Some of you may have read a series of posts I wrote, all with the title "Writing is Not Hard." I hope you read enough of them and not just the titles! If you did not, you might be wondering why I am discounting your writing difficulties. I could even see how such a message, taken out of context, could be seen as being dismissive of the challenges that writing presents.
Writing does, of course, present many technical challenge. I am 3/4 of the way through an MFA in creative nonfiction (yes, I have a PhD already and no, I did not give my my tenure!!)-a bucket list dream, my MFA. I have spent countless hours working on my essays. There are times when I have spent an hour or more on a sentence- that is challenging, for sure.
But academic writing is not creative writing- no matter what anyone tells you, spending an hour word-smithing a sentence in an academic article or dissertation is not a wise use of time.
Not only that, but even challenging writing does not have to be painful. The point of my series of posts was simply this: most of what makes writing feel hard are the problematic beliefs and discourses that we have internalized. The subjective experience of writing is extremely hard when you have both technical challenges that you have not overcome and cognitions that make you feel anxious or down.
So, how do you make writing feel easier? Improve your technical writing skills, your methods of productivity, and work on your "stuff."
Now that is hard work, but oh, the possibilities!!
Writing does, of course, present many technical challenge. I am 3/4 of the way through an MFA in creative nonfiction (yes, I have a PhD already and no, I did not give my my tenure!!)-a bucket list dream, my MFA. I have spent countless hours working on my essays. There are times when I have spent an hour or more on a sentence- that is challenging, for sure.
But academic writing is not creative writing- no matter what anyone tells you, spending an hour word-smithing a sentence in an academic article or dissertation is not a wise use of time.
Not only that, but even challenging writing does not have to be painful. The point of my series of posts was simply this: most of what makes writing feel hard are the problematic beliefs and discourses that we have internalized. The subjective experience of writing is extremely hard when you have both technical challenges that you have not overcome and cognitions that make you feel anxious or down.
So, how do you make writing feel easier? Improve your technical writing skills, your methods of productivity, and work on your "stuff."
Now that is hard work, but oh, the possibilities!!
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