During the whole semester, I have been blessed with lots of opportunities to practice university writing. Every writing task has been a struggle in arduous efforts yet with unsatisfactory results. I am still struggling and I am going to struggle with wiring for the rest of my college life or even my life.
One obvious excuse is that I have learned English as foreign language whose target is to pass English exams through education in China. However, it is absolutely not fair nor objective to attribute my troubles to this factor. I have been in an English-learning atmosphere for nearly one year and there is enough space on this campus for me to improve English. Putting aside the problem of language itself, I am still trapped by the process of formal writing, even in my mother tongue. More serious reason goes to my stubborn attitude.
Writing in university class further requires formality, logic, clarity and order, at which I am weakest at. Sometimes, I would rather believe I am born to think in a random way. Though I love the feeling of expressing myself in inspiration and freedom, in the form of language, this emanative habit also gives me huge problems faced with all the writing requirements at a university level. Step by step, I have been forcing myself to conform to “academic writing”, painstakingly hoping someday I am able to accustom to being responsible for my writing, that is to say, not to write for my own pleasure or will, but to write to serve a certain purpose or take on a particular task in a responsible, strict, logical, formal, acceptable, sensible, reader-friendly, clear and conventional “university” manner. To achieve this ambition requires a total change of mindset. I have realized my writing now has some assigned roles supposed to perform, figuratively speaking, roles of presenters or reporters whose findings, discoveries, research results are waiting to be approved or acknowledged, and I must bear these roles in heart all the time. Otherwise, I will easily forget the identity of writing as assignment, and thus easily digress from the designated range within which my topics are supposed to be confined.
One pattern I have often followed in the semester turns out unwise yet persistent: the more time I spend on research, the more unsure where my point lies in I feel. Threatened by approaching deadline, I start writing somewhere I am a bit confident in. The sad truth is such intuition always leads nowhere, and I have to start from scratch again. It seems the research on various sources limits and directs my writing, instead of making use of the information to support my point of view. The whole process of writing inevitably becomes passive, helpless, miserable and struggling. My current ability to handle a large amount of information is rather insufficient for university research. This ability can hardly be developed fast in any technique. Only through accumulated experience day by day, it can grow to need the meets of university writing. I should collect my determination and patience.
Patience, with frustration in the air, is knocking down the doors, because determination won't take no for an answer.
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wow, you've got a super long sentence!
ReplyDelete"Step by step, I have been forcing myself to conform to “academic writing”, painstakingly hoping someday I am able to accustom to being responsible for my writing, that is to say, not to write for my own pleasure or will, but to write to serve a certain purpose or take on a particular task in a responsible, strict, logical, formal, acceptable, sensible, reader-friendly, clear and conventional “university” manner. "
The a few adjectives appear at the end of this sentence with parallel structure is eye catching.I was shocked by your large vocabulary.
I like your humor shown in your writing and it looks as if you are actually talking to me. I think it's good to have a style, to me, your sense of humor and the optimism have been well presented in your writing. please try not to lose your style while trying to formalize your academic writing.
thanks a lot for your kind comments~
ReplyDeleteyou know, Old habits die hard.
The big problem for me is how to integrate my style into academic writing...
hope that works someday within my college life~
I can see that you do have your style of writing from youe post and agree that sometimes personal style would hinder your writing, especially if you want to transmit your ideas clearly. Still, it is not a bad thing to have a style as it differentiates you from others.
ReplyDeletePertaining to the last point that you raised, I have a suggestion. I find it quite helpful in my essays.
ReplyDeleteWhat I always do during preparation is to choose a firm stance on the topic and advance from there onwards. Granted, it may not be the best method but I believe that it will definitely get you out of your indecisiveness. It must be noted that we neither have sufficient knowledge and capability to conduct our own research nor doubt the validity of the research finding with the exception of diffentiating reliable sources from unreliable ones.
That being said, I always consider the data that I gather are neutral. In fact, that is generally the case for proper scientific research writing as scientific reports are meant to provide unbiased information. The reports hold no opinions, just information. with that in mind, I will try to formulate my arguments using the data based on my stance.
Admittedly, the final works may seem like a collection of incomplete arguments and there is no ultimate outcome at the end. However, most academic topics are meant to be like that. Instead of creating one piece and convincing yourself and your readers that what you presented is ultimate, would it not be better if there is constructive responses and criticism that would aid you in your future writing? I believe that is the academic way in discussion.