Writing is Hard but Embrace It Anyway

Amy Mok
Amy Mok
Aug 22, 2017 · 3 min read

Writing has always been hard for me. This is also the very reason why I chose to be in a technical field because I thought I won’t need to write. I can stay in the world of code forever. That turned out to be a wrong assumption after all. Writing is in every aspect in my career, so I slowly try to accept the flaws in my writing.

Learn how to structure my writing

In school, teachers taught us the basic way to structure an essay:

  • Introduction: Include a thesis that captures what this entire piece is about
  • Body: Include 3 supporting points that provide more details to support your thesis
  • Conclusion: Tie all your supporting points back to your thesis to get your final point across

Although, not all forms of writing follow this structure, but this framework definitely helped me get started with my writing and put my thoughts in an organized manner.

Embrace my imperfect English

Since English is my second language, this is the hardest struggle in writing for me. Throughout all my school years, I would usually get an A in content but a C in grammar for all my essays. I still remember all those papers we turned in for reviews by peers or teachers, they are marked with endless red marks to fix my grammar errors. Grammar checker doesn’t work in any of those cases. These made me very self-conscious about my imperfect English. When I had to write in a school team, and my teammates needed to spend a lot of times rewriting my work because of my grammar, it always made me feel very uncomfortable and incompetent. As a result, I decided that I would not choose a career related to writing.

Unfortunately it turns out that in professional life, we need to write emails, letters, documentation, code comments, and many other forms of writing. I still struggle a lot when putting words down because of my past experience, but I need to do it any way to communicate with others. But it is definitely a bit easier because no one would try to mark every little grammar mistake you make. If they don’t understand, they will just ask without making you feel bad about the wrong tense you use. Yes, they may judge you because of it, but they may not care as much either. Even if someone uses perfect English, there can still be ways to cause miscommunication.

I am sure this piece I am writing still have a lot of grammar errors, but this shouldn’t prevent me to write. Sometimes I will go back and read this again, and catch all those embarrassing wrong tenses I used, singular vs. plural I misused, those exceptions that I never can understand and remember them all.

Use writing to share your experience

Because I am not confident in my writing, it also makes me think I have nothing great to share, like who would want to read my writing?! But there is a lot you can share with others. You can share the struggles you have, tips that help you overcome your struggles, things you learned, your experience, or just anything you like to write about. Maybe someone out there is going through the same experience or struggles, and you may be able to help them overcome their struggles.

)

Amy Mok

Written by

Amy Mok

Engineer, Developer, Educator, UX Design Enthusiast, Civic Technologist, Rocket Scientist

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade