Writing is an evolving skill, not a born trait. Nobody comes out of the womb holding a pencil and writing Shakespearean love sonnets. Stephan King and Leo Tolstoy did not write books as toddlers. It is a assumption that bothers me as a writer. I always get apologies by friends, family, and students over the state of their writing. Heck, I catch myself doing it too. By perpetuating this crazy notion, we are stunting the growth of people as writers. It has taken me years to get to this point with my writing skills. Perhaps we as human beings need to be reminded for our own sakes.
When in doubt: Cite. Citations are highly important to you as a writer. It gives credit where it is due. For myself personally as a historian, my entire academic integrity is based upon my ability to accurately cite primary and secondary sources. Not nearly as daunting as it sounds when you realize that with the discoveries and accomplishments of others, you can be inspired as well as provide acknowledgement to those who inspire you. I am also asking you to please not use Wikipedia as a academic source, it makes me cringe.
Don’t pull all–nighters. It provides zero help to you as a writer. Sleep is beautiful. Your mind is beautiful. Combining these two ideas: Beautiful mind and Beautiful sleep. So sleep people. Your mind will thank you and so will your professors for not turning in gibberish. Let’s not make all-nighters a college experience. Don’t be like me my sophomore year and be up until 6 a.m. eating pizza rolls and working on a paper. Minus the pizza rolls, it is not fun.
When stressed, take a break. For that moment when you are super tired and just need a mental break. It is not healthy to work for hours and hours with no break. It is not good for you or your paper. Watch Netflix or listen to music. Whenever I’m stressed, I eat ice cream. Ice cream is always a great idea. So if you are stressed, go eat that ice cream! (Ben and Jerry’s has dairy free ice cream now for vegans and those who are lactose intolerant) Or go to the gym if you are in to that or catch some Pokemon. Whatever floats your boat.
Write about things you are passionate about. This will help you long term. If you don’t have a passion for what you are writing about then it makes it just that much harder. We all have that one paper that we are assigned and have no passion for. In that case, work with the topic until you can make it into a topic that you are mildly interested in. Fake it until you make it.
