What is the most difficult part of writing?

What is the most difficult part of writing?


Without a doubt, getting started is the most difficult thing about writing. Note-taking and outlining are definitely important to the writing process, but sitting down and writing that all important first draft is where the real heavy lifting comes in. Often times, I find that what keeps me from getting started is the anxiety that I don’t know what I’m going to say or even how I feel about the topic, but then I remind myself that it’s because I’m uncertain about a topic that I want to write about it.

In most Composition and English classes, teachers often focus on what final drafts should look like without taking the time to talk about the process of getting to those final drafts. No one gets it right the first time. No one. Not your fellow students, not your teachers, not even the writers we’ve all had to read in high school and college survey classes. However, if you don’t at least try for a decent first draft, then there can’t be a brilliant final draft.

First drafts may be laborious, but it’s where the most exploration and insight comes from. It’s your chance to take risks, make mistakes, and make discoveries. First drafts give you a more vivid sense of how you’ll need to organize your essay and the scope of your argument (Is my thesis too broad? Not broad enough?) than an outline; a new argument might open up to you or you might find a gap in your argument that requires more you to do more research or think about your topic different. By the end of it, you’ll be more sure of your thesis or you might throw away the old one and have a new, better, stronger thesis!

The reason we write isn’t just to bring insight to our readers, but also to make our own discoveries and answer our own questions. First drafts are where those discoveries and answers begin. So, while getting started is the most difficult part of the writing process for me, it’s also the most rewarding.

--Rich

Writing Center in the Parent Newsletter!

This interview will appear in the next Roosevelt Parent Newsletter!

The Writing Center provides one-on-one peer tutoring to all writers in the university community. The following is a discussion between two tutors at the Roosevelt Writing Center. Eleanor Peck is a senior who has worked in the center for two years and is majoring in Political Science. Mooni Abdus-Salam is also in her fourth year and this her first semester working at the writing center. She is an English major and Hispanic Studies minor.

Eleanor: Hello Parents! I love working at the writing center because it is great to help students learn how to revise their papers and find their voice within their writing. What’s your favorite part of working here Mooni?

Mooni: My favorite part is finding out what classes are about through the things that students write. Last week a student came in who was getting her Master’s in Public Administration and she had to write an annotated bibliography which was the precursor to a huge paper she had to write. It was interesting to learn what the teacher expected in graduate level courses and how to cite in a different format. I like working here because I learn as I tutor.

Eleanor: I agree. I love reading papers from classes I never would have taken, but still find interesting. What I also enjoy about working here is the writing community. I have started to enjoy writing more from working here, because I am surrounded by people who love to write.

Mooni: Me too! However, I do wish one thing was different. I wish more students realized the writing center isn't just for people who are struggling, but it is for anyone.

Eleanor: Exactly. Students don’t realize that we tutors get help with our writing all the time. I have learned to accept that revising is part of the writing process.

Mooni: I also think it is great that we outreach at the writing center. We have two Outreach Programs this year. Tutors and students in certain classes are helping students outside of Roosevelt at both Morrill Elementary School and Jumpstart in the Juvenile Probation Center.

Eleanor: Awesome. I hope this conversation has helped parents learn more about the writing center. We are here to help five days a week during the school year, and we also have online tutoring that is available in the evenings and on the weekends.

A Writer's Journey from Detroit to Chicago

Moving from Detroit to Chicago for graduate school has been an experience colored with surprise, familiarity, trepidation and joy. I've been here studying journalism for a little over a month now and I've already seen enough to write a book (on the CTA alone). What has been consistent throughout this month is this unwavering sense of the unseen arranging things on my behalf. Faith has become real to me in new ways. I consider it an Urban Divinity that has transitioned with me from Detroit to Chicago.
I absolutely hated my last job I was working in Michigan and vowed to not apply for or consider any position that I didn't think I'd enjoy or be proud of. Obviously, that limited my application process drastically. The idea of income constantly tried to override that vow, and it loomed in the background of every decision I made. But I chose not to worry about money and to trust things would work out. I chose to have faith.
So now I'm a tutor in RU's Writing Center, a work study job custom-made for Rachel. I love writing and I love helping people, so what better way to spend 12 hours a week than helping people write? This came after I was told I didn't even qualify for federal work study, which I was certain I did. All it took was a visit to Financial Aid and a stern request to have them reevaluate my package. A financial aid advisor realized on the spot the error they made and corrected it. I applied to the work study positions that seemed to suit me and here I am—loving every 50 minute session of peer tutoring.
Besides class work, I spend a good portion of my time volunteering at CPS in the office of Family and Community Engagement. My father mentioned to me before I left Detroit, "Remember, Rachel, volunteering will open doors for the job you want." Again, not an idea supportive of sustainable income. A girl has rent to pay! But what I've learned already by stepping out on this limb has been indispensible. The experience here at CPS is a chance to hone my communications skills, get media-savvy and exercise competence. I have a chance to produce measurable results, learn more about Chicago and help communities improve their local schools. I think a part-time job at Starbucks (or any other company that popularly employees students) would be a loss compared to this. Call me crazy.
Anyhow, I encounter at just the right time exactly what I don't always know I need or want, and not to my own credit. I am a young lady in a big city figuring it out alone, but not alone.
Urban Divinity :)

Rachel