WP4: The Joys of Real Writing

This semester’s assignments were a complete departure from everything I knew about writing. Instead of formulating modular sentences that fit within an outline or splitting my work into three main body paragraphs, I experienced a class that challenged me to develop my voice for the first time. Let me tell you, emulating your voice and turning words into writing is altogether more complicated than one might believe. However, although entirely uncomfortable, I learned that this new, genuinely authentic writing style turned me from a student who wrote for the grade to an author who writes to share their ideas.

Coming into this class, I had little experience with writing other than my English classes in high school. Even then, writing was a means to an end. Our class poured hours into studying essay structure in scrutinizing detail. My confidence developed as my skills developed writing these “punch-in-the-blank essays.” I became increasingly certain that I could write a convincing essay arguing my point if given a prompt.

That’s why when the semester started with WP1, the world seemed to turn on its head. Not only had Professor Dissinger assigned us a major essay just a week into our class, but he gave us no prompt. I immediately turned my nose up at the opportunity to explore simply because I feared following my instincts. It had always been too easy to spit out information before a prompt, answering a question but ultimately getting nowhere in my understanding or consciousness of the world.

Getting a paragraph on the page took me hours, but that was my first issue. I was writing in paragraphs! As I would soon discover, holding the first, discouragingly low grade of the semester, long paragraphs get your writing nowhere. Writing with a purpose is the key to good writing. Giving your audience bite-sized pieces of information to chew on while they read is the key to good engagement. Untraining my brain’s tendency to want to place more analysis and writing between A and B felt wrong since I had always been taught that more information is good.

Furthermore, WP1 taught me to get to the point quickly. Dancing around what you’re trying to say is the easiest way to disengage your readers and have them move on. If you’re writing about something you’re passionate about, owning your argument with purpose should be no problem. It’s simply the lead that waters down your argument and makes readers disinterested. Cutting out the B.S. instantly seemed to elevate my writing and make me sound more confident in conveying what I had to say.

I moved on to my WP2, discouraged but not altogether broken. I just discovered that my old way of writing was crap and that I needed to find it within myself to write a new way. It was sink or swim. I greatly appreciated the pace of WP2 because it allowed me to apply writing to something I have a great passion for coding.

As I was writing my WP2, I realized that coding and writing aren’t all that different. You’re trying to tell a story in both in some weird metaphorical sense. Except in coding, your audience is the computer. I came to realize that writing isn’t something that has always been academic or formal. This project taught me that writing in my voice makes my work more comprehensible and enjoyable. I learned to write as if I were talking to somebody on one. Following that inner monologue, I finally got pen to paper and overcame the long writer’s block that had followed me due to a fear of not having the right words to say.

Next, the class moved on to writing WP3. This project was the one that gave me the most joy because I think that I uncovered something that I want to continue thinking about in my mind. In analyzing how social media algorithms impact young men, I found lots of influential research that stoked a fire to share my vision and perspective with the world. All of a sudden, I believed that I had something meaningful to contribute to the conversation. Writing my words on paper motivated me to continue thinking through this topic.

Not only did I gain the confidence to explore ideas within myself, but I also gained the confidence to own my ideas out loud. Writing became so much more than I ever thought it could be. All of a sudden, writing became the opportunity to convince others of my perspective. Writing became the opportunity to share my perspective. Writing became the opportunity to craft stories and convey emotions. This class made writing, for the first time, fun.