Academic Writing : What Is It And How Successful A Writer Am I?

As the last words escaped my lips, a burst of applause echoed through the room. The bright smiles of my audience, be it family, friends, teachers, or colleagues, never failed to keep me writing. Being able to pique someone's interest enough to show them even just a small piece of the world of imagination inside my head was the very concept that drew me to writing. Creative writing was one of the key factors in developing my literacy skills because I learned to communicate ideas to my audience efficiently and effectively, expand my vocabulary, and broaden my scope of interpretation to discern themes.

Writing is a powerful tool for communication and connection. As an extension and expression of the mind, writing is as much about the mental processes of the author as it is about the final marks laid to paper. As we write, we hold in mind our own thoughts on the work, anticipate the reader’s thoughts, and think both in concrete and abstract ways in order to accomplish the task at hand. Whether an academic research paper, a novel, or text message to friends, writing seeks to engage, persuade, or impress concepts upon an audience. Like language and other art forms in general, the practice of writing is ever-evolving and is subject to cultural and contextual influence, expectations, and conventions. Each writer holds a theory

When students complete a first draft, they consider the job of writing done – and their teachers too often agree. When professional writers complete a first draft, they usually feel that they are at the start of the writing process. When a draft is completed, the job of writing can begin. That difference in attitude is the difference between amateur and professional, inexperience and experience, journeyman and craftsman. Peter F. Drucker, the prolific business writer, calls his first draft “the zero draft”–after that he can start counting. Most writers share the feeling that the first draft, and all of those which follow, are opportunities to discover what they have to say and how best they can say it. To produce a progression of drafts, each of which says more and says it more clearly, the writer has to develop a special kind of reading skill. In school we are taught to decode what appears on the page as finished writing. Writers, however, face a different

Think about your experiences of writing at college. Which types of assignments have you found helpful in strengthening your writing skills? Where do you want to improve your writing? What’s the most useful advice you’re received that’s helped you improve your writing. Be as specific as possible.

Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

This week in my reading I read chapter three and the intro in the book “Understanding Rhetoric”. The way the book helps readers to understand the content by making learning fun and simple minded. The book demonstrates most of the criteria by formatting it into a comic book style, making readers more appealed. In the introduction, the books talks a lot on how the writer should compose his writings effectively. A lot of things can influences writers such as audiences, agendas, and media. There are certain rules that can prohibit some kinds of writings such as; ownership, authorship, and customary behavior.in most cases for writings, communication among individuals lays a vital role. All writings are influenced by what you know

I did not have a firm writing philosophy before this semester, but I to some degree I understood the importance writing can have on a situation. Now I understand that writing has two outcomes: gaining support or losing support. When writing an essay it is best if the writing is as specific as possible. This way the audience is hopefully not left with a confused opinion about the topic. Since the beginning of the semester I have put a conscious effort to change my writing style. Instead of the box format that is learned in high school I try to use a more graceful approach while still being organized. Also, I evaluate the credibility of a source before I use the information to support my thesis and understand the roles of using ethos,

The word rhetoric is a form of literature that is used when one is trying to be effective in speaking and writing. Most people will utilize rhetoric writing at the same time they are trying to write a persuasive essay and not even know it. Not only is it used to persuade but also to motivate the reader on a specific topic or subject. I believe its the most effective style of writing and speaking that there is. This brings me back about two years ago when I wanted a fast sports car for my 17th birthday. I knew it wasn't going to come easy since my parents were very aware of my poor driving habits. This is when I realized I was going to have to be rhetoric, so I did just that. First, I researched all the important safety features the car had.

“To write to be a writer, I have to trust and believe in myself as a speaker, as a voice for the images. I have to believe that can communicate with images and words that I can do it well. A lack of belief in my creative self is a lack of belief in my total self and vice versa- I cannot separate my writing from any part of my life. It is all one” (95).

Creativity allows people to find their purpose to write without feeling like it isn’t good enough when it gets read. Schwalbe claims that the importance of writing freely is to enjoy the process of writing and also enjoy reading what is being written. “Reading isn’t just a strike against narrowness, mind control, domination: It’s one of the world’s great joys.” (Schwalbe, 20) When writing, the words should make sense that they flow freely onto the page and be read without any confusion. Sometimes when we write, we get stuck, especially when we must write a certain way that we may not understand.

It is impossible to produce a piece of writing without creativity and imagination. As the foundation of writing, these aspects of writing creativity enhance the learning experience of oneself and others. Creativity and imagination also serves a therapeutic function by enabling individuals to escape whatever harsh realities they may be forced to endure. In addition, extending far beyond the creation of literature or fiction, these unique aspects of writing also enable one to establish and strengthen their own expressions, empathies, and criticisms of themselves and the world around

The role of academic writing in a student's life is largely contested among rhetoric and writing professors and academics. Covino and Joliffe's article "What is Rhetoric?" and Elbow and Bartholomae's academic discussion both seek to define both what role academic is and what role writing should play in undergraduate studies. While "What is Rhetoric?" focuses more on finding one definitive definition of rhetoric, Elbow and Bartholomae focus more on how they believe rhetoric and academic writing should be applied in the classroom. The discussions on both articles are incredibly important because they attempt to make academic writing accessible to students such as myself

When I think of what it means to be a writer, I do not envision myself- at least not anymore. I don’t think I ever will again. In order to refer to myself as a writer, I believe I would have to wholeheartedly enjoy the content of which I write about, but unfortunately a combination of predetermined school prompts, a lack of time, and a dwindling creative flow prevents me from doing so.

If you asked me why I write I would say because I need to. For most students this is the case, we write because it is required for school. Throughout high school we were taught to focus on spelling, grammar, and structure but when we need to create a piece of academic writing it can make the process more challenging if we rely only on these. There are other strategies which weren’t taught as early in our education though, such as word choice, simplicity, revision, and finding our angle, which can vastly improve our writing. We tend to focus on these strategies in the order in which they were taught, but to effectively write academic papers we need to use the strategies we are less familiar with.