My Writing Advice

Everyone has a different way of approaching their writing, whether it be for an English 102 class, a newspaper or even for a book. John Schwartz was able to visit our class and talk to us about his writing process, answer our questions and simultaneously give us advice to help us with our writing. Writing advice strikes every individual as a different chord. What may be a strong chord for me, might be a weak chord for another. Some of Schwartz’s ideologies and advice really allowed me to evaluate my writing process and see the faults within it; and all it needed was some glue to mend it to display the full picture. So this is a breakdown of how to write a paper effectively, using the advice John gave us and how I plan on using it. Starting
Collecting research and notes is imperative before attempting to tackle the idea of an essay or any writing project. While doing that, using valid resources such as peer reviewed research is helpful. Doing extensive research on your own can also strengthen your arguments and make your writing that much better. If I know what I’m talking about in my writing, then my arguments will make more sense, be stronger and convince my audience of what I’m thinking. If I’m talking about physics and string theory, I wouldn’t have as strong a paper as a physicist because I’m not educated in the subject nor am I passionate about
Talk about overwhelming, Schwartz recommends to read bit by bit and continue to reread your work until deadline hits to make sure it’s as good as can be. Now, let’s assume you’re sitting on your computer rereading your essay for the thousandth time, how do you know it’s time to print it and submit it? Schwartz says what motivates him to finally hand his work in is deadlines. A writer can write forever, it’s their job, but deadlines serve as motivation to finish their writing project and turn it in. College students, especially myself understand the dread of deadlines and they exist so that students can set a timeline before hand and map out how their essay is going to be formatted. Which means not procrastinating. Author Jeff Zentner of The Serpent King writes “I write on my phone on the bus to and from work and over lunch. At night I go on a walk to work out any plot issues”. Point is, authors and college students alike should be able to find time to write whenever and wherever. Although Schwartz had a morning job at The NYT, he worked on his novel Oddly Normal at night and during the weekends. He didn’t give up after getting home and sleeping, which is what most college students, including myself would do once getting home after a long day. At the end of the