The Importance of Good Writing in 2020
With schools operating remotely, teachers have been assessing student progress through writing, not exams.
This school year, due to COVID-19, students across the country have been challenged to write more than ever before. As classes moved to remote learning, teachers overwhelmingly shifted from assessing student progress through exams to assigning essays and papers. Many students who have honed their study skills and seen success beating tests have found themselves struggling as more and more work is graded on the quality of their writing.
When it comes to writing, one of the easiest and most natural things to do is doubt yourself. Everyone does it, even if it feels like you’re the only person in the world who lacks self-assurance when baring your thoughts on the page. The bad news is: doubt can play a huge role when determining your academic success or failure. As a writing tutor, my students will often bring me their papers and essays, and usually, the first thing they say is, “I know this isn’t very good.” It makes me sad to know they believe this to be true.
You’ve Got This
More often than not, when a student tells me that they think of themselves as a bad writer, they’re wrong. Their struggle typically has nothing to do with the quality of their writing and everything to do with their confidence. For example, when developing a thesis statement, something many students struggle with as they worry about perfecting it, I like to ask my students to take a couple of minutes by themselves to brainstorm words, phrases, and ideas they want to focus on in their paper. Don’t think, just write. I might get backlash for this at first—they’ll say they aren’t sure what to write or that they don’t have any good ideas. Afterward, though, once they’ve let go of their fear of failure, I’ll get a decent list of solid, relevant ideas that would be perfect for that all-important final sentence of their introduction. These ideas came from them, and not me! I assist with choosing key phrases or thoughts and help them start to form the sentence, but they do most of the heavy lifting and come up with something fantastic.
The student was never a “bad writer.” They just needed a push to understand that they had a strong inner voice all along. This is a barrier I commonly see with my high school students—they just don’t believe they can do it.
Once More with Feeling
When I ask a student to discuss a specific part of their writing, I hear a lot of “well, what I’m trying to say is…” When I hear this, it’s usually because I pointed something out in the essay that wasn’t quite clear. After asking them to explain further, they express exactly what they should have written in the first place; the only thing missing was a sense of determination displayed on the page.
The reality is, confidence in the ideas your writing communicates can be the difference between an assignment or essay that jumps off the page and one that leaves a teacher confused about exactly what you were trying to convey.
As the school year draws to a close, many of you will be receiving final grades based on written assignments rather than tests. As you write your essays, I recommend that you read them out loud. You may decide to rephrase parts of your writing that don’t make sense or don’t sound like you, and by doing so you’ll turn the clunky, unclear sentences into well written, concise thoughts. When you read that final draft out loud, you’ll see how believing in not only what you’re saying, but trusting your voice to say it can dramatically improve the quality of your essay.
The Final Push
Sometimes it just takes a little push for a student to harness the writing skills they already possess, even if they consider themselves an absolutely terrible writer and dread sitting down to write a paper. Confidence is just as important in academic writing as it is when standing up in front of your class for a presentation, going in for a job interview, or taking a final exam. When you feel secure in your abilities and intellect, it shows in your work. As they say, you will always be your biggest critic. Whether it’s an article review for a history class, a book analysis for English, or a first person personal essay, it’s beneficial for you to assess how confident you are in your writing and in yourself as a student. While you can do this on your own, it never hurts to sit down with someone and reflect together. Seeing your work through their eyes might give you the confidence boost you need to strengthen your writing!