Do You Really Think You Are a Good Writer? Essay Example

Amadeo Constanzo claims that people often overestimate their skills and his students are no different. Constanzo advises them that even if they think they do not belong in the remedial class, they could use the time to further improve their writing skills. The studentsneed to realize that writing skills have a positive relationship with career pay and advancement opportunities, thus, more practice doesn’t hurt. Constanzo argues that there is always room for improvement even if you are ahead of the crowd and examples of sports celebrities such as Michael Jordan demonstrate that. Remedial writing classes are a win-win opportunity because students with both strong and weak writing skills will improve through practice.

I agree with the author that there is always room for improvement and it is especially true for writing. As Malcolm X reveals, he had always been a proficient oral speaker but could not express himself well through writing. This shows that written skills and oral communication skills are two different things and being a proficient speaker doesn’t guarantee effective writing skills. I know from personal experience that two of the best tools to improve writing skills are writing practice and reading and Frederick Douglass tried the same strategy. As we read more, our vocabulary increases and we also become better at using words. Sometimes, we discover the meaning of particular words through the way they are used in sentences just as Douglass attempted to learn the meaning of ‘abolition’ without directly asking anyone the meaning of the word.

I also agree with the author that the best way to convince someone is through evidence. If one thinks he/she doesn’t belong in the remedial class, his/her best defense would be to demonstrate through improved writing skills. One may reject mere claims but evidence is difficult to reject. The author is also right that one can never get enough practice in writing. I know many native English speakers who continue to come across new English words day after day while reading fiction and non-fiction books. They tell me that reading has improved their written communication skills because it introduces them to proper writing rules. They also tell me that while we can afford informal style in oral communication because we can always clarify our message, we rarely have that luxury in writing. This is because we often have only one opportunity to express in writing what we desire to communicate. This is why formal writing skills are in great demand in the real world because very few people are considered effective writers.

Malcolm X was one of the most articulate black leaders and he was the same person who could not even properly write a single sentence. One of the strategies Malcolm X tried to improve his writing skills was writing words from the dictionary. Writing didn’t only help him memorize words and retain them but also improved the quality of his ideas. Malcolm X also states that he didn’t know which English words he should learn from the dictionary. This reveals another nature of the writing process which is the discovery of new words and their proper usage. We often do not know how we should improve our writing as we often mistakenly believe we already have adequate writing skills. It is only through reading and writing process we discover new words as well as ways to properly use those words.

I like the author’s argument that level of one’s writing skills should not matter when it comes to writing practice. This is because there is no downside to remedial classes. Strong writing skills benefit when it comes to career earnings and advancement opportunities, thus, even if the student already has adequate writing skills, work in remedial classes will provide him more practice opportunities. The sheer number of words in English language, like most other languages, means one will always find new words to learn.

As Malcolm X discovered, improved writing skills also improve one’s reading skills. Malcolm X states that his practice with the dictionary made it easier for him to understand books. Malcolm X also reveals that writing practice also improved his writing speed. It may be that writing practice increases one’s ability to translate ideas into words just as it happens in oral communication. Over time, we start constructing sentences effortlessly in oral communication because we have used the same sentences numerous times before and they become second nature to us. Similarly, writing practice also makes it easier to construct written sentences over time due to usage frequency and experience.

From my reading habit, I have discovered that sometimes we don’t even have to construct sentences on our own because reading often introduces us to the proper sentence structure involving a particular word. There are many words whose proper usage I would not have known had I not remembered the sentences in the newspapers that use those words. Often times I look up the meaning of a word in the dictionary but cannot figure out how to incorporate them into sentences until I come across them during one of my reading sessions. The experiences of famous writers such as Frederick Douglas and Malcolm X as well as my own experiences have convinced me that frequent readings as well as writing practices are the two most effective ways to improving writing skills.