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Hi, I'm Erik Trump, I teach in the Political Science department at SVSU.
Now, if you're a weak writer, not everyone knows the rules of grammar, this is a little
like being a weak mathematics student. You can't get the correct answer if you don't
know the rules. So if you have weaknesses as a writer, it's important to go and to try
and correct those weaknesses and that means a lot of discipline and a lot of reading.
I think that most writers become effective writers by paying close attention to what
they read, to see the styles that other authors use, and imitating those styles. But it also
requires learning the language of grammar, which often, in truth, doesn't come through
a classroom, it comes from independent study or through the study of a foreign language.
Learning another language is often a very effective way to learn what the rules for
your own language are. And it really pays to know those rules, because when you know
the rules for effective writing, and you know where to use a comma or not to; when you know
how to write a declarative sentence; when you know what a compound sentence is and can
distinguish that from a complex sentence; it gives you power as a writer. You have to
do much less revision, and you're able to express much more complex ideas.
So as unattractive as it may sound, if you're a weak writer, you need to recognize that
that's a weakness that can be built up through practice, just like a physical weakness can
be built up through exercise. And all of the greatest writersófiction and nonfiction writersóhave
spent a tremendous amount of time writing and writing and writing and practicing.
So there's no shame in that, in recognizing that weakness, and working to improve it.