Now, writing. That is a whole question in and of itself because obviously we all know what writing is- we do it all the time whether it be texting, sending emails, doing assignments, or even just playing video games sometimes. It’s a foundation that’s far from overlooked, and yet, it’s not easy to learn. Elizabeth Wardle states this clearly enough in her work titled “You Can’t Teach Writing in General”, as she goes into detail about why writing is impossible to teach- well, impossible might not be the right word, but it does feel that way when taught.
All humans are different, and with that, not one person is going to have a similar writing style or way of adapting to circumstances of class writing- or even just writing as a whole. I know this extremely well as when I have tried to learn from other authors’ styles, I simply can’t just use it as my own because my mind does not work the same as theirs does, in terms of details and outlines.
That’s the funny thing about writing though- you can never settle on one style. There will always be something to learn, and there will always be more situations you will encounter, leading to more problems you will have to solve and adapt to. Writing must always be done with a purpose, and according to Catherine Savini in “Looking for Trouble: Finding Your Way into a Writing Assignment”, it will never be simple no matter how experienced you are. She believes there is a solution to make that difficulty level drop, but of course, the situations will never be the same for everyone.
I know for a fact that when I write I immediately look for problems in grammar, exposition, and just details in general- I’m not great at staying on track but that’s a story for another time. Problems just stand out like a sore thumb, and while the trained eye could easily pass over it, the problem will always find its way into someone’s line of sight- but there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ when it comes to finding solutions.
Think of these problems in your everyday experience- how would you solve them? Of course, there are so many solutions and plans of action you can take so it’s hard to solve, but that is why we ask questions- fruitful ones at that. Questions that make you ask ‘why’ or ‘how’ but can not be solved with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Solving problems in writing are meant to make you think- and it reminded me of an outline for a story. Let’s say a character has something happen to them, but in the outline information is missing on how they got there: a reader will automatically start to get confused and make assumptions while also asking for in depth responses.
This is because the mind is created to be curious, and with the help of teachers and professors asking questions about readings and the like, we are basically trained to answer in that way and find details and reasons by going back and looking. The only problem is that for some questions, you can not use personal experiences. Which sucks, yes, but that is how you learn to adapt and find those small hidden details and arguments.
Savini and Wardle do make similar points though- you will never find writing that is the same as someone else’s. Writing is meant to be difficult; you are meant to find your limits- but you are also meant to find so many possibilities. There is a secret though. When you are writing, you could be writing for yourself, sure, but you should also be proud enough to share it with the world of either similar fans, or people with genuine curiosity. Either way, you are going to have the worst and best time figuring out how to write, but that’s for you to figure out.
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