Ten Way to Think About Writing

In E Shelley Reid’s essay, “Ten Ways to Think About Writing: Metaphoric Musing for College Writing Students she explains to the audience using real-world examples and metaphors on how to approach writing regarding the many rules which we’ve known to be law in the world of writing. We’ve been taught so many rules about writing that sometimes it makes writing a chore rather than fun and expressive.  I love writing, but with so many rules to consider it becomes a task and I find myself drafting a lot more than I might need to. Reading this essay gave me some insight into the things I should consider when writing. This essay had a wealth of information, and I could tell from the writing the author was interested in her audience “getting it” with metaphors and realistic examples.

            My favorite part of this essay was when she talk about “show and tell”.  The example of “the little green ball”. At first glance I thought the sentence was just fine, I envisioned a little green ball with no questions asked. I continued reading and I realized that it’s much deeper than “the little green ball”. How little was little, which shade of green, what type of ball. The author explained that the writer needed to give more details. Give specific examples and be very descriptive shows the reader so they don’t have to read your mind. “Showing is harder than just telling, and takes longer, and is dependent on your remembering that nobody reads your mind like you do”(Shelley Reid 6)

 All together the author’s essay made some great points on ways to improve your writing. She explains the writing process from beginning to end, and she expand on the idea that it’s about the process of writing. She closes with the idea that writing is not a walk in the park but with practice but if you “draw on key principles or metaphors to help you imagine your reader” (Shelley Reid 21) you will be successful. The thought is to keep trying new things in writing so you audience have a moment of clarity and can fully understand and relate to your writing.

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