Moving Past High School When Writing
Contributed by Nicole Sharp on 19 September 2005 at 22:12One thing that my six semesters at Case has taught me is that writing education in high school can be haphazard at best. Teachers throw out so many rules and regulations ("You can't start a sentence with And, But, or Because!") that students begin to see writing as formulaic--either a formula easily imitated or as one mysterious and tough to grasp. The truth is that there is no formula for the perfect paper. There's not even one for a good paper. Every paper and every topic has an infinite number of possibilities.
In some respects, losing the lifeline that is the thesis-first, five paragraph essay format is frightening. But (note I start the sentence with it!) becoming a good writer--both at the college level and in life in general--requires letting go of those arbitrary constructs and embracing the freedom to writer your own way.
Mind you, I'm not declaring college writing an anything-goes-free-for-all. I'm simply saying this: writing is like cooking. You're given ingredients--words and ideas--and implements--paragraphs, transitions, organizational structures--with which to construct a masterpiece. College writing is about learning to cook beyond the recipe, realizing that measurements aren't exact and learning that improvisation can lead to a better result. The best cooks don't need a recipe in order to create a delicious meal. The same can be said of a good writer (though I will caution readers not to mistake "recipe" for "outline" when translating my analogy).
Like cooking, writing takes experience with which one gains judgment and insight on different practices. And, like cooking, the ability to write well sets you in good stead in life no matter where you end up.
In the future, I hope to discuss how to move beyond the high school level when writing. I invite both readers of the blog and my fellow Crew members to join in the discussion. This blog wouldn't deserve the name of SAGES if we didn't all participate!