherent thoughts, use post-it notes, dictate ideas into a recorder, but don't ever tell yourself that you can't do it because you're not a good writer.

Belief in yourself is the key that opens all doors.

3 Responses so far.

  1. thank you for the interesting post as always

  2. - says:

    Well done, my friend. I'm actually thinking about dictating via speech recognition when I get my new blog up and running. It just takes away the distractions of my screen if I can talk to my self and look out the window.

  3. DocStout says:

    Writing is one of those things. Once you have the basics down, the only way to get better is to keep doing it.

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