Write Like You MEAN It

When it comes to my writing style I don’t have grammar rules informing me on good style and good structure. I don’t say this because I think I am above the rules, I say this because for multiple reasons I have never been given what I feel is a concrete understanding of grammar. Either I am lazy, or public education has failed me, probably a combination of the two. I was home schooled until the eighth grade. My school day usually consisted of writing my name and the date and an hour or so of math. Then I would study whatever topic I felt like after the mandatory part of the day was done. I don’t remember once going over any grammar; I think I learned nouns, adjectives and verbs from playing Madlibs. I feel like some of this must have been covered while I was in High School, but I got bored with that and quit paying attention pretty quick.

That being said I try to follow the rules the best that I can, but at the same time I try and let my thinking flow smoothly allowing me to unconsciously use words that make the most sense together. Obviously I am not doing that very well right now because what I have typed so far doesn’t make much sense. Another thing I think happens to me when I just let myself right without thinking too hard is that I combine random things in metaphors and strange exaggerations. I think there are so many words out there that it is pointless to limit yourself in your use of words. Every time you write something you shouldn’t have trouble conveying your thoughts in a unique and different way.

I also let my values and morals guide my writing. My values and morals come from my life experiences, which have been fairly intense at times. With that being said I think I try and us words to convey the intensity of situations rather than just stating things in a matter of fact way. For example, rather than saying getting hit by a car hurt it would no doubt be more effective to say “it felt more like a train the car was moving so fast and that I have never felt the crushing blow of pain with so much force ever before in my life. This may be a bit over the top, but you get my point. Again I say why limit yourself when there are no limits.

I would say my life experience has also given me a good idea of what is important in life. This is another characteristic I take into account when writing. I think this pertains more to content than style and grammar. What I like to think while writing a paper is would I ever want to read this again, will my professor want to vomit in their mouth while reading this and isn’t there anything actually worth saying being said here? As college students we are required to spit out paper after paper year round so without a doubt we have all written those papers that we can’t wait to turn in and never see again. Still most of us have written a paper or two we are actually proud of. It is these papers that are obviously guided by something within us that we feel a real attachment to. Whether it is a creative non-fiction piece like the one for this class where you are writing something that is personally significant to you, or it is a paper within your major that actually tweaks your interest. These are the papers that whether we consciously see it or not are guided by our internal voice and values. These are the papers we actually care about because they reflect who we are.

If I reread a paper I have written in the past and it at least seems like it is following grammatical rules and if my use of language is unique and reflects some part of my personality I am proud of it. If the writing doesn’t reflect any of these characteristics chances I will never reread it and I have already forgotten I wrote it.