When I was in elementary school, I hated writing. It seemed like there was always a formula to follow and a certain pre-prescribed way that everything had to be done. Every piece of writing I did in fourth grade was centered around a writing portfolio — one transactive piece, one expository, one narrative and one persuasive. A persuasive piece had five paragraphs: an introduction, three main points and a conclusion. Smaller pieces like open response questions on state exams had two parts: A, B and C, and you were to answer A with just enough words to answer A and not so many that you start inadvertently making your way into B.
I don't think I want to start writing this about writing education, even though that's something I feel fairly passionate about. I realize that in some ways, my writing has a tendency to ramble and converse and wind itself through words in a very certain tone instead of being short and to the point. Some of my professors say this is redundancy and the Associated Press would say too many commas, but I believe rambling is completely fine in some places, because, at the end of it all, I am writing. Writing should be done in such a way that when a reader digests words, they should be read exactly in the author's voice, as if they were speaking to you through the page. This is my goal when I write, and that's why sometimes I write things in five words that could be said in two.
Many people I know see writing as a chore or a task that they have to complete in school. In writing papers, essays and reports, I see my peers laboringaway at their keyboards, just churning out words that really have no meaning but satisfies a requirement. For my job at Odyssey, it's been particularly hard to convince males on campus to join our ranks as staff writers. You can offer them internship opportunities, networking and resume building (every millennial's favorite), and they still won't do it. Why? I'm not sure. People don't like to write anymore, and especially not men.
Writing isn't feminine. Before women were published freely, men dominated the literary scene. A majority of authors and journalists and playwrights the world sees as successful are men, but why do millennial young men see writing as effeminate? I think it's because we've gotten afraid to write about things that matter. It's a lot easier to read a couple of articles and regurgitate and parenthetically cite information than it is to dig deep inside yourself, scrape out some of your insides and splatter them on paper (hoping that they'll take the shape of words). But I believe that writing is a good exercise in that.
Everybody knows that writing is good practice for the future. Good communication skills are vital for success in the workplace, and written communication is part of that. But here's my question: what good does it do to write well when you have nothing meaningful to write about?Answer: it doesn't do any good at all.
Through writing, you can learn to be truly introspective, and I'm not talking about in ways that will get you in touch with your feelings or make you uncomfortable or emotional. Sometimes, you don't have to write about heavy things to make heavy words; you just have to write about what's there. Writing is a process in which words from the inside of your head make their way out, but in a more refined way than speech. Anyone can recall times that they wished they said something differently or would have made a more effective argument by using different words while speaking. Writing takes away the guess-work because you can (and should) revise anything you write. Before anything else, writing gives you a way to see inside yourself and then tell the world what's in there.
You should start writing. Who knows what you'll find?
