Writing is Hard

By Brian Timmerman, Manager of Writing Specialist and Tutor Services

No one really ever told me that before either. I had to learn it. While I’ve toiled away, wrestling with a word or struggling to figure out a transition from Sentence A to Sentence B, I just figured everyone else was really good at it. It somehow came naturally for them.

Oddly enough (and perhaps sadly enough), It wasn’t until I taught freshman English when I realized that this wasn’t the case.

“Man, I just sat down and wrote the thing. Took me about 2 hours,” I’d overhear a student saying.

And initially I was impressed too. Two hours? Maybe she’s got this whole writing thing figured out.

But I can tell you now: She didn’t. Her paper was a mess. Because writing is hard and time intensive.

Now, I say this to you too realizing that I’m not offering any solutions here. You can find plenty of helpful advice on this blog, on our website, or from your peers on our discussion board. But still, I think it’s important to take 5 minutes and acknowledge this one truth, if only for our own sanity: Writing is hard.