THE WRITER’S TUTORIAL... by Branden Wang

         Whether you are a professional at Sudoku, or cheese making, you are still an expert. Young adults go to experts to learn new skills; they become apprentices. Apprenticeship dates back to 1466 (when Leonardo da Vinci became an apprentice) and further. I am a junior expert at writing. Many people come to me and ask if I can teach them how to write as good as me. I say, you will never write as good as me. But I can teach you how to write well! Read on, young one, read on…

First, know what you are writing. Find a topic to write about by walking around, by searching the Internet, by thinking about something interesting. Will it be about battles, or will it be about peace? Start with a simple topic. Keep writing basic pieces until you are confident to move on to a mediocre level. By doing this, you master numerous types of writing, making you more skilled in the art of writing.  Also, by doing this, you will never get bored of one type of writing and instead can write a variety of writing pieces: history, biographies, or fantasy fiction.

         Next, draft your essay. Plan what you will write in your essay. No one wants to read essays without a layout, in other words, unplanned essays are falling houses. When you plan your essay, think about the topic (cheese), the intro (hooking [to interest the reader] and what the piece is about), the body (how to make cheese or the history of cheese), and the conclusion (wrapping up with an interesting cheese fact). Devote 10 minutes of thinking for each component – if you think too much and you don’t write, then you wouldn’t have time to write – and write your ideas on a piece of paper.  After thinking about the four components, start writing your essay. If you don’t think about these components, then your essay will end up becoming like e=mc² in a college textbook, which I find confusing. Who wants to read a writing piece they don’t understand?

         Revision and editing should be done before you publish your essay. Which should you do first? I say revise first because you might spend 3 hours editing a paragraph and if it didn’t make sense, you would have to delete it. Wasn’t that a waste? Then edit and watch your grammar - look out for spelling, punctuation, readability, logicalness, and flow-ability. Otherwise, the readers might say, “Doesn’t he mean this? Wait. No, no, no. That isn’t right. Yah, no.” They will have a continuous talk with themselves. Then, they might say, “You know what, I think I and going to rip this book in half because of how it doesn’t make sense, or burn it.” Revising and editing have a great effect on writing because these two make it easier to understand.

         Finally, publishing. When publishing your essay, one must type it up, making it look professional. According to Dr. Me, follow my laws of physics: use Cambria lettering, size fourteen font, bold letters, Microsoft Word, and zoom the document to 110%. Type at least 32 words a minute because you wouldn’t want to waste time typing 1 word a minute. Hurrah! You are done with your most likely stupendous essay!

         Are you wondering what is my writing strategy? My strategy changed from when I first wrote eons ago. When I first started, I went about with the above blueprint. But, I have upgraded to a simpler plan, “come up with it once you get to that part”. Basically, write along. Since my mind has been hatching new ideas every minute, this is extremely easy for me. Don’t worry, young one, once you become an experienced writer, YOU will have your own unique writing style!