Writing Myths and Rituals--Topic 2

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https://www.coursera.org/learn/mythology/lecture/cFg1u/6-7-myth-and-ritual

As you begin a college writing course, you need to get rid of some myths about writing that you may have packing around for some time. Don’t allow misconception to ruin a good experience. Here are common few myths about writing, followed by some facts come from experience of working writers.

MYTH: “Good writers are born, not made. A writing course really don’t help my writing.”
FACT: Writers acquire their skills the same way athletes do—through practice and hard work. There are very few “born” writers. Most writers—even professional writers and journalists—are not continually inspired to write. In fact, they often experience “writer’s block,” the stressful experience of staring helplessly at a piece of paper. A writing course will teach you how to cope your procrastination, anxiety, lack of “inspiration,” and false starts by focusing directly on solving the problems that occur during the writing process.

“I work at my writing as an athlete does at…training, taking it very seriously. What is important is the truth in it and the way the truth is expressed.”—Edna O’brien
MYTH: “Writing courses is just a review of boring grammar and punctuation. When teachers read your writing, the only thing they mark is that stuff, anyway.”
FACT: Learning and communicating—not grammar and punctuation—come first in college writing course. Knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage is essential to editing, but it is secondary to discovering ideas, thinking, learning, and communicating. In a writing course, students learn to revise and improve the content and organization of each other’s writing. Then they help each other edit for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors.

MYTH: “College writing course are really ‘creative writing,’ which is not my major requires. If I wanted to be a major Shakespeare and write poetry, I’d change my major.”
FACT: “Writing course emphasize rhetoric, not poet. Rhetoric involve practicing the most effective means or strategies for informing or persuading an audience. All writing—even technical or business writing—is “creative.” Deciding what to write, how to write it how best to get your reader’s attention, and how to inform or persuade the reader requires creativity and imagination. Every major requires the skills that writing courses teach: exploring new ideas, learning concepts and process, communicating with others, and finding fresh or creative solutions to problem.

MYTH: “Writing course are not important in college or the real world. I’ll never have to write, anyway.”
FACT: Writing courses do have significant effect on your success in college, on the job, and in life. Even if you don’t have frequent, formal writing assignments in other courses, writing improves your note-taking, reading comprehension, and thinking skills. When you do have other written tasks or assignments, a writing course teach you to adopt you’re writing to a variety of different purposes and audiences—whether you are writing a lab report in biology, a letter to an editor, a complaint to a better Business Bureau, or a memorandum to your boss. Taking a writing course helps you express yourself more clearly, confidently, and persuasively—a skill that comes in a handy whether you’re writing a philosophy essay, a job application, or a love letter.

The most important fact about writing is that you are already a writer. You have been writing for years. A writer is someone who write, not some who writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column, publishes a best seller, or wins a Pulitzer Prize. To be an effective writer, you don’t have to earn a million dollars; you just have to practice writing often enough to get acquainted with its personal benefits for you and its value for the others. Hence, Http://steemit.com is one of the best way for you to practice writing, in one to another way, through make a blog yourself or express your ideas.

Warming Up: Free-writing
Turn your cursor upper right of your screen, then click the write content layout. Use this free exercise (private, unjudged, ungraded) to remind yourself that you are already a writer. Time yourself for five minutes. Write on the first thing that comes to mind—anything whatsoever. Write nonstop. Keep writing even if you have to write, “I can’t think of anything to say. This feels stupid!” When you get an idea, pursue it and the option is yours to post your first article but I suggest to post it for you to make review to the next time you write an article.
When five minutes are up, stop writing and reread what you have written. Whether you write about genuinely interesting topic or about whether, Free-writing is an excellent way to warm up, to get into the habit of writing, and to establish a writing ritual.

please see tutorial:

Source:
Learn English with Let's Talk - Free English Lesson---https://www.youtube.com/user/learnexmumbai
Stephen,Reid.The prentice hall guide for college writing. 2005.
www.prenhall.com/reid