I spent hours in coffee shops polishing my MA thesis-I even got a compliment on the writing from one of my committee members for my trouble-but I was nevertheless committed to the idea that I was not a good writer. I have been an avid reader most of my life, which has given me a decent ear for good prose, and I always aimed to produce good work, but I also generally distinguished between the history on the one side and the writing on the other. This is not to say I paid no attention to the craft of writing before that point. I started getting serious about writing in the course of writing my dissertation. Many ideas fizzle, either because the writer can’t concentrate on them long enough to blow a spark into a flame, or because the idea itself doesn’t have the strength to become more than a hunch. Some hope that writing pyrotechnics might dazzle or sheer bulk equate to authority.Īn open secret: it’s OK to be scared by the responsibilities of writing and revising, at least sometimes. Some seem unclear about the distinction between dutiful summary and original insight. Some aren’t sure who they’re written for. Most drafts contain wonderful things, and most drafts don’t show off those wonders effectively.
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