Back to the Basics

Have you ever watched the show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" You know, the game show where adults make fools of themselves by struggling to answer questions fit for elementary school students. It can be rather entertaining, and also very sad at the same time. Do we really forget that much as we age?

Watching the show reminded me of an experience I had in high school. In one of my "honors" English classes, we were given a test to assess our basic knowledge of the english language. The test was simple, and one I would have aced in the fifth grade, which consisted of us giving examples of the eight parts of speech: verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. To my horror, I found that I had forgotten what most of them were. Of course, I failed miserably, but to my surprise, I was not alone. Most of the class also failed. We honors students were obviously not too smart.

I learned a valuable lesson that day, which I've kept with me since: it never hurts to get back to the basics.

This is a lesson that is universal. Everyone can benefit from revisiting the basic principles of what they do, especially writers. As writers, we sometimes tend to fall into habits that can sometime turn bad, like using certain words or terms too often, not varying our sentence structure, or sometimes not varying the structure of our written pieces. We often don't even realize when we have developed bad habits. By revisiting the basics of writing, we can reveal those bad habits and correct them.

Writers: The Unappreciated

Do you remember the mass hysteria over the Writer's Guild of America strike that halted production on many popular TV series? Television viewers treated the whole ordeal as if they would have spontaneously combusted if their favorite television shows never showed up again. People began to realize just how important writers really were.

As a writer, I understood what the strike meant. Writers refused to be taken advantage of by big production companies who sought to profit from their hard work without equally compensating the writers themselves. New digital media outlets provided a market that was previously unforeseen and unaddressed by the writers' original contracts.

Was it an issue of greed? Yes. The production companies looked to cut the writers out while the writers were only fighting for their fair share of the pie.

So what is the average person's view of the issue now that it has been resolved? Sadly enough, I believe it may just be like this lady, who writes, "...the writers and producers of television have stolen something from us, the viewers, that is worth more than money." How sad indeed.

Where Do I Begin?

Have you ever wanted to write a story, novel or movie script, but never took the task seriously because it seemed monumental? It's true, working on a project as such as a novel or movie script can be difficult, but it may not be as hard as you think.

When writing a story, or novel, or script, where you start writing in terms of story line is not very important. Following a story line can put restrictions on what you can and can't write, which can halt your writing to a standstill before it even gets started. Furthermore, what you intended to be the ending or the middle of a story can turn out to be something entirely different.

So where should you begin to write? The answer is simple: start with the very thought, feeling, or question that made you want to write the story in the first place and then continue to write from there.

When I began writing a novel code named "Ceremony," which I still have in progress, I started with this thought: "Marriage. You find the love of your life, get married, and live happily ever after, right?" I'm sure you'd like to know what follows, and so did I at the time of writing, which spurred me to write page upon page of material.

By starting out with the thought that interested me the most, I was motivated to write the next line, which only continued as I wrote. If I had begun elsewhere and tried to work my way up to that point, I can't say that I would have had the same interest and motivation to write.

Is that all there is to writing a novel? Certainly not. There are many more elements to consider once you start writing, but if you don't get off to a good start, there is no point in speaking of them.

Learning the Wrong Way

A university student sits in class looking over a copy of their recently graded essay. Rather cruelly, the professor has left a stinging comment which reads, "You need to learn how to write an essay!" Is it an act of cruelty on the professor's part or is there some truth to the statement? Unfortunately, it may very well be the latter.

Surprisingly many people go through elementary and high school never learning the basics of writing an essay.

The foundation for writing an essay is simple: you have an introduction where your topic is revealed, you have the body where you discuss your topic, and a conclusion where you wrap it all up. Of course, we already all know this.

What isn't taught to everyone, surprisingly, is the most elementary construction of each part. Simply put, each element should be constructed as so:

Introduction:
1. Introductory statement to the topic.
2. First point of the essay regarding the topic.
3. Second point.
4. Third point.
5. Thesis (The main idea or argument that your whole essay will revolve around)

Body:
Three paragraphs concerning each point individually but all following this form:
1. Topic sentence of paragraph (The point your paragraph will revolve around)
2. A concrete detail (a fact, quote, statistic) followed by two commentary sentences (Your own analysis of the detail) repeated twice, meaning 6 sentences total.
3. A concluding thought on the point.

