Read Lovely Books
Can you imagine those comments on a piece of your writing? Ouch
In the ancient art of the Zen kōan, a teacher — or sensai — poses a riddle to
Not only is the riddle unclear, but there is also no clear answer
Through methods of deconstruction and difference, dichotomies and questions are presented versus clear answers and solutions
’ She had given me constructive criticism that was hard to take before
This style, though, also likely means I put off a lot of readers who might not be
I’m willing to trade-off some potential readers for others who will be highly engaged
How about you? It might depend on what kind of writing you are doing and for what
You might also get more out of writing this way, creating a sort of ongoing discourse, even
You can (and should, in my opinion), for example, include a clear thesis and paragraph points whilst
As an English literature teacher for twenty years, I found that what motivated kids to read more
It doesn’t matter how long or short the book or article is
There are (still) teachers who like to give reading quizzes that challenge the students on details to
Those who had read actively were excited to have an opportunity to share their ideas
Others were encouraged to go back to the text, searching for quotes like detectives, to support or
I was, however, meticulous in teaching the structures of writing — five paragraph essays as an anchor and
Examples of evidence should make your reader consider others they know about themselves or want to research
Avoid just adding in a bunch of (eek) SAT words to your writing
I mean, if a challenging word fits well, then go for it! But a more effective focus
Sometimes we call this distinction ‘lexical- versus discourse-level processing
You might then be thinking: ‘Well, Hemingway used short sentences; why can’t I? A long Dickensian
’ A longer answer might include a discussion about the awareness of different types of sentences on your
It might also look at the nuances of sentence types and lengths that both Hemingway and Dickens
You might start by taking a look at the first two chapters of Hemingway’s Death in
(See what I did there? Congratulations, you get to figure it out
If you’re not sure where to start, here’s an introduction in The Writing Cooperative that
So how else can we add challenge to our writing? Of course, it depends on what kind
tell’ where you allow your readers to discover ideas through sensory details and figurative language rather than
Sometimes these rhetorical questions — those often used for effect in speeches — will have potential answers either explicitly
How might you include a question about a reader’s personal experiences? Or their fears? When might
Any time you mention a reference to another article or a fact, you embed a layer of
This both makes your writing clearer through example and reliable through research; but it also opens up
It doesn’t mean their conclusion will be at odds with yours
You could in this way mention other texts that talk about a similar topic, even if they
Footnotes providing or expanding on references can also be an art, as the master of structural creativity
The above references might not be facts at all but references to other reading material, films, myths,
Of course, a hyperlink can provide an entire written text or video for your reader
The space between — the transitory moments of your writing — are the places you can also focus on
While clear connections can help your reader follow your line of thought, you might want to use
If you don’t connect every single dot, you can allow space through transitions or quotes
Even a sentence or pausing punctuation within it is a split second to cue reflection
Take Robert Frost’s poem “An Old Man’s Winter Night” as an example:
One aged man — one man — can’t fill a house, A farm, a countryside, or if he
Frost is a master of caesura as well as leaving the reader with questions; the purpose of
Poetry to texts written by artificial intelligence feels like quite a leap
Can we fight the bots in this way, through examples of creative language that leaves the reader
We thought we had uniqueness and ideas; instead a machine can apparently express similar thoughts
Is writing an art form anymore or have we understood it so deeply through AI that it
Swiss Cognitive discusses the pros and cons of AI writing, including research within an educational setting
This would require a human mind to make choices from those possibilities presented to us, offering potentially
It may be a small way we can help the infowars and the lack of critical thinking
It’s not their fault; it’s a shift in the way we expect to receive information