How to Learn to Write and Achieve Greater Success
I came across a good article here on improving speaking skills. It struck a chord with me, partly because I’m plagued by some people who have awful presentation skills. If I hear one more “you know,” they might have to cart me away in a straitjacket.
The article does, however, resonate with me primarily because it reminds me of my days as a writing tutor at the local community college. After I graduated with my B.A. in English, I managed to get this part-time gig in the ‘Writing Center.’ That’s the place they sent students who couldn’t write. By the time they showed up, the Writing Center was about the last place any of them wanted to be. They were utterly convinced that writing was not something they could ever do. I knew that was nonsense. One student in particular, this nice Israeli kid, couldn’t even get graded. I read some samples, and I could see why. His writing barely sounded like a first grade English primer. He could, however, talk. Boy, could he ever talk. He was, in fact, very eloquent. He had a thick accent, but he spoke better English than most Americans. I told him to go home and record himself talking, preferably about the subject the professor was instructing him to write about, then simply transcribe his own words. Shortly thereafter, he received an A.
The solution seemed so simple. Perhaps it was because I had done quite a bit of recording as a musician, so the concept came naturally to me. The bottom line was that it worked. I witnessed someone go from being ungradable to getting straight A’s (in writing, at least).
To this day, it amazes me when people who are perfectly capable of carrying on a conversation insist that they cannot write. Somewhere along the line, they lost the ability to make the connection between speaking and writing. I’ve read that the same can be said for people who, like myself, claim they cannot draw. They haven’t made the connection between drawing and seeing. I’m still working on that one. Whatever the case may be, writing is a crucial skill. It gets respect. People acknowledge it. It’s what got me through college without having to study very hard, especially when it came to subjects I had little or no interest in. The fact that I was able to put sentences together apparently made all the difference to my professors, including my English professors. I always had a really hard time with assigned reading. I read plenty, but never what I was told to read. I’d read some of the Cliff’s Notes, write a paper on whatever book, get a good grade, then go to the library and take out something that actually interested me. Point is, good writing even fooled my English teachers. That should tell you something. If you can speak and write well, people assume you know what you’re talking about. They want to believe that, so they will believe that, until you do something drastic to prove them wrong. Even then, they might still refuse to believe any differently. The odds are in your favor if you take the time to develop your writing skills. If you can speak, you’re already almost there.
Re: If I hear one more “you know,†they might have to cart me away in a straitjacket.
Wow! That’s the blunt essence of what I’ve been hoping and praying my wife will realize since the “you know” virus infected her speaking over a year ago and spread as an increasingly irritating distraction in too many conversations with her. It’s reached a point where I’ve even considered involving some of her friends to politely mention it to her at tactful moments when they’re aware of it, although I’d risk looking embarrassingly foolish if they haven’t noticed. For now I’ll keep lovingly mentioning it to her occasionally for my sanity’s sake, and still suffer the sad discomfort of minimizing some conversations with her just to avoid hearing “it” again.
youknowbegone, first, I am not a trained psychologist. That said, it’s interesting to me that you can pinpoint the time of infection. Could it be that something emotional was taking place with her at that point? Has the you know virus been getting worse? Is she insecure, perhaps sensing that you’re critiquing her, silently or otherwise? I’ve found that when people start peppering their conversations with these filler phrases, many times they are nervous, self-conscious, and lacking in confidence, fearful that they’re going to be discovered as having little or no real knowledge of what they are talking about. You can try all you want to help her get rid of the symptom, but it seems to me this is all masking something deeper. Or, I could be way off base. Maybe gathering some concerned friends for a nice round of public humiliation would do the trick. It’s your choice. Sad discomfort has a way of becoming unbearable misery over the course of time if not addressed. Just make sure you’re looking at the real issue(s) here.
Personal Growth Carnival August 1st 2006…
Every week, I get more and more submissions for the personal growth carnival. I decided this week to list out the submissions and let you pick which ones to read. Personally they all look good.
This has been a record week for the carnival with …….
[...] Keith presents How to Learn to Write and Achieve Greater Success posted at skillzdesign.com. [...]
Hi-
I couldn’t agree more!!- also the habit of using “uh” almost every other word as, say, Wolf uh Blitzer or Anderson uh Cooper uh do. ^¿^
However, I think there is a flaw in what you read (past tense)….
speaking/writing are both output, and require some effort - whereas seeing could be described as passive input, and thus unlike drawing, which is deliberate output.
“Feeling/sculpting” might be an interesting comparison then, too!
Patrick: Good point. I started reading Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, after seeing it highly recommended in many places, and I think my take on the drawing thing might be something I picked up along the way. I’ll have to return to that book at some point. I’m sure I’m paraphrasing here, but it deals with seeing actively vs. seeing passively as being instrumental to learning how to draw what you see. As for sculpting, you’re probably right there too. I’ll have to dust off the old Play-Doh.
two quick points:
1. That is an excellent book.
2. Get new Play-Doh®. You’re worth it.
Good post. Funny thing was that while I was in school, it wasn’t considered “academic” writing if the writing style was conversational. I had to switch my style just to pass the class. I still think to this day that writing as if speaking to a person is the best way to go about it.
Brian: I guess it depends on context. As a writing major in college, I had to alter my style depending on the class. Journalism, for instance required its own distinct style, not necessarily conversational. Personally, I think writing conversationally tends to result in a livelier reading experience. It feels less like a lecture that way. I’m not a big fan of lectures.
[...] Here’s another non-TEFLer seeking a spot at the Carnival. (How do you think they found us?) Keith opines about the need for better presentation skills…which I suppose could be applied to us TEFL teachers. Think about it; how much linguistic clutter…um…is in…uh, you know…your teacher talk? [...]