Conclusion:
1. Repetition of points made in the Introduction.
2. A final concluding statement on your whole argument.

This is the basic construction of an essay in its most simple form, and is as easy to follow as filling in the blanks. In fact, it is so simple, that most junior high students could probably follow this construction with no problems.

So why is it that so many are not taught this basic lesson when they are young? Most of the blame could be put on the education system itself.

In a time when so much stress is put on the studying of standardized tests, critical lessons are being neglected by our education systems. Schools use quotas on standardized test results to evaluate a teacher's performance in the classroom instead of actual grades. Consequently, teachers are more worried about meeting these quotas and keeping their jobs than they are in actually teaching children critical lessons that will shape their future.

As a result, colleges and universities are being filled with students who have not developed college level writing, and other skills. This is a problem that may only eventually worsen as more students who have been raised in these systems enter our colleges and universities.

More information regarding this problem can be found at www.fairtest.org.

Brilliant Idea...

You've come up with a great idea to write about, but you aren't anywhere near a computer or a pen and paper. You say to yourself, "I'll write about it when I get a chance," but when you sit down to write, you realize that you have forgotten what you were going to write or how you were going to write it. Unfortunately, you've just lost another great idea to an ever expanding list of lost great ideas, while you can only imagine Homer Simpson giving a trademark, “D’OH!” at this moment.

It happens to everyone, and not only concerning ideas about writing. The problem that most people have is that they aren't prepared to record those unexpected moments of brilliance. How could you have really known that you would have come up with the plotline for the next great novel while you were out shopping for groceries or on a date?

The truth is, your greatest ideas will usually come when you least expect them. Fortunately, that doesn't mean you can't prepare in advance.

Instead of kicking yourself later for not remembering, perhaps you should consider carrying a small notepad and pen at all times. Whenever you have a thought, or just have the urge to write, you can actually write it then and there instead of waiting. Even if you are in the middle of something, it can take you less than a minute to write an idea out. Of course, that doesn't mean you should jot it down while driving a car or doing something of equal importance.

Nevertheless, having a pen and paper handy will increase the likelihood you won’t forget another brilliant idea.

Extra, Extra, Raed All Abotu It

Read any newspaper, magazine, or blog that is meant to be taken seriously and you will probably run into one: an unsightly spelling error. It happens all the time, perhaps too often. Why is it that these publications, some of which are circulated to millions, can be so careless when rooting out the simplest of writing errors? Has anyone ever heard of spell check?

These errors only reinforce the importance of a very basic element of writing: editing. We learn from when we are young that we must edit our writing to root out problems that range from simple spelling errors to complicated flaws in logic. When editing is overlooked, or not done correctly, a whole piece of writing can be weakened by one simple mistake.

So why is it that those people who are paid to bring articles to massive audiences fail to root out the simplest errors? The answers can be numerous, and yet none can ever justify the carelessness of their mistakes. Everyday people get paid to bring us the latest news, entertainment, sports, and articles of everything else in between, all filled with the occasional "liek" instead of "like" or "diasster" instead of "disaster."

If there is anything we can learn from them, it is this: don’t forget your editing kids.

Paper or Plastic?

"You can't write your paper without a computer!? Back in my day we wrote everything by hand, and if we were lucky enough, we might have used a typewriter!" I'm sure we could all hear our parents and grandparents disgruntled reply to our generation's reliance on word processors.

The truth is, for those of us growing up in the computer age, using a word processor to work on a project from start to finish has become second hand. What need is there to handwrite a draft when you can type faster with a keyboard? There's no spell-check when writing by hand, and besides, you can get hand cramps from writing too much, right? Although there may be some truth to all those statements, perhaps the abandonment of handwriting may not be entirely positive.

