Writing Response 5: Thinking Well - Essay Example

I then make an outline before writing my thoughts. After settling the ideas that I want to write and have written the basic structure of my essay, I begin pouring myself in writing. The chess comparison that the author used about writing can be likened to a novice writer who just writes without any “writing sense” and just pour the thought without any consideration of the rules of good writing. He appreciates good writing but does not know the process of how to write it himself or herself.

This analogy meant that we are fascinated with good composition but does not take time and effort to acquire the “writing sense” necessary to compose good writing. Consequently, we will have the impression that we could never be a good writer because we keep on writing bad essays. Trimble explains that a beginning chess player “has no idea how seasoned players think at the board” and that they “can certainly appreciate the effects, but the actual thought process is a mystery” (4).

How is this concept pertinent to an English 2010 classroom? The closest analogy I can infer from the English 2010 classroom is the literature that we used either for analysis or instruction. We appreciate its composition and at some point in awe on how well it is written because they do not only instruct us, but entertain us as well. Sometimes, we think that it was written so well that we doubt if we can ever write a composition like that. According to John R. Trimble, the ultimate reason or root of bad writing is egocentrism.

Egocentrism is the process of writing where the writer thinks only about himself and writes accordingly for himself. He does not consider the audience who would be reading his writing. I have seen this phenomenon from my peers and classmates and experienced it myself. I believe that it is a common mistake of any novice writer as he or she struggles