My British Literature teacher played this video in class last semester:
It made me think. Am I losing the part of me that writes just for the pleasure of it? I still read a lot, but I don't feel the same urge to write as I used to. I used to read a book and then work on one of my own, just for fun, because I could, and whether the author inspired or disappointed me, my reaction was the same. Am I sacrificing that for a solid 4.0 GPA? Reading only the required course materials and writing only enough to get an A in the class?
In college, you end up writing a lot of papers--especially when you're an English major. I've probably produced more papers in my first three semesters than I did during my entire high school career. The problem is that, in the most important sense, these papers aren't really mine. No, those papers about Shakespeare and literature and study abroad programs don't belong in my portfolio. I would despise using them as a writing sample. College papers, at least for English classes, are influenced by more than just the student writer. Their topic derives from the class, and the tone reflects the teacher's expectations.
You see? I write college papers for the grades; I write what the teacher wants me to. At least, I write what I think the teacher wants me to. Sometimes I guess wrong, and get a lower grade despite it all. This is irksome, because if I knew I wasn't going to get an A, I could have just written the paper I really wanted to write. Still, my approach to college papers seems to be what teachers expect from students. The proof comes when teachers leave comments telling me what I should put in my paper, or (even worse) what argument I meant to make or ought to be making instead. That always grates a little. Maybe I'm a little oversensitive, but it seems to me that no one should presume to tell an author what she should be writing. Why would a teacher make comments like that? The answer is that these assignments aren't for the student; they're for the teacher.
The simple fact is, there are no real "rules" anymore for writing. They teach you in high school, and more in college, about correct uses of punctuation and capitalization, and so on. The best one is that there should be at least five sentences in a paragraph--taught in the same literature class in which the assigned reading almost always breaks the rule. I've heard of one classic author who advised writers to use as few adjectives as possible, substituting colorful verbs instead. Another best-selling author argues that verbs should be as simple as possible, at least when writing dialogue, because the more descriptive verbs will interrupt the flow.
From this and other inconsistencies amongst the literary community, I conclude that there are no rules. There are style and voice, appropriate and effective. What matters is that your style matches your subject, and that the voice is your own. Like painting. There is no "right" way to create art. Paints and oils and brushes aren't better than colored pencils, or even crayons, for that matter. What matters is that your medium suits your message--that every aspect of your art complements itself.
So. I need somewhere to experiment with writing and express my thoughts without having to worry about what the teacher will think. I want to write for the fun of it, rather than to get a good grade.
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