Essay #2

When I go to write a paper I have all these great ideas in my head that remind me of something a professional writer would write about, but when I go to put these ideas down it doesn’t end up sounding like I had originally pictured it. I just can’t get my ideas to flow together. I think that is the biggest barrier to public discourse that many people including me have. I think we also have trouble with making our pieces of writing sound professional because many of us have also gotten into the habit of typing in slang because of things like AIM and text messages. This is also something that can create a barrier of public discourse for many people. Along with these barriers there is also one more. Blogging, I feel, has hindered some individual’s ability to write formally. When they are creating a blog post they are just writing down what is in their head and not really thinking about how professional it sounds which is fine but it still is a barrier to professional writing. Being a college student in its self can also be somewhat of a barrier.

In college it may be hard to even be close to writing professionally because teachers sometimes put so many restrictions on assignments that make it hard for the student to get out his/her ideas the way they want to. Also in college you are not allowed to just write about whatever you want to unless you are writing just for fun. This can limit the ability to grow to a professional writer because college students get into the habit of these restrictions and then they find it hard to break away from them.

For me, although I enjoy writing essays, especially when it is something I am interested in, I do not see myself continuing writing, at least for other people then myself to see, after I graduate from college. I just don’t feel that I could ever make it to the level that the great American professional writers of these days are at. Informal writing will be just fine for me in the future because all I need to do is get my thoughts and ideas down on paper and not need to show them to anyone to be satisfied. There is a study that shows if people write for twenty minutes a week, and I mean just write, the piece doesn’t have to have any professional construction at all, then the mental and physical health of the individual writer will improve.