Writing Myths and Rituals

8/10/2019 Writing Myths and Rituals

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Writing Myths and Rituals


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Objectives

"Writing Myths and Rituals," explores

ways to help rid yourself of the writingbaggage that you may have

accumulated over the years and which

may keep you from enjoying and

benefiting from the writing experience.


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Chapter 1 shows you how to become

an efficient, confident writer bysuggesting that you create and

follow writing rituals.


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By the end of Chapter 1, you

will be able to:

Recognize common myths about

writing that prevent writers fromaccurately assessing their writing

abilities and from enjoying the writing

process.


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Judge the importance of ritualistic

practice as a writing tool forproviding structure, security, and

a sense of progress when you

write.


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Choose familiar Places, Times,

and Tools for beginning and

completing your writing tasks.


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Regulate the Energy and

Attitude for writing so that youcan avoid being bogged down in

the writing process.


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Keep a writing journal to help

you read, learn, and write more

efficiently.


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A writer is someone who writes, thats all.

Gore Vidal, novelist

Ive always disliked words like inspiration.Writing is probably like a scientist thinkingabout some scientific problem or an

engineer thinking about an engineeringproblem.

Doris Lessing, essayist, fiction writer


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Myths and Facts:

Myth: Good writers are born, not

made. A writing course really wont

help my writing.

Fact: Writers acquire their skills the

same way athletes dothroughpractice and hard work.


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Myth: Writing courses are just a review of

boring grammar and punctuation. When

teachers read your writing, the only thingthey mark is that stuff, anyway.

Fact: Learning and communicatingnot

grammar and punctuationcome first incollege writing courses.


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Knowledge of grammar, spelling,punctuation, and usage is essential to

editing, but it is secondary to discoveringideas, thinking, learning, andcommunicating.

In a writing course, students learn to reviseand improve the content and organizationof each others writing. Then they helpeach other edit for grammar, punctuation,

or spelling errors.


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Myth: College writing courses are really

creative writing, which is not what my

major requires. If I wanted to becomeanother Shakespeare and write poetry, Id

change my major.

Fact: Writing courses emphasize rhetoric,not poetry.


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Rhetoric involves practicing the mosteffective means or strategies for informing

or persuading an audience. All writingeven technical or business writingiscreative. Deciding what to write, how towrite it, how best to get your readers

attention, and how to inform or persuadeyour reader requires creativity andimagination.


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Every major requires the skills that writing

courses teach:

exploring new ideas,

learning concepts and processes,

communicating with others,

and finding fresh or creative solutions to

problems.


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Myth: Writing courses are not important

in college or the real world. Ill never have

to write anyway.Fact: Writing courses do have a significant

effect on your success in college, on the

job, and in life.


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Even if you dont have frequent, formal

writing assignments in other courses,

writing improves yournote-taking,

reading comprehension,

and thinking skills.


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When you do have other written tasks or

assignments, a writing course teaches you

to adapt your writing to a variety ofdifferent purposes and audienceswhether

you are writing a lab report in biology, a

letter to an editor, a complaint to the BetterBusiness Bureau, or a memorandum to

your boss.


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Taking a writing course helps you express

yourself more clearly, confidently, and

persuasivelya skill that comes inhandy whether youre writing a

philosophy essay, a job application, or a

love letter.


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The most important fact about

writing is

that you are already a writer.


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You have been writing for years.

A writer is someone who writes, notsomeone who writes a nationally

syndicated newspaper column, publishes abestseller, or wins a Pulitzer Prize.

To be an effective writer, you dont have toearn a million dollars; you just have to

practice writing often enough to getacquainted with its personal benefits foryou and its value for others.

Writing Myths and Rituals

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