One thing I hope the readings and classroom clips have made
clear is that as writers, we are architects of information. We build phrases, sentences, and paragraphs with
the hope that they will effectively
communicate meaning, and we do this through an increasingly broad
set of mediums. Just think of all the
places you have expressed yourself using written
words in the past week. I'm guessing you have composed some e-mails and text messages. Have you also used Twitter,
Facebook, or Instagram? How about Reddit or WhatsApp? Those are just digital platforms. Think of all the writing
you still do on paper. Everything from a post-it note to a birthday card to
your to-do list, is an opportunity
to practice how you design and deliver messages, as our more formal documents
like academic papers, business memos, and contracts. I use terms like design and architects of information
deliberately. My hope is, that they'll
encourage you to take a more interdisciplinary approach to improving as a writer, you don't have to just
read grammar books. You might also dip
into something like, How to Make Sense of Any
Mess by Abby Covert, who has worked on
projects for companies such as Nike and Etsy, and also taught at the Parsons School of Design or you could check out
the Netflix documentary, Abstract the Art of Design, which profiles the
creative minds behind things like magazine
covers for the New Yorker, stage sets at a Beyonce concert, and the shopping
experience at IKEA. You could even just compare
menus at local restaurants. How do they describe
their dishes? How do they lead you through
each category and section? Once you see writing through
this more expansive lens, once you realize it's
a series of choices, some functional, some stylistic, many are combination of both, perhaps new possibilities
will open up to you. The American writer John Updike, was so enamored with the
creative aspects of writing, that he once told an interviewer, "I would write ads
for deodorants or labels for catsup
bottles if I had to." He then went on to say that the miracle of turning
inklings into thoughts, and thoughts into words, and words into things
people actually read never gets old for him. With any luck, it
won't for you either.