[ SECRET POST #338 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #338 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 10 pages, 250 secrets from Secret Submission Post #049.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 ] broken links, [ 1 ] not!secrets, 0 not!fandom, [ 1 2 3 ] repeats.
Next Secret Post: Tomorrow, Monday, December 10th, 2007.
Current Secret Submission Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[evaporate.livejournal.com]

As someone who took over eleven AP's in high school, aced both AP English exams, and (well, before college ate my life) wrote actively in fandom, I'm going to have to just clue you in that writing an essay and writing a piece of fiction? Not so far removed from one another!

The key to good writing, both in essays and in works of fiction, is clear expression of ideas; no more, no less. If you can't manage that, then I'm not so sure you care about the actual language any more than your classmates. Don't run before you walk -- creative writing is fun and all, but when it comes down to it the same skills are required for both, and you need to grasp the basics before you can move on to the artsy-fartsy stuff.

Being confident in your writing skills is okay, but you have to realize that all of us -- even the best of us -- have definite room to grow. Humility is more or less required if you are still in school, especially in high school, because no matter how good you think you are? It's not your best, it never will be, and if you can't accept that, you will continue to fail.

Tip: try not to think of essays as sterile and formulaic! They may be in some respects, but there is a great deal of wordplay and word-smithing involved. It is possible to indulge in wordy delight in your generic persuasive essay and beat the pants off all the people who see the word "essay" and reflexively write like robots.

And I would rather shoot myself in the eye than become an English major, by the way -- I'm no expert. Just giving my two cents, is all.

[schizo-niko.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much for the advice; it's enlightening.

The reason I entered AP was because I did so well in honours, and the weird things I do every day that are language driven lead me to believe that I'm good at English, but AP is just not for me.

Essays feel rigid sometimes, but being clever in them can get good grades in some ways, right? When I write specifically for my teacher, though, and not test-related things, he always circles parts I'd put there to be fun and takes off points. I don't know anything, though, so I'm probably doing it wrong.

I'm glad that you are a member of fandom and you aced your exams; the kids in my class, not so much.

[evaporate.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I started out with essay-writing. I was doing that long before I even considered writing fic. :)

You know, it's funny. I've found that people who are very eloquent in speech are rarely so eloquent in writing. I haven't really found out why that is, as I'm the opposite (I consider myself a decent writer; above average for my general age group, certainly, but rather mediocre in the grand scheme of things). But that's neither here nor there.

I don't think essays should be rigid so much as they should be more controlled than your average pile of verbal vomit. Also, being clever is okay so long as it doesn't detract from your argument. I wouldn't make it a point to write for your instructor, necessarily. I mean, each to their own, blah blah blah, but I was taught always to write to a general audience.

As for clever bits in essays, well... there is a time and place. For instance! Doing so in an extended research paper will not get you any points with anyone. On the other hand, I once wrote an analytical essay (as practice for the AP English Language exam, I think, so it concerned style and form) on an article from The Onion entirely in colloquial English, complete with profanity, and my teacher somehow did not fry me to death (she opted to read it aloud instead and give me full points dsjkfjlf).

I don't know. I guess what I do is just... I look at essay-writing as just another mode of expression. There's fic, yes, but c'mon, persuasive essay! You're trying to convince whatever poor slob is reading your paper to think the way you want that person to think. You are most definitely not trying to sound like a robot.

Take baby steps. Start with the strict, typical five-paragraph essay format. Don't take liberties with that form until you're comfortable with it. My writing tutor in seventh grade had that thing hammered into all of our skulls, so much that I never needed a writing tutor again.

To be fair, though, writing ability is extremely variable, and relies not only on your grasp of the technicalities of the language, but your grasp on the artsy aspect as well. However! You certainly don't sound at all stupid; my guess is that after awhile it'll all just come naturally. It's at that point that you can stop taking essay-writing seriously. Before that, I'd just stick to the rules.

I really hope I'm making sense. I'm writing this as I pull a history paper out of my ass, so most of my brain is focused on Sallust. |D