Why Write?

1. Why Write? Writing Reasons From Kelly Gallagher, author of Teaching Adolescent Writers

2. Reason #1: Writing is Hard, but “Hard” is Rewarding

3. Reason #1: Writing is hard, but “hard” is rewarding • It’s hard because language is incredibly complex

4. Reason #1: Writing is hard, but “hard” is rewarding • It’s hard because language is incredibly complex • Working hard is its own reward, and not just in writing

5. Reason #1: Writing is hard, but “hard” is rewarding • It’s hard because language is incredibly complex • Working hard is its own reward, and not just in writing • Example: knitting. It’s hard to knit a sweater, and sometime overwhelming, but the final product is worth it. • Example: team competitions. Thousands of hours of practice, training, and drills in order to win • Example: what about you?

6. Reason #1: Writing is Hard, but “Hard” is Rewarding

7. Reason #2: Writing Helps You Sort Things Out

8. Reason #2: Writing Helps You Sort Things Out • Work out emotion turmoil like grief, anxiety, frustration • Seeing your emotions on paper helps examine your thoughts logically

9. Dear Ann: I'm a 26-year-old woman and feel like a fool asking you this question, but—should I marry the guy or not? Jerry is 30, but sometimes he acts like 14. Jerry is a salesman and makes good money but has lost his wallet three times since I've known him and I've had to help him meet the payments on his car. The thing that bothers me most, I think, is that I have the feeling he doesn't trust me. After every date he telephones. He says it's to "say an extra goodnight," but I'm sure he is checking to see if I had a late date with someone else. One night I was in the shower and didn't hear the phone. He came over and sat on the porch all night. I found him asleep on the swing when I went to get the paper the next morning at 6:30 a.m. I had a hard time convincing him I had been in the house the whole time. Now on the plus side: Jerry is very good-looking and appeals to me physically. Well—that does it. I have been sitting here with this pen in my hand for 15 minutes trying the think of something else good to say about him and nothing comes to mind. Don't bother to answer this. You have helped more than you will ever know. —Eyes Opened. (The Miami Herald, July 22, 1978; reprinted in Linderman, 1982).

10. Reason #2: Writing Helps You Sort Things Out • Writing can help sort out practical problems • Brainstorming • Lists • Free association

12. Reason #3: Writing Helps to Persuade Others

13. Reason #3: Writing Helps to Persuade Others • Gives time to choose the best words

14. Reason #3: Writing Helps to Persuade Others • Gives time to choose the best words • When writing, you step back from confrontation

15. Reason #3: Writing Helps to Persuade Others • Gives time to choose the best words • When writing, you step back from confrontation • Can reach a large audience

16. Reason #3: Writing Helps to Persuade Others • Gives time to choose the best words • When writing, you step back from confrontation • Can reach a large audience • Speeches, newspaper editorials, blog posts

17. Reason #3: Writing Helps to Persuade Others • Gives time to choose the best words • When writing, you step back from confrontation • Can reach a large audience • Speeches, newspaper editorials, blog posts • In everyday life

19. Reason #4: Writing Helps to Fight Oppression

20. Reason #4: Writing Helps to Fight Oppression • Writing educates your intended audience • Writing inspires and gives hope • Writing give you access to the world • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_te9wClv3M

22. Reason #5: Writing Makes You a Better Reader

23. Reason #5: Writing Makes You a Better Reader • The two skills are intertwined • Knowing a skill lets you appreciate the final result • Writing  Reading • Kicking a soccer ball  scoring a goal

24. Reason #5: Writing Makes You a Better Reader “‘your hands are so smooth’ she whispers to me I smile and whisper, ‘yours too’ But I haven’t written on a green slate board for years Suffixes have not faded into my skin There is no fine white dust ground into my palms I think of the things her hands have seen and I wonder at their softness” -Excerpt of “Grammy’s Hands”

26. Reason #6: Writing Makes you Smarter

27. Reason #6: Writing Makes you Smarter • Writing requires you to think. • The more you think, the better you are it • By writing in a variety of modes, you learn to think in a variety of ways

28. “How Writing Makes You Smarter Than You Usually Are” • July 25, 2012 by Nick Arvin • Theory: Writing is a device for making a person appear smarter than he or she usually is. • Substantiation: We know from experience that smartness is not a constant quality. Sometimes we are smarter than we usually are, as when a sudden insight arrives, or a burst of creativity, or a moment of sustained focus. These smarter than usual moments can occur at any time. • On the other hand, even the smartest person is sometimes less smart than usual.

29. So, smartness varies over time. If we graph smartness vs. time, it might look like this. • Ideally, we would like to use only the peaks of the graph, when we are smarter than usual • …Fortunately, writing allows us to do that. It does so through two processes:

30. (1) if we can immediately recognize that a thought is less smart than usual, we discard the thought and don’t write it down, and • (2) if we do write down something that’s less smart than usual, the processes of revision, rewriting, and editing allow us to trim away the stuff that’s less smart than usual and replace it with stuff that’s more smart.

31. So, writing (including the crucial revision process) is a handy device that you can use for creating a version of yourself who is smarter than you usually are. Please use it for good, not evil.

33. Reason #7: Writing Helps You Get Into and Through College

34. Reason #7: Writing Helps You Get Into and Through College • You’ll be writing a lot in college • Not just in Freshman composition • Lab reports, scholarship applications, business and law classes, emails to faculty and advisors, any type of theory class, the list goes on and on! • NOW is the time to ‘sharpen your saw’ and GET PREPARED for college • My very first assignment was writing about one topic from three different perspectives

36. Reason #8: Writing Prepares You for the World of Work

37. Reason #8: Writing Prepares You for the World of Work • Writing is considered a “threshold skill” for employment • 2/3 of salaried jobs require writing • With stiff competition for jobs, more and more employers are analyzing writing skills • ½ of companies take writing into account for promotions But don’t just take my word for it…

38. Reason #8: Writing Prepares You for the World of Work Software developer Tech department Insurances Company - sales Pharmaceutical development Project engineer – at a quarry comp.