Three Principles of the Writing Process

Being tasked with a writing assignment can be quite overwhelming. Writing is difficult for everyone, no matter if you’re an amateur or veteran writer. In all honesty, I’ve been mindlessly starring at my laptop for over an hour. At this point, starring at my laptop has become a part of my writing routine.

Starting to write is a daunting task. There seems to be so many rules involved in writing. This can make a writers creative process feel restricted. I know it makes me feel as though my writing needs to abide by a plethora of unwritten rules. Luckily for us hopeless writers, E. Shelley Reid, has broken down writing into three key principles.

Principle 1.

“Write about what you know about, are curious about, are passionate about (or what you can find a way to be curious about
or interested in)” (Reid). It’s no secret that writing about something you’re not interested in is torturous. My fellow students will understand the pain. In the past, I have been tasked with writing about topics I literally could not care less about. It is our job as writers to make the topic interesting. One way of doing this is by dissecting the prompt and knowing the ins and outs of the topic.

Principle 2.

“Show, don’t just tell.” (Reid). While writing, it is important not to be vague. Vagueness allows your audience to fill in the gaps. While it is fun to have your audience involved in the piece. It is important to make sure your writing is reflects what you want to portray. For example, in Reid’s article she askes us to envision a little green ball. A green ball may seem descriptive, but it’s not. How little is little? What shade of green? What kind of ball? Paint a picture, be as descriptive as possible.

Principle 3.

“Adapt to the audience and purpose you’re writing for.” (Reid). Your audience can greatly affect your piece. Audience can affect stylistic choices, tone, and structure. Not to mention, this can affect what you disclose in your writing. For example, the topic biology is very broad. Biology can be written for many audiences. That being said, biology textbooks written for grammar school students is much different than biology textbooks written for college students.