3.4: Leave Yourself Out of Your Writing
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- Cheryl E. Ball & Drew M. Loewe ed.
- West Virginia University via Digital Publishing Institute and West Virginia University Libraries
Author: Joseph Rodríguez, English, The University of Texas at El Paso
“You’re also two people, writer and reader. This is a tremendous asset.”—Verlyn Klinkenborg
Leave yourself out of your writing is a belief that must die. This myth both hinders and undermines deeper learning and thinking in the lives of writers, readers, thinkers, and students. It can be interpreted in various ways that range from removing the personal point of view in a document to altogether distancing oneself from the subject and interest that was once held for a topic or concept worthy of writing for an audience. With one’s self removed, the writer is partly absent from the page and conversation. Common lore based around assignments and research papers creates this stance of effacing the writer and essentially one’s being. The opposite is true for writing: The writer needs to be present and breathing on the print or digital page. To make meaning through language, the writer must be present to the audience and mindful of beliefs to produce coherent, meaningful, and engaging writing for the reader. Writing in 1914, Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset asserted, “I am I and my circumstance; and, if I do not save it, I do not save myself.”
The act of writing is influenced by the writing beliefs learned, adopted, and now followed as a habit in practice to record, or save, our selfhood. In fact, the influence upon our form of expression may have been a teacher, another writer, and even a rule maker. Some of these writing beliefs can become pitfalls, or bad ideas, if reflection is missing from our practice. If there is a connection early on in the writing between the subject and writer, then the arguments, observations, and truths presented to the reader can
hold more attention for the audience. By being told to leave yourself out of your writing, the writer is not building a publicly recognized voice with confidence and a level of expertise that builds trust with an audience. The false conception that the writer must be removed or, even worse, nearly dead to one’s audience is anathema. Sometimes, this bad idea is promoted under the assumption that to maintain objectivity the writer must be absent and avoid using the pronoun I . Thus, the first-person point of view is missing. Nonetheless, those who write need to have a presence, and, as Toni Morrison wrote, an I/eye for credibility and connection between writer and reader. The audience is counting on the writer to deliver by being committed and present in the writing.
Why must you leave yourself out of your writing? Why and how? Writers adapt to writing conditions and circumstances, and their adaptation has responsibilities and consequences, too. One of the adaptations includes writing the self in communications instead of gradual disembodiment or complete separation. By being present in one’s writing as one writes, the writer is creating conditions for the reader to better understand a topic as well as the concepts that drive learning and understanding. The writer achieves this by: (1) writing sentences that establish who the writer is through the pronoun I, (2) revealing the purpose and interest for writing about the topic, (3) stating the argument that holds the content together in the first place, and (4) providing evidence and concepts for the argumentative position or exploratory topic. Klinkenborg describes the reader and writer, who are in a kind of union, as a “tremendous asset” that comes to fruition through language and form. The self is significant in the act of writing to make meaning, present an argument, and come into existence on the page. To repress or remove the self from one’s writing is counterproductive for the writer’s purpose.
Sandra Cisneros explains, “As a writer, I continue to analyze and reflect on the power words have over me.” Cisneros’s statement may resonate with emerging writers in classrooms, outside of classrooms, and spaces of their own making to write and create with language. Writers affirm their lives and empower the lives of others who connect with their words and concepts. The first-person point of view is an essential marker in the making of meaning for both the writer and reader and need not be abandoned nor silenced. Even if the self is briefly mentioned and noted in one’s written deliberations, its use will suffice in making oneself known and present in the discussion of ideas, concepts, and perspectives.
Some writers across the disciplines, which include the arts, education, engineering, mathematics, technology, and sciences, attempt in various cloaked forms to remove their sense of self as they write under the assumption that writing must be as universal as possible. Unfortunately, this means less personality and presence. This is done in detrimental forms if the writer fails to acknowledge purpose, actions, and influences to an audience. Furthermore, writers and thinkers are connected to their subjects and arguments, which they deem worthy of explanation or description. As such, writers learn about themselves through their writing and the interconnectedness to thought and argument. In fact, writers give authority and credibility to experience through their expertise and in structure and argument. The reader entrusts the writer’s self not only by the levels of expertise for having done the labor and research, but also by the valuable experiences drawn from analysis. In short, it is a false idea to eliminate one’s first-person point of view in writing, rather than supporting the writer’s personal and communicative voice on the print and digital page.
One learns about oneself as one writes and by asserting the self. Indeed, words and literacies carve the identities of writers who are influenced by the societies they inhabit and the subjects they study. In essence, words empower and define us as Cisneros observes.
Admittedly, writing is an act of free will that calls for the writer to be present with voice while deliberating through language with ideas, concepts, and perspectives for understanding. The new rule to adopt is as follows: Speak up and be present and known in your writing! This can be implemented by valuing your own self-aswriter and by answering the following calls for the writer to be present and alive: (1) As a writer, how will I help the readers know what they will be learning through my writing purpose and human presence? (2) In which ways can I hook and engage the readers? (3) Which experiences and skills do I possess that can deepen understanding through my writing? (4) How can I encourage readers to rethink or reimagine what they may already know through reflection and action? (5) What order of my ideas and concepts will be most optimal for reader understanding? In sum, reliance upon oneself and one’s writing are essential in developing a writing life and an audience. Make your writing and thinking audible on the print and digital page for two: the writer and reader.
Author Bios Rodrigo
Joseph Rodríguez teaches in the department of English at The University of Texas at El Paso, which is located in the borderlands across from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México. He believes all writing comes to life when the reader and writer enter and maintain a dialogue on the print and digital page. Catch him virtually @escribescribe. Kimberly N. Parker teaches high school and college preparatory courses in the Cambridge Public Schools (Massachusetts). 138 Bad Ideas Her research interests include English language arts with culturally responsive pedagogy and the teaching and study of African American literature. She is an adjunct instructor at Tufts University and president of the New England Association of Teachers of English. Catch her virtually @drkimpossible.