Why Write? – A Letter to the Student

The first serious essay I wrote in high school probably received a C. I have not always been a strong writer, and for many years of school, I cared very little about it.  But here I am, a writing teacher writing about how to write essays. How did this happen? The answer is guidance, practice, and ultimately, finding my voice. I found my passion, and then, my ability for writing in late high school, when I had a supportive writing teacher who helped me understand why we write. His philosophy was basically this: If you are not writing something that others can understand, that will help them understand you and your thoughts, then why are you writing? This clicked for me, and long story short, I began to understand writing as a means to connect to the world around me, to make my thoughts known. Writing made my opinions, ideas, and experiences matter, and knowing this, I found the motivation to learn to write well. Eventually, I even enjoyed writing essays. That being said, you might not grow to love writing as much I do. And that’s okay. The important fact is that you can become a strong writer, no matter where your writing is now.

You might not be pursuing a job or career that requires a lot of writing. Or, you might just simply hate writing (a lot of students do). Either way, it is understandable for you to wonder why you should practice writing. Writing is certainly necessary for many practical tasks, like writing a resume or sending a thank-you email. But it is also useful for more: through writing, you will clarify your thinking, you will learn about yourself, and most importantly, you will find your voice. You will demonstrate that your thoughts matter. And when you know who you are and how to express yourself with confidence, many personal and professional doors open.

Now that we’ve established why we should write, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Writing is difficult! In fact, it is usually still difficult for me. I find myself writing multiple drafts of a piece before I am satisfied with it. But writing is difficult, both technically and emotionally, because it is worthwhile. It is hard to construct text that will give others a glimpse into your mind. But when someone reads your work, and they “get it,” they understand and see you, it is a great reward.

Writing in a second, or third, or fourth language (Yes, I’m sure there are some of you for whom English is a third or fourth) in some ways is even more difficult than writing in your first language. Constructing sentences may require more energy because the grammar is unnatural to you; you might also be frustrated because you can’t find the words to express the wonderful ideas in your mind. Many students tell me that they don’t feel like themselves when writing in English. I am always sad to hear that they feel like a less interesting and thoughtful version of themselves. So, our goal in this course is to help you feel exactly like yourself in your English writing, with all your interesting thoughts, opinions, and experiences. Remember, your ideas are worth sharing.

To help you achieve confidence in your writing, I like to start by teaching a very basic structure. This structure is the focus of this book. And as you will soon see, this structure is unfortunately rigid for something that is as personal as writing. However, my goal in introducing this structure is to give you a place to start, a place where you can develop the confidence to write and share yourself in English. My hope, in fact, is that you do not follow this structure for the rest of your college career (I certainly didn’t). Once you know one way to write an essay, you will be able to experiment with others that are more true to you. A common expression in English is “You have to learn the rules to break them.” In this course, we will be learning the rules. In the future, I hope that you break them.