GREAT WRITING: Art, Craft and the Middle Ground

PR Log (Press Release) – Nov 18, 2009 – The looming deadline of a writing assignment can be seen two ways: either as a burden, or yet another opportunity to show our skills. Writing is an annoying task comparable to shoveling snow from our sidewalks or it is the product of an unexplainable divine inspiration. Few of us exist in the middle,  and if we ever find ourselves there, we usually plant roots in one camp or the other by the end of high school.

My early undergraduate days, in those prehistoric and pre-internet days of the early to middle eighties, were easy when it came to writing. I absorbed everything, and I took from my college classes exactly what I needed.  I worked as a tutor at my college writing center, and it was there that I found direction in my career and life. Every tutor at this center was a fellow student, and we were carefully trained in teaching modalities, pedagogy, and all sorts of techniques to help students understand how to write.

Those were good, innocent days, but they were also deceptive. A student in dire need of remediation and direction might come to us desperate to find focus to their written work. Whatever guidance we offered came after the writing was carefully examined by the primary professor, but there was no guarantee of success. We were educated, energized, qualified, but as undergraduates (and in some instances graduates) we lacked a college degree. We had the passion, and we could relate to the needs of our fellow students, but we knew ours was only the first step of several they would need to take in order to guarantee success.

Today, writing centers and academic services litter the marketplace. They are connected to academic institutions, human service agencies, or private for-profit businesses. They appeal to niche target audiences in the same way fitness centers or diet plans spotlight testimonials whose legitimacy cannot always be certain. In many ways, these services in the marketplace are indistinguishable from those connected with their host colleges. In other words, the quality of tutorials provided by Harvard, Yale, or Princeton will not absolutely be better than anything found at the local strip mall off the side of the highway.

As a professional educator and writer for the past twenty years, I have made it my business to find those glimmers of gold in a pan of dirt and dust. At www.thessayist.com , seasoned and expert writers from all academic disciplines can provide an impartial, quality finished product that meets your deadline and budget needs. I remain passionate about quality writing and I still see it as a great gift, but I am also a realist. Sometimes, the best gift you can give your essay or larger project draft is a practical shine and shape. The staff at www.thessayist.com understands there is a middle ground between the practical aspects of writing, and the abstract magic. Contact them today and see what they can do for you.