Writing is a necessary skill that is taught in schools across the globe. But writing a college essay, or even a high school essay, can be difficult for some. Not everyone is a ‘natural born writer,’ as most would describe someone who writing comes easily to. Some people, such as my grandfather, never get the chance to even learn to read and write. Learning to write is a privilege that can set you up for future success in your career, or even at home. Writing takes time, patience, practice, and effective guidance from our school instructors to become good at it. It plays a role in our daily lives and without it, in the English language speaking society, we would struggle. When a writer is faced with the daunting task of having to write an essay for school or a report for their place of employment, it can be difficult for those who don’t look at themselves as a natural born writer. Knowing where to begin writing is half the battle, and the process can be frustrating.
Most writers are hard on themselves as they believe that writing should come as easily to them as speaking does. They don’t understand that writing is not innate, it is a technology that is taught secondarily to language and speech as Dylan B. Dryer explains in his article “Writing is Not Natural”.
“Writing is not even inevitable: after all, not all languages have writing, and no particular system of inscribing symbols is an obvious complement to any particular family of languages.”
-Dylan B. Dryer
Dryer acknowledges that not all languages have hieroglyphics that coincide with each word, as the English language does. If writing were natural, every language would have hieroglyphics or a form of writing to go with it. He goes on to explain that writing is a technology that had evolved long after we started to speak and make sense of what we were attempting to communicate to one another. Dryer insists that for this reason, writers should not be hard on themselves and their writing abilities. It takes time and practice to gain the knowledge and skills to create a good writing piece, and there will always be room for growth. It is important to understand that writing is not natural, once we understand this, we can set aside our frustrations and utilize that energy for growth in our writing skills. Even the best writers can improve their writing skills.
