Finding the informal in formality

Good writing is hard work

Although I was able to experiment with different styles of writing through this blog, I think in my posts there is still a distinction between when I write on more of an academic topic and I write on more of a ‘free’, personal topic; I have yet to merge the ideas within my more structured, academic style posts with the less structured formats of my ‘free’ posts.

As I wrote the two formal papers, they were, obviously, more formal. I knew that a well-written paper included an organization and structure of thoughts that helped the reader understand the argument, a variety of sentence structure, and clear, simple language. I knew what constituted a formal paper, and I stuck to those guidelines. Yet, while I do have a voice when writing these essays, it is a more rigid, more academic one. This same structured, formal voice and style of writing also applies to the more prescribed blog posts that were more academically focused, like in my post ‘For Orwell, Swan, and Gopen, less is more’.

But when I wrote on more open, ‘free’ topics, the posts tended to vary quite a bit in structure and I experimented more with the way I organized my thoughts. In posts like, ‘A Eulogy,’ the way each idea had a separate sentence, and some were grouped like stanzas gave the post a more poetic tone. And In my post ‘Quite possibly the best cup of coffee’, I decided to structure my thoughts more linearly and progressively, so that the post was more of a narrative.

Here's a pic I snapped of me writing my blog posts 

This blog introduced also me to writing about more ‘academic’ topics, but in a less serious way. While I am still beginning to lessen the distinction between my writing about more formal topics and more personal topics, I was able to at least start to establish my voice, one that communicates to a community of people, not just a professor. Through this blog I realized that there are topics that you would write about in a formal paper that you can write in a blog post, topics that are perhaps made more interesting through humor, opinion, sarcasm, and relating it to current events in the world and your own life.

However, that’s not to say I think we should disregard the formal paper. I don’t agree with the professor discussed in the article who wants to abandon the essay altogether. The formal paper is important because it teaches us how to communicate, to get an idea across by clearly establishing an argument, the structure of the essay, and the evidence. All of this is necessary to then move on to the less formal structure of a blog.

It’s sort of like back in ninth grade when we learned how to write a five-paragraph essay: the link, the lead, the thesis, the three main ideas, the quote integration, and the conclusion that restates the thesis. Thinking back to it, all of this structure seems a bit repressive. Why would they even teach us to write with such a lack of creativity? 

Oh, the five paragraph essay

However, this initial structure was necessary so that when we began developing our own theses and paragraph structures in eleventh and twelfth grade, we would have a strong foundation to base it on.  Essentially, in order to break the rules, we need to know them first. The same thing is happening here with formal writing and the blog post. The organizational and expressive skills we learn though the formal paper give us the skills necessary to then take those same ideas and write them with more personal voice and opinion within the blog.

This is what our writing would look like without the structure we learned early on

Both the academic paper and blog are valuable. However, sometimes the informality of the blog can cause us to diminish the value of what we write; because there is no formality is there, we might think less of it, and therefore not execute the best work or take the subject as seriously. Appreciating formality is a form of respect, in a way, and should not be completely disregarded. And, while I’m still trying to find this balance within my own writing, merging the formal with the personal into a blog, this project has made me realize this balance, and the importance of both formal and less formal ways of writing.

Aretha Franklin appreciating the formality of the essay: