Writing Thoughts

1) What does the writer say writing is?

The writer says that writing is something that must be practiced in order to be perfected. Cathy Birkenstein, author of "They Say I Say", compares writing with different activities such as sports, playing musical instruments, and driving a car. The writer basically states that in order to master a sport/instrument/driving, you must practice. She gives different types of templates that would be helpful when creating a writing piece. There are also steps given on how to develop writing techniques that will help another writer to fully write well developed essay. A key ingredient on how to write well is to listen attentively to what others, such as your friends, family, groups, etc, has to say. Everyone has their own individual opinions, which usually are disagreements. These disagreements give us a start on what we should write about.

2) What do YOU say writing is?

I believe that writing is an expression of our own thoughts and feelings, bottled up inside, on paper in words. Most people are not able to be completely open about their true thoughts and feelings, but writing allows each and every individual person to freely write about how they feel, what they are thinking about, and just whatever they feel like writing.
I also believe that in order to write well, you must practice. I would hear my friends always saying, "Man I suck at writing." But then they have never really tried to actually write on their own just because. It was always when an essay or school assignment was due that they would say that.