While I teach composition classes every semester (along with a variety of other courses), much of what I teach in those writing classes is actually thinking. Probably half of the course time is spent developing pre-writing strategies, working on drafts, and making lots of revisions--you know, writing stuff. But the other half of the class in fact requires very little actual writing. We spend many classes just talking through ideas. We explore logic. We dig into cause and effect. We clarify premises to pinpoint positions. We organize thoughts so conclusions may be drawn. The reason for this is that the most important part of writing is content.
Yes, I spend my fair share of time harping on grammar, formatting, and overall structural presentation. Details do matter, to a certain extent. And those things can mostly be taught. What is much harder to teach (and learn) is the complexity of coherent and interesting concepts. You can be an amazing writer with perfect technical skill and a nimble vocabulary, but if you don't have anything important to say, then it really doesn't matter.
A new piece today over at Voice of America offers great advice for improving your critical thinking skills, so you can then become a more effective writer. Remember this: your readers don't want their time wasted by trying to read a piece that doesn't make sense or offer useful content. They may appreciate your grammatical clarity or fancy language, but getting people to believe your words and respect your ideas requires tremendous effort in getting the thinking right. Spend just as much time thinking about your topics as you do writing your papers, and you will have much happier readers.
Yes, I spend my fair share of time harping on grammar, formatting, and overall structural presentation. Details do matter, to a certain extent. And those things can mostly be taught. What is much harder to teach (and learn) is the complexity of coherent and interesting concepts. You can be an amazing writer with perfect technical skill and a nimble vocabulary, but if you don't have anything important to say, then it really doesn't matter.
A new piece today over at Voice of America offers great advice for improving your critical thinking skills, so you can then become a more effective writer. Remember this: your readers don't want their time wasted by trying to read a piece that doesn't make sense or offer useful content. They may appreciate your grammatical clarity or fancy language, but getting people to believe your words and respect your ideas requires tremendous effort in getting the thinking right. Spend just as much time thinking about your topics as you do writing your papers, and you will have much happier readers.