Why write?

We often think of writing as [tooltip tip=”merely: (adverb) used to emphasise how small or unimportant something or someone is, synonym: only”]merely[/tooltip] [tooltip tip=”a means to an end: something that you do only to achieve a result, not because you want to do it or because it is important”]a means to an end[/tooltip], namely that of transmitting a message. Yet, as anyone who has [tooltip tip=”labour over something: work hard on something”]laboured over[/tooltip] a text knows, writing is not just one thing. We could say it is a [tooltip tip=”a group of things such as papers, clothes or sticks that are fastened or tied together – by analogy, a number of things that belong or are dealt with together”]bundle[/tooltip] of processes. If done thoughtfully, it can encourage clearer thinking as we translate our half-formed thoughts and sensations into words. It can [tooltip tip=”help a skill, feeling, idea, etc. develop over a period of time, synonym: encourage, promote”]foster[/tooltip] greater emotional resilience by allowing us to gain a critical distance from our thoughts. Indeed, this positive detachment enhances our ability to see situations in a new light and come up with [tooltip tip=”novel: (adjective) not like anything known before, and unusual or interesting – a novel idea/approach/method, etc.”]novel[/tooltip] solutions to problems. 

Writing isn’t just one thing – it’s a bundle of processes.

Crucially, writing need not be a [tooltip tip=”a small job that you have to do regularly, especially work that you do to keep a house clean, by analogy something you have to do that is very boring and unpleasant”]chore[/tooltip]. We have been socialised by schools and universities to unconsciously fear writing, or at the very least treat it with distrust. In academia writing is often part of high stakes tests, and kind of like Pavlov’s dog, we’ve come to associate writing with the fear of judgement or failure even when no test is [tooltip tip=”be in sight: be likely to happen soon – often used in the negative to suggest that something is not likely to happen soon. Example: Six months from the start of the strike, there is still no end in sight.”]in sight[/tooltip]. 

In this module we’re going to look at ways of exploring writing with greater curiosity and light-heartedness while also developing our technical skill through high-impact lessons on grammar and style. In other words, our aim [tooltip tip=”has two parts”]is twofold[/tooltip]: to [tooltip tip=”hone a skill: improve your skill at doing something, especially when you are already very good at it”]hone our writing skills[/tooltip] while at the same transforming this sometimes [tooltip tip=”arduous: (adjective) involving a lot of strength and effort”]arduous[/tooltip] process into one that is personally meaningful.