Two, Two, Two Writing Styles in One
Two Types of Writing: “Formal” (Academic) and Creative Writing. Image Source: Sheltech Consultants
Academic Writer
One the things that I’ve learned over the past two years is that I have two different writing styles–and they are incompatible with each other. The first type of writing style is my academic writing style. This style is super strange in that I need to first find a “container” or “form” for me to be successful. Once I find a form/container, I’m good. I can basically write and finish a draft and that draft will be very strong and either may be the one I turn in or only needs to be edited in order to be turned in. The real time consuming element is finding that “container”/”form”/”design” (or Thesis). Once I have that, the rest is just putting words on paper. Writing this blog is akin to academic writing for me: my container = the headings. Once I put the headings down into the blog post, the rest of it is just writing the words underneath (and that’s the “secret sauce” to the writing of my blog posts).
Creative Writer
So, what I’ve learned during my time at MTSU, is that my academic writing style does NOT work for my creative writing style. To write creatively, I (personally–may not be applicable to anyone else), need to “build” my stories draft by draft. I have to take the time to outline (foundation), rough draft (framing), “working draft” (interiors & finishing construction), and submission draft (cleaning and landscaping). I HAVE to go through all these stages, adding, refining, and generally making the project better at each stage of the process. One draft will NOT suffice under any circumstances for me (even if I have the container/form. Skipping through these stages doesn’t work for me–either I go through these stages, or I end up with incomplete drafts or abandoned projects.
Two in One
What I’ve learned is that I need to switch between the two as necessary. Why have I continued to try to force my academic writing style on myself as my creative writing style is unknown to me. However, if school is about learning, then I’ve at least found one great thing out about myself that I may be able to use to my advantage in my writing life.
Sidney
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