On the Importance of
Writing
I write to find out what I’m thinking. I
write to find out who I am. I write to
understand things.
Julia Alvarez
author of Like Water For Chocolate
Two Writing Paradigms:
Writers are born, not made.
Writers write perfectly the first
time.
The first draft is what the reader
sees in print.
Writers learn to write
through reading and writing
practice.
Writers invent and revise at
every stage of the process.
The text we see in print has
been revised many times by
the writer, by content
editors, and by copyeditors.
Writing influences thought.
For this class you will write 4 essays:
• Remembered Event,
• Explaining a Concept,
• Arguing a Position, and
• Justifying an Evaluation
Remembered Event
Writing the remembered event essay fosters detailed
observation and stimulates reflection on personal ways
of making meaning and finding values.
Give examples: Eye witness accounts--for the courts or for the
news. Reports—from the lab or the field.
Explaining a Concept
Writing to explain a concept will help you to read critically, to
understand how concepts develop, and to participate in making
knowledge.
Brainstorm concepts—from parenting and relationships to sports
and career. What are the concepts in each academic field?
Arguing a Position
Writing an argumentative essay encourages logical
reasoning, helps to clarify personal values, and gives
you the courage to voice your own position.
Examples are endless. Parent/ child. Teacher/student.
Manufacturer/consumer.
Justifying an Evaluation
Writing to justify an evaluation helps you to understand the reasons
why you value what you value and helps you to share those values
with others.
Why is this important? Give examples—movie reviews, book clubs,
travel guides.
Writing Contributes to Learning.
Helps you organize ideas logically.
Helps you to present ideas in your field.
Helps to clarify and extend your own ideas.
Promotes precise, detailed observation.
List examples of how writing works to help make knowledge in various fields.
What other ways does writing contribute to learning?
Writing Fosters Personal Development.
Leads to deep reflection.
Fosters self-examination.
Helps you to analyze your values and values of
others.
Increases your personal confidence to assert
new ideas.
List examples of how writing fosters development.
Writing Connects you to Others.
Offer your own point of view.
Influence others as others influence you.
Work collaboratively.
Internet, email, blogs, myspace.
What other ways might writing connect you to others?
Writing Promotes Success in College and at
Work.
Helps you to demonstrate what you know.
Promotes understanding of different purposes
and different audiences.
Develops your own clear explanations, logical
arguments, convincing evaluations, and effective
proposals.
Give examples of how writing promotes success.
Writers Learn through Reading and
Writing Practice.
Learn different genres (types) of writing and understand
reader expectations.
Use genres as models for writing.
Combine reading and writing as a way to greater
understanding of a subject.
Think things out: “How do I know what I think until I see
what I say?” E. M. Forster.
Understand that writing is cumulative and essays can
be divided into smaller, more manageable portions.
On Craftsmanship
Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade,
just as painting does, or music. If you are born
knowing them, fine. If not , learn them. Then
rearrange the rules to suit yourself.
Truman Capote
author of In Cold Blood
On Revision
. . . The process of writing is a process of inner expansion
and reduction. It’s like an accordion: you open it and
then you bring it back, hoping that additional sound—a
new clarity—may come out. It’s all for clarity.
Jerzy Kosinski
author of The Painted Bird
On Learning From Other Writers
I went back to the good nature books that I had read. And I
analyzed them. I wrote outlines of whole books—
outlines of chapters—so that I could see their structure.
And I copied down their transitional sentences or their
main sentences or their closing sentences or their lead
sentences.
Annie Dillard
author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek