I think we (as writers) can all agree that writing isn’t easy. In fact, it’s much easier to get lost in our thoughts let alone writing them. The most crucial part of writing is learning how to write, which in most cases only comes with practice. Imagine attending a class that teaches you all of these different tricks and concepts to be a better writer, but the only way to fully grasp those concepts, is in putting them into proper practice. Otherwise, they will remain concepts and theoretical ideas with no substance in your mind. By substance, I mean experiences in writing to revert back to when you get stuck. It’s easy to get stuck as a writer when there are simply no rules to writing. Admittedly, I am braking one of what I like to call “Throwback rules” that the majority of middle schoolers have all been taught to use. Things like don’t use “I” and definitely don’t use “You”. Well, my friends in order to not get stuck due to all the “Don’ts” you learned as a kid to help you write something made a little more sense back then can be thrown out the window now. What I’ve learned as a writer, is that sometimes you’ve got to break the rules in order to be creative in thought and not just grab but keep your readers attention. See, without practice in this area, there would be no direct connections being made to conceptualize these abstract thoughts in your mind and write them down in a clear meaningful way to where the reader can connect with your ultimate message on paper by simply reading it one time. Because, let’s be honest, most of us don’t have the attention span to be committed to it enough to read it once, let alone twice. Therefore, in order to keep your audience’s attention and help your message get across to the reader, you use metaphors; or what I like to call, putting a bunch of random words together and eventually having them make sense in the end. In order to do this, you must first let go of old structure, be creative in repetition, use collective thought, know your audience, and finally balance your own writing between abstract thought and rationality.
A huge part of writing, is letting go of structure. And what I’m saying by “structure” I mean the basic rules of writing or the “Don’ts” where “…writing seems more like a chore than a living process that connects people and moves the world forward” (E. Shelley Reid, 4). Sometimes when all you’re used to is structure, it may seem like there are a thousand rules to writing, when in reality there are only three main principles that I like to call the three P’s: Passion, Picture, and Purpose. What I took out of Shelley Reid’s, Ten Ways to Think About Writing: Metaphoric Musings for College Writing Student when reading these direct principles, was that it’s easier to write about something you can be passionate about in order to paint a picture for the intended purpose you’re trying to portray to your audience.
Repetition makes everything subtly re-addressed so that the writer’s message sticks in your mind, like that chorus from that one song you keep hearing on the radio. Now this is easier said than done when in my case, there’s more than one point to address. However, if the picture is painted clear enough, the ultimate purpose of the paper will have at least gotten through to the reader. It’s hard not to feel like you’re constantly repeating yourself when rewriting the same message over and over again, but in different ways. For example, I could say that the sky is clear and the reader would get the picture in a relatively boring and broad manner; or I could say the sky is clear as day, the sun is shining brightly on my face, and there are no clouds in sight. Description is an important key factor in using repetition. In fact, in most cases they go hand in hand. In my experiences with writing, description tends to make repetition seem less repetitive and more easily connected. Description helps paint the picture in making connections to each point being made by giving it more meaning. In short, description (if used correctly) equals definition.
It’s easy to get off subject, especially when rushing into the main topic. Shelley Reid explained what I took as, the importance of having collective thought. She liked to call it, the higher and lower brain (Reid 18-19). This is the area that I am most unfamiliar with, which is why it intrigued me so much. Reid addressed how using the higher brain for as long as possible before the lower brain kicks in is the best way to go. In order to do so one must simply “…read the gosh darn question” and answer it in a simplified version so that you’re points are clearly stated for yourself before going into depth right away and getting off track with your lower brain (Reid 19-20). Reading about this helped me to fully understand the purpose behind this paper by taking away the lessons I learned from reading the material provided, and writing in a way that helps me to make the proper connections towards that piece in establishing direct guidelines from other resources to use in the way I present my own writing using collective thought in order to provoke collective action.
It’s easy to be relatable if you know who you’re trying to relate to. Audience is sometimes more complicated than simple. For example, when Reid explains how although there may be a general audience you are addressing, there are also secondary audiences that may come into play (10). What helped me the most was by reading that, “It also helps to imagine a very specific primary audience (a person or small group or publication), so that instead of staring at the screen thinking vague “some people” thoughts, you can quickly come up with just the right words and information to match that audience’s needs…” (Reid 10). By doing this, it helps the reader to not simply glance over your information but feel directly immersed in the writer’s thoughts.
Reid used a very simple way to explain how to balance writing overall using cherries and jello. However, I’d like to get straight to the point and say that writing consists of two key aspects: abstract thought and rationality. Both of which, when put together can create a more realistic perspective in which the writing becomes less of a theory and more of a reality; because it is more “relatable” to the audience it is addressing. By “it” I mean the three P’s: Passion, Picture, and Purpose. These phrases are more difficult to follow when all your told as a kid is what to write and how exactly to write it, making writing difficult instead of easy. Therefore, there is no right or wrong way of writing; there is just a simpler way of understanding.
Works Cited
Thomas, Ryan. “Demystifying a Common Misconception About Writing.” ASCD Edge.
N.p., n.d. Web.
Reid, E. Shelley. “Ten Ways To Think About Writing: Metaphoric Musings for College
Writing Students.” Ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Vol. 2. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor P, 2011. 3-23. Writing Spaces. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
