Realism in Writing
There are multiple ways to improve in writing. Every method doesn’t work for everyone. Each individual needs to find a unique method based on her personality and methods of learning. For example, I learn most efficiently when something is broken down in the simplest form, since memorizing is not my strongest suit. I cannot learn when I get taught vaguely. For example, I could never understand what the professors mean by thoughtful ideas in their teaching and in their rubric. Thoughtful idea is not explicitly defined anywhere. There is no way to check if my ideas are thoughtful or not. Thoughtful may mean something very different to someone who loves reading books, and someone who reads newspapers. Although I believe that there cannot be a single formula in improving as a writer, because everyone has an unique personality, there are some basic and popular techniques I am familiar with.
Back in the days, proverbs were believed to be a valid source of knowledge. One of my favorite prover is “practice makes perfect.” I strongly believe in this proverb not only because it is one of the few values I share with my father, but also because it had proven to be true for me in some cases. Also, the proverb logically makes sense. Rationally, the more one practices, the more one tries, the better she should get. Although I have been practicing writing for a while now, it never seems to benefit me nearly as much. Therefore, extreme practice is not the most efficient way of learning for me. I personally prefer working smarter rather than working harder.
Another very well-known tactic I am advised as a writer is to read my writing out to loud for errors and awkwardness. Unlike native speakers, my sentence structure tends to me grammatically correct and awkwardly formed. Therefore, I was recommended to use this tactic multiple time. Here is the paradox: I cannot detect the awkwardness in my writing, even after reading it out loud, because I do not speak, or have a sense of un-awkward English, like a native English speaker does. Thus, this tactic tends to be very useless to me, although not absolutely. I am usually capable of finding grammatical issues in my writing when I read it out loud. That is why it is not an absolute waste of my time.
Yet another advice I am given a lot in terms of writing is to make an outline before starting a draft. I always excite the idea of doing so, and it has helped me on multiple occasions. It allows me to gather my thoughts and put down ideas as soon as I think of them. It always helps me organize my ideas logically. There had been occasions when I did not necessarily need to have an official outline, since I had my ideas organized in my head already. I find creating an outline to be a useful method of improving in writing because it helps the ideas flow more fluently. We all know, the ideas are useful only when they are presented in a logical manner, Thus, for the sake of organization outlining is one of the important tool one can take advantage of.
There are infinite different paths one can take to be a better writer. Yet, I still have not found a path that allows me to be a better writer. I probably would not have been taking this class if I had. I believe my idea of being a better writer is not as valid, since I have not found a path to improve my writing yet. I still appreciate the exercise, since it allowed me to reflect on different writing strategies. I am filled with ideas without any real evidences on how to be a better writer.
