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Getting writing right

Brittany Chojnowski, For The Miami Student

(HANNAH MILLER | The Miami Student)

Ideas about writing


Pulitzer nominations are not all they have in common.

James Tobin, associate professor of journalism, and ever-popular horror author Stephen King say writing is a talent, not a skill.

King's New York Times Best Seller, On Writing, discusses his personal writing theories. King theorizes the writing skills of the public can be placed into the levels of a pyramid.

The bottom, and most immense level, is filled with the incompetent writers. Moving up the pyramid you have the competent writers, then the good writers. At the very apex of the pyramid, you have the geniuses. King's idea is that a writer's skill is stationary, and the only metamorphosis possible is from competent to good.

"It's the same thing with things like music and athletics," Tobin said. "You can't make someone into a star athlete if they aren't coordinated. You can't make someone into a great writer if they have no instinctive feel for good story telling."

Patricia Gallagher Newberry, a lecturer from the journalism program, has taught at Miami University for 13 years. Being that she works so closely with journalism students, she, too, has developed a personal philosophy on writing.

Reflecting on her past experiences with students, Newberry explains in an average class about half of the students were good writers and the other half were either poor writers, or somewhere in between.

"There is nothing I did to make them this way," Newberry said. "They came to school with that identity and skill set, or lack of skill set."

Newberry believes at this stage in the education process, students have developed a writing identity, not one that is set in stone but one that is difficult to change.

"Good writers get incrementally better, and poor writers get exceptionally better, but it is very difficult to move the ball forward in any dramatic way," Newberry said.

Poor writing may be the product of a lack luster writing education, Tobin suggests.

"I tell my students that many of them have been cheated by their high school teachers," Tobin said. "It's not that the students aren't talented. They are. They have the brain power, no doubt about it. They just haven't been taught the fundamentals. Many students have to struggle with punctuation, good diction and sentence structure before they can learn the techniques of good story telling."

Newberry said there is a correlation between reading and writing.

"It's an ability to replicate; it's that voice in your head telling you this is how you do written communication," Newberry said.

Tobin agreed. A strong reading background can affect the quality of someone's writing.

"Good writing is largely a matter of imitation, conscious or not conscious," Tobin said.

‘Howe' to improve?


From 2008 to 2009, the number of students with consultations at the Howe Center for Writing Excellence increased from 785 to 1,473 students.

"I'm very pleased to see how many students are committed to improving their writing," Paul Anderson, director of Howe Writing Center, said.

Out of the 1,473 students that visited Howe for assistance in 2009, 50 percent of them returned for future consultations.

First-year Rimma Avanesyan returned to Howe four times this school year and highly recommends it.

"It is such a great opportunity," Avanesyan said. "Take advantage of the writing center. You're paying for it in your tuition anyways."

Mike Hanus, a consultant that has been employed at the Howe Writing Center for two and a half years, has developed some techniques to better assist students in the writing process.

"Lots of students are visual learners, so I draw diagrams to show them how to organize their papers," Hanus said. "Sometimes I interview students so I can find out what they mean by certain things they write. Students have a tendency of getting caught up in what they think a college essay should sound like and they use a lot of formal language."

A majority of the problems he sees with student's writing are simply clarification problems, Hanus said.

Alex Pierce, a Howe Writing Center consultant, said the most common problem he sees with student writing is an inability to explain themselves. Pierce said he finds it helpful to ask questions.

"I will have my clients explain what they want to say as I read what they've written, and I find there's a disconnect," Pierce said. "There is a gap between what's in their head and what's on the paper."

Hanus and Pierce said the gap has to do with lack of grammar knowledge and reading. Hanus expressed his feeling that many students do not have a solid grasp on how to structure an essay and develop a thesis.

"It's more of a lack of background than talent," Hanus said.

Pierce feels writing problems are a direct result of not reading frequently.

"The amount of reading a person does shapes their writing style," Pierce said. "They take away bits and pieces to create their own style. If you don't read, you don't open yourself up to as much learning as possible."

When asked if they think writing is something that can be learned, they both agree the fundamentals can, and should, be mastered, but it takes more than fundamentals to write things other than term papers. According to Hanus, you can learn the techniques of the craft and become a good writer, but it takes some natural ability to write creatively. Pierce argues that since we all have to start somewhere with writing, everyone has the potential to write well. But he also believes the truly great writers are naturals.

"Everyone is a bad writer at some point," Pierce said. "You can compensate for lack of skill with practice, but you have to have some natural talent. It's the same as any other skill. If you play baseball and you were horrible in high school, chances are you'll never make it to the majors."

New thinking

In the eyes of John Tassoni, English professor and former director of college composition, a great student writer is someone who through any aspect of the process and in the finished product will make him see his course differently.

"The most common problem with writing is the idea that errorless writing is the principal feature of good writing rather than exploration and truth," Tassoni said. "As a teacher, I look at every piece of writing as an achievement. I look at the writing for what it means in terms of what students want to express, how they are understanding course matter, and what I might do differently or more of as result of what they write."

A matter of passion

Junior Rachel Peterson, an English/creative writing major, wishes to use her flair for creative writing in the public relations world.

"It's an obscure passion," Peterson said.

Peterson has been writing since junior high. She recalls having to write short stories in 8th grade, and her enthusiasm for writing took off from there. The mark of a great writer is when you are able to make your readers think even after they've finished reading, according to Peterson.

"You make them care about the characters and what is happening to them," Peterson said.

Peterson believes something like creative writing cannot be learned.

"The skills it takes to write a research paper or a term paper can be learned because it's all grammar, but you have to have a passion for creative writing," Peterson said.

Lauren Kelly, editor in chief of Up magazine, also exhibits a passion for writing.

"I've been writing since I was little," Kelly said.
Kelly, who hopes to break into magazine journalism or public relations, finds writing is an important tool, as well as a hobby and career path.

"Writing has been the tool by which I record my life," Kelly said. "When I studied in Paris last fall, I carried a journal with me everywhere. I wrote everywhere, about everything. That little black Moleskin notebook is like a bound memory now."

Kelly also expressed her feeling that writing can be therapeutic.

"Writing provides me with an outlet for my feelings," Kelly said. "That sounds so cheesy, but I think things out by writing them down."


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