To Writers of My Generation

While writing can sometimes be a painful process for many students, for others it is a cathartic experience. However, those individuals that fall in the latter category can sometimes seem few and far between. What has happened to the art of writing among our generation?

I have always been the student that loved the social sciences and English courses. Science and math were too logical, too fixed, too constrained. My brain simply doesn’t work within the confines of pure logic.  Writing, though, was something that I could delve into head first and not be afraid of. Brainstorming ideas, forming a thesis, and elaborating on my ideas has always been an exciting process for me, but I see it less and less in younger children.

We are the generation of social networks and smart phones and a new language along with them. I have routinely come across essays written in text speak, theses that are obvious, and narratives that are too dull to even finish reading. What happened to us? What happened to our use of language? What happened to the aspiring Hemingways, Brontes, Austins, and Wildes? And what happened to our patience?

Nowadays people seem to loathe the process of writing and, even further, they despise the act of reading. Tweets of 140 characters or less seem to be all this generation can abide.

I don’t think that writing and reading are in danger of becoming extinct. People will continue to be literate and writing and reading will never dissipate from our curriculums. All I am advocating for is the appreciation of the art. And that is exactly what writing is, an art. It gives one the ability to open doors in their mind they may not have thought about opening before.

 The great writers of the past have given us characters so vivid that we fall in love with them; they have written stories so powerful that political upheaval has been wrought, and audiences have had such strong reactions that book burnings have taken place. That last example only goes to show how powerful writing can be, and those book burners were trying to silence the words of those authors and limit the minds of the readers.

Take pride in your writing. Take pride in the ability to read. Write a letter in ink rather then send an email to your loved ones. Handwrite thank you notes. Get lost in a book just for fun once in a while. And jot down memories and articulate your opinions in writing so that future generations may come to know who you are.

Writing is a powerful expression of self, it is a respected outlet for imagination and opinion, and it is a way for students to learn and research their subject matter deeply enough to appreciate it.

Find your words. Find your voice.

And write on.

Marshall--Desk Assistant, West campus