When we type on a word processor we are always thinking of the finished product. When we feel something isn't right, we erase and type over it, sometimes losing valuable content. Perhaps a sentence you wrote was actually better than the one you replaced it with or maybe something you erased could have actually been used in your piece. You could always "undo" your corrections, but even that doesn't always work out.

The only way to make real time corrections and keep all of our content on paper is to actually write it out by hand.

Yes, I’ve listed most of the negatives associated with handwriting, but there all also positives to be gained from the process. By writing your pieces out by hand, you can cross out things you feel don't work, write notes to yourself, and even change the order in which sentences and paragraphs are organized without ever losing one word of content. I'm sure you can see how this process may help more than it could hinder.

Speed is and ease is always great, as is allowed by using a word processor, but perhaps good old fashioned handwriting may benefit you more.

Annotate This

I'm sure we can all remember the much loathed annotated bibliography assigned to us in our English courses. "More writing?" you probably fumed to yourself while cursing out your instructor. The truth is, what seemed pointless to us in school may turn out to be our best friend when actually foregoing our own writing endeavors.

The annotated bibliography, for those who don't already know, differs from a normal bibliography in the fact that a description of a source is included after the source's citation. Think of it as a cheat sheet to your own research. Instead of revisiting each of your sources to figure out what they dealt with, your annotated bibliography is there to refresh your mind without you ever having to flip a page. It is a tool that you will find invaluable when working on any size of project.

The next time you are assigned the fearsome annotated bibliography, don't think of it as a pointless waste of time. Use the assignment as a practice session for a future application in your own writing projects. You never know when an annotated bibliography might be the very thing you need to push a project forward.

Music To Write To

How many times have you stared at a blank page not knowing anything other than the fact that you have to write... something! The truth is that writer's block happens to most people. Usually the worst time to write is when you are forcing yourself. It can feel like trying to force the last ounces of toothpaste from a tube and usually you won't get that much out. If you can hear crickets chirping while you stare statuesque at your blank sheet of paper, perhaps a little bit of music can help break the silence.

If you search the web for a few minutes you will find that people have written on a variety of different ailments that music can help remedy. Music seems to give us inspiration to do things that we usually have a hard time doing. Why can't it also help cure writers block?

Writers might be the ones to benefit most from music. Why? Music tends to stimulate our creativity. Many people find music beneficial because it helps them put their mind in a calmer state, usually in daydream. Writers can use this same energy to help jumpstart their minds from blockage.

I'm sure you've heard people say that classical music is the best at stimulating the mind. The truth is that any music is good stimulation as long as you enjoy it. If you don't enjoy listening to classical music and enjoy listening to rock, country, or rap instead, then listen to those as they will be the most likely to put you into a creative state of mind, and, more importantly, help you break the block!

Read With Me

Whenever you hear that a university student declares themselves an "English Major" what is the first question that pops into your mind? Are they going to teach English? Do they want to become writers? What the hell can you do with an English degree anyways? Truthfully, English majors may find themselves asking the same questions.

The major coursework itself is pretty straightforward for an English major: they read a text, and then write on what they observe, and then repeat the process with the same text or another, with an occasional creative writing course thrown into their curriculum to spice things up. It isn't hard to see why so many people question the practicality of the major. Are reading and analyzing books skills that translate to the real world?

The answer is yes. These skills truly do translate to the real world, but not usually in the context of reading and analyzing works fiction. Lawyers tend to find their roots in the English major. Why? Have you ever tried to read and make sense of laws as they are documented? The average person would probably suffer from a severe case of brain cramping, while an English major would probably not only be able to make sense of the laws as they are written, but also find ways to apply the laws to certain situations based on an analysis of their written text. Basically, the same skills that seem impractical to most people are the skills that enable lawyers to earn huge paychecks. It is also important to note that good lawyers tend to be great storytellers, which is also a huge aspect of the English major.

The world of law is not the only place where the skills of an English major have found their importance. Many other industries are in need of individuals who specialize in analysis, communication, and the written word. Therefore, the next time you see one of those meandering English major types roaming University halls, realize that their path can be one to a very important and lucrative end.