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Many have at least one time
in their life complained that writing is their worst subject or that writing
is too hard. As an English Professor, these words come as no surprise,
but they do leave me wondering why the idea of using words to express their
ideas would be such a drudgery for them. And yet, there it is.
Perhaps the reason writing
sucks as an act of expression is that the task of committing words to paper
uncompromisingly requires of its agent two skills that are not encouraged
in everyday life:
1)
Introspection
and
2)
The Ability to Revise
INTROSPECTION AND THE WRITING PROCESS:
Writing requires its author to look beyond
the surface. Writers must be prepared and able to ask questions that focus
on the
situation
which requires their writing in the first place. In reality, the situation
writes them if they are able to be open to the exigencies of the present
situation. Without this sensitivity, people are unable to connect to their
writing and their words mimic what they think is required or desired by
the audience (in college, the professor). Their lack of connection to the
situation leads to detached, uninteresting, and just plain boring prose.
Because they would never read such tripe, people balk at having to produce
it, even when it is to their advantage to do so. Writing becomes rules
and regulations, and gone is the joy of creating words to fit a situation
and communicate personal observations and truths.
THE ABILITY TO REVISE:
The ability to revise is the ability to question. Without this ability, revision becomes a mere exercise in spell and grammar checking (and now many have given over that mechanical task to a machine). Revision, however, is not the process of placing the comma in the "right" place; rather, revision is an exercise in challenging assumptions and illusions. A writer that is "finished" is a writer that ceases to care about the truth of his/her words. Satisfied that he/she has accomplished the task, the writer closes down questions and seeks to present the work as solution. Many have heard the writing maxim: "An essay is never finished". The reason this is so is because the questions never end. Yes, there is a point when a writer must stop writing and let the work go off on its own to do its work, yet most people never give themselves the chance to explore the questions which their writing raises such as the following:
1:
Did I make a point?
2:
Does my idea matter?
3:
Why should anyone care what I have to say?
4:
Am I telling the truth or am I just trying to "sell" something?
Unless a writer is willing
to ask these questions and others that come with the process of writing,
that writer becomes a noisemaker in the desert, emitting a horrific noise
that none can hear.
So what? What is the answer?
What are we to do? Let me just say that if writing is to thrive, people
must reconnect with their minds and stop allowing and even begging others
to make up their minds for them. Writing can be a way to do that. So can
painting, playing sports, figuring out a math theorem. Whatever it is,
it is. But from my perspective, writing offers a genuine possibility to
see in print, the state of one's mind and maybe even one's soul.
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