Description

What is Included in this Activity?

  • Individual Inquiry
  • Individual Research
  • Article Submission

Objective:

    • In this studio, you will be writing an article that presents–from a student perspective–a commonly held myth about writing that you will be debunking just as Writing Studies scholars did in Bad Ideas About Writing. You are taking the same approach they did, but you are writing from a student’s position and not that of a scholar in the field. That said, you are familiar with writing studies concepts, vocabulary, and scholarship around writing. In other words, you are still an informed writer on the subject of writing. You will take your understanding of writing gained in the course so far and use it to create your own article that could be included in the Bad Ideas About WritingLinks to an external site. text.
      • Your audience for this work is other students taking a class such as this. Make sure that you are writing for this audience with an understanding that they would be reading your work as a resource to better understand writing.
      • You will be presenting this work as a student writer who has been invested in writing studies. You work should not read as an assignment submitted for a class. Your work should, again, serve as a supplement or an article that could go into Bad Ideas About Writing (but from a student writer perspective).

    Consider the Expectations/Consistencies for Writing:You have read many works from Bad Ideas About WritingLinks to an external site.. Though each are different (because genre is fluid), there are also similarities (because there are always some “stable”/consistent expectations). Some of them are as follows:

    • Myths being debunked are presented as a fact. For example: “There is One Correct Way to Write” is a myth being debunked but first presented as being a statement of fact. They do this in the title and the article.
    • Titles and author names have a specific text style (they visually look a certain way)
    • The tone is informal, though informed. Though informal, the work is not based on opinions; scholarship in writing studies would support the argument.
    • Authors reference other authors
      1. They reference those they know and have worked with. These authors know each other’s work. You know the work of your peers and so you will be including references to your peers work to support your argument. Do not reference your peers by name. You might say, for example, “One student in my First-Year Writing (FYW) course presented an example to address” or, “another student mentions casually, though importantly….”; “a peer in my FYW course came into the course with the idea that…”
      2. They reference other secondary sources. For you, these sources will be our shared readings in the class AND your own research as you investigate other texts from Bad Ideas About WritingLinks to an external site. that we have not covered.
    • There is a “Further Reading” section
    • There is a “Key Words” section
    • There is an “Author Bio” section
    • They include in-text citations, but they do not have a full Reference List. They use their own in-text citation style and not formal APA conventions. Their in-text citations (since the tone is more informal) do not include page numbers. They mention author names or titles to work but, again, they do it informally.
    • They are 3-4, single-spaced pages in length

    Consider the Opportunities (beyond the expectations/commonalities):You always have constraints (those were outlined above), but you also have affordances/flexibility in your approach. Be creative! For example, you may find that a visual would be helpful for readers (depending on what you are doing). All of your work should have a purpose. Visuals are also not considered part of your page length. To Submit Your Work:Upload your work as a doc., or docx.

The question I chose is ” why is it critical that we change our habits in order to progress as writers? ” This question is predicated on the generally held notion that all writing may be done in a single, universally applicable style that is learnable. Many students, particularly in schools, are urged to follow a formula rather than being permitted to devise their own techniques. However, this definition of writing is oversimplified and does not embrace all sorts of writing. There is no one best technique to write, several approaches can be used, each with its own advantages. Breaking out of routines and writing from new viewpoints is the most effective approach to improve as a writer. Rather of depending on predefined equations, write how you see fit, rejecting genre conventions to promote new abilities and ideas.