Writing Is Just A Basic Skill

In the beginning of the semester, we were asked several questions relating to “Writing Is Not Just a Basic Skill”, a commentary by Mark Richardson. When I had finished answering all the questions, I was confused. So many other students were agreeing that writing was not a basic skill. I was writing essays since I was nine and writing was never hard for me. I seemed to have been the only student confident enough about their writing to say that it is a basic skill. My goal since the first 1302 essay, was to write every essay to the best of my abilities to prove writing is not situational. Writing is a basic skill; however, it depends on the writer and the Critic to really determine if a piece of writing is good.
I have always thought writing …show more content…
For example, each professor is different and they all prefer their style of writing to be the best. Why? Well because they all went to college, they all got their Masters or their Bachelors, and they all consider themselves to be the perfect example. You constantly have to adjust your style of writing or completely forget that style and adapt to the style in which they expect you to write your essays in. If you can do exactly that, then you are automatically a good writer. My Comp one professor wanted our essays to be short and straight forward, on the other hand my Comp two professor wanted our essays to be long and descriptive. Every time Mrs. Strong, Comp two professor, gave me a writing assignment I would always wonder what she expected on her essays and what she wanted in them. I never struggled to write any essay she wanted until I had to write a proposal. I had no idea what that was, the only picture in my head was to get down on one knee and nothing close to an actual English paper. To get by that paper, I followed the directions on blackboard exactly and I read all the directions in order to make sure I wrote everything she asked for. That is when it all hit me and I realized that I was wrong. Since the first essay to the final essay, I had always followed her specific directions and that was why I had always gotten good grades. If it weren’t for that guidance then my weaknesses would have been exposed. Due to the fact that she would give us specific instructions, I realized that “writing is not the expression of thought; it is thought itself” (Richardson). My assignments were not polished by their first draft. It took several revisions in order to create a well written