Understanding Your Discipline: Writers

I often started out classes in various disciplines helping students to see how hard it is for them to imagine the distance from an immature view of a field to a mature one. It's true for any discipline. Imagine what a beginning law student thinks about law and how different this is from a PhD holder that teaches philosophy of law.

This same thing is true about writing. What one thinks at the beginning is very different than what one thinks as they mature. What this means is that as writers enter the process, it is of utmost importance to focus on expectations and flexibility. Expectations because things change quickly and the new writer suffers through those moments when they realize beloved writing suddenly becoming unreadable. Flexibility because the entire definition of literature and by extension art can change and require extensive adaptation.

There is a normal blind spot that students have when they think about what a discipline will look like. The view is one of much less complexity and breadth. People just simply can't imagine what is outside their experience and this space is filled in with subjectivity. It is filled in with rainbows and puppy dogs.

It is then a challenge for a teacher to get students to become flexible and be more humble in the face of learning curves. Simple exercises can prepare students for this evolution. Examples and analogies that show them that their journey in soft science can still have the character of one in hard science.

Medical students might be prepared for a tough road, but they can't possibly know the character of their future life when they are confronted with both surprisingly complex and surprisingly difficult nuances. Law school is an even better example, with drop out rates from 3-20 percent; but it is even more surprising how many law school graduates find it unfulfilling and impossible to practice law.

Those in soft science, especially writing, can learn from this. They can be shown the down-side of the writer's life. It can be made more relevant how hazardous self-employed careers can be.

I have always felt like starting with the deep principles, like for writing the through-line or theme, and beating them over the head with it. A young writer who feels a sense of mastery with thematic structure and how that is the core piece of literary artistry will be more likely to adjust expectations and succeed.