Slow thinking doesn’t come easily, even for supposed experts. As writers and thinkers, we will all feel at times that we are struggling in the dark. In writing this introduction, I have had to remind myself several times: “Just keep writing; it will eventually come together;” “The ideas are always foggy at first;” “Give yourself permission to write a shitty first draft;” “Remember, a bad first draft!” and other mantras.  I remind myself of the many times I have been through this and the “aha” moments that came along the way.  I remind myself that when I keep working, I eventually make it through the short-term frustration and gain increased clarity.

Our participation in democracy, whether that means voting or any kind of political activity, local or national, requires myriad decisions on very complex issues.

They enable us to communicate and explain our decisions to colleagues and respond to their questions and critiques.

Reading, writing, and revising help us get clearer about our own ideas and those of others.  These processes demand effort from every student and scholar, no matter how skilled and experienced they are. And the effort pays off.

In all these settings, a professional style of Standard English will boost credibility. We will benefit from the ability to switch to this more formal type of language from any dialect we speak within our family and community.

cover letters

writing skills will help us succeed in a career.

Most of us are probably familiar with the practical reasons to study writing in college. It’s worth getting good at because we’re going to do it a lot. No matter our major, as we get into higher-level classes we will need to do more writing, whether that looks like lab reports, explanations of mathematical methods, or essays in psychology, political science, literature, or economics.

“college teaches you to think.”