1.5: Ten Most Common Misconceptions about Writing

Ten Most Common Misconceptions about Writing

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The following ten misconceptions¹ are very common among ESL students of all levels. Read each statement first and think/discuss whether you feel the same way. Then read the explanations and suggestions.

1. I translate sophisticated vocabulary and complex sentences from my native language to English so that my English writing looks much better.

Writing well is never easy, even for native speakers of English. If you are a beginning level ESL student, translating from your first language is very natural, but relying on translation into intermediate and advanced levels will affect your learning negatively. Imagine how you would handle a 30-page research paper or a 10-page business report a few years later? You would probably not have the time transferring ideas between two languages, but more importantly, your readers would most likely not be able to understand your ideas completely because no two languages could be translated word for word without losing meaning and clarity in the process. Therefore, keeping translating from your native language will NOT make your English writing better. On the contrary, the opposite is true.

For the same reason, heavy reliance on a bilingual dictionary is not a good idea, either. Learning to form, process, and express ideas in English takes time, but it is a skill that can be trained, developed, and acquired. Now is a good time to change the habit of translating. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to break this habit.

When you write in English, start with the vocabulary and sentence structure you know no matter how simplistic they may sound. Gradually you will build your skills in thinking and writing in English. Be patient with yourself and learn to accept imperfections. Over time, you will surely see the improvement. For the readers, it is much more acceptable to have a simple but comprehensible piece of writing than the one that they cannot understand well.

2. I do not know what to write. I worry about my assignments a lot, and then I google to get some ideas.

Sudden moments of inspiration may occasionally occur, but you cannot count on them when your writing assignment is due the next day. Instead, just start writing! Once you start jotting down your thoughts, more will follow.  The key is to get started. It is perfectly fine if the ideas in the beginning do not seem good enough. Good writing takes time, so do not wait till the last minute. One way to stay on track is to schedule backwards, starting from the due date and allowing enough time for editing, revising, drafting, outlining, and brainstorming.

Occasional googling is fine, but if you rely on the Internet information for an assignment, you will experience many potential disadvantages:

• You will easily fall into the temptation of plagiarism - copying other people's work and taking it as your own.
• Your thinking will be limited by what you read.
• Your writing will not show your unique, interesting perspective.
• You will not be improving your skills steadily throughout the semester.
• You will not be able to do well in-class writing exams.

3. The more general the topic is, the easier it is to write.

In a way, it is true. You may have a lot of information about general topics like vacations and holidays. However, good writing is less about how “broadly” you can write about a topic but more about how “deeply” you can write about it. Therefore, narrow down a general topic to find a unique angle you can write from. There should always be a clear, sharp focus on your writing.  When you pick a topic, ask yourself first:

• How much more do I know about this topic than most of my classmates?
• What unique experiences and/or knowledge do I have about this topic?
• How will my readers gain a new level of understanding about this topic or about me through my writing?

For example, it is fine to write a wonderful vacation (happy family time, beautiful beaches, good food, etc.), but most people have similar experiences. Therefore, if you want to stay on this topic, try a different way and write about unusual vacation experiences, such as an interesting conversation with a hotel staff member, or an unexpected scenery reminding you of your childhood.

Here is another example. It is a common to write about the best inventions: cell phones, computers, airplanes... These are good topics if you are able to make your writing interesting and insightful with your experiences or knowledge. However, it is more fun to write and read if you select a topic that most people do not think about, like hair color or garbage disposal. Of course, you need to have used those products in order to write well.

4. I like to start writing right away. Prewriting is a waste of time.

Plunging into drafting seems like a time saving way to finish a writing assignment, but the result is not ideal in most cases.  Prewriting activities like brainstorming can lead to many surprising discoveries you are often unconscious of.  Another essential step of prewriting is outlining. Without an outline, some common problems will occur, for instance, the mismatch of the main idea and the supporting ideas, lack of sufficient details, overlapping details, and the illogical order of information.  With an outline, you can catch and fix those problems more easily before devoting your efforts to the draft of your paragraph. Prewriting is a good investment of your time.

5. It is a good idea to keep adding new things while I am writing.

It is great to have new ideas! In order to stay on your topic, do this: As soon as you have a new thought, insert it in your outline to see if it fits. If it does, include it in your writing.  If it does not, ignore it. The following questions will help you decide:

• Does it support the main idea?
• Is this a major supporting idea or a specific detail?
• Where should it go in my writing?
• Has something similar already been included?

6. ESL tutoring is for students who are not doing well in the course.

This statement is far from the truth.  Tutoring is for every student. In fact, students who are doing very well use this free service more often than others, which is one of the main reasons for their continued success.  Every student has strong and weak areas in writing, and there is always a way to write better.  At many colleges, free ESL tutoring is offered by experienced teachers. They can address your individual issues in writing. Tutoring is highly recommended to all students and is well worth your time.

7. My professor will correct every error in my writing.

While many professors may point out or correct most errors in the first writing assignment, they often do not do so in the later assignments.  One of the goals is to train you to become independent writers; therefore, professors usually mark the types of errors, for example, fragment and wrong verb tense. They expect you to learn to correct the errors by yourself. As the semester goes on, you will become more and more comfortable identifying and fixing mistakes on your own. It is important to communicate with your professor regularly with any questions you have. You will be happy to realize that you are becoming more and more independent in writing. That is a very powerful feeling to have!

8. My family and friends are the best people to help me improve my writing.

Your professors and ESL tutors are the best people to help you because they can explain what, how, and why. Of course, your family and friends can provide quick help when you need it. However, most of them do not usually know the specific requirements of your assignment, nor are they trained in explaining the rules and usage to you. While they have the best intention, they sometimes do the assignment for you without helping you understand why it should be done this way. If you often rely on the help of your family or friends, one of the consequences is that you lose the benefit of learning from your mistakes and thus fail to improve your writing skills as expected in the course.  Besides, you may not do well in in-class writing exams. Furthermore, you will not be prepared for your future college level courses. Your writing skill is for you to “own”, a skill that you will need and value for a lifetime.

9. I will just focus on reading and writing courses in order to go to English Composition I. Grammar is not important.

A lot of writing is involved in advanced reading and writing courses, and without a good command of grammar, it can be very challenging to complete them successfully. As explained earlier in this unit, academic writing requires formal and standard English, which is extensively explained and practiced in grammar classes.  Although a good mastery of grammar does not necessarily translate to perfect writing, it is the foundation of good writing in ESL and college level courses.

10. Since this is a writing class, I do not need to read regularly.

It is common to run out of fresh ideas or not to understand sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structure. One solution is to read more. Good writers are almost always good readers. Reading provides good material – research findings, literary characters, news events... - to make your writing detailed and interesting. Besides, critical reading produces critical thinkers who can often address a topic in depth and with a unique perspective.

Definitions

1. misconception: noun, a wrong idea 

Attributions:

• Content on this page was adapted from Building Academic Writing Skills (Cui)(opens in new window), which was shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0(opens in new window) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lin Cui(opens in new window).
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