Approaches to Writing

            Everyone is required to write at some point in life.  Whether its essays for college, reports for a business, or mandatory thank you notes for Christmas gifts, everyone writes from time to time.  The type of writing that usually causes more thought is the kind that other people will read carefully, such as a professor, boss, colleague, or customer.  Different people write for them and all writers have different personalities, different styles, and, of course, different ways of approaching the writing process.

The first type is the serious, step-by step planner.  I mention this one foremost because they are the rarest.  These people still have their textbook from Composition 101 and follow the steps of global and local revision, having their thesaurus and Elements of Style close at hand.  These pensive folk turn out perfect and precise pieces of literature.  But they are mostly boring and dull, to those of us lacking the melancholy personality.

Next, you have the most annoying of all: the natural writers.  Members of this section are either brilliant scholars or they just got the lucky in the gene pool.  They turn out papers and essays like it was daily journaling.   Their ideas are clever, the style is entertaining, and their grammar is impeccable.  Not many of these writers are well liked in school.  They are only maliciously envied.

This bunch tends to be one of the more popular types. They don’t put much time or effort into their work.  They tend to tread writing like a vending machine; put in a quarter’s worth of thought and whatever comes will probably be sufficient.  More and more people are being drawn to this method because it takes the least amount of energy and is enough to barely fulfill the requirements.  It is clearly logical that this is the lowest quality of all approaches to writing.  It’s tragic that so many choose it.

Lastly, you have the median of the extremes.  This group is familiar with themselves and their writing style and they take writing seriously, but they don’t have a plethora of time to spend on it.  Therefore, their writing is planned and woven together in bits and pieces.  They conjure up an idea during the day and when they go to write, they already have something to work with.  They know how much time they need to allow themselves and by putting some time in here and some time in there, a simple, but enjoyable piece is produced.  This is the best way to go if you can’t devote a large amount of time to your writing, but you still want to compose a complete composition.

As detestable as some of these styles may be, each is needed.  They all contain their own uniqueness.  There are times when deep thought and time needs to be given to a topic.  The natural writer presents very down-to-earth works.  The procrastinator that throws something together last minute can often write something humorous or entertaining that breaks the monotony. And the in bit-by-bit type provides a style that will usually be accepted by anyone.  Whatever approach you take, be confident in your composition.  But at the same time, be open to criticism and consider it in your writing.