Week 1 Response
“They Say
“They Say/ I Say” opens the idea of using templates within academic writing. The preface and the introduction itself even utilizes the format of a template to prove its point of increased creativity with the methods, including the summary of the benefits of writing models to contrasting it with the many well-known arguments against it (reflecting an “I say, they say” model). From the get-go, I was surprised by how much I was able to relate to the author’s comments. One particular sentence struck a chord within my experiences, from page xxii, on how “seasoned writers pick up these moves unconsciously through their reading.”
I reflected on my own style of writing when I was younger reading my beloved authors, Rick Riordan and James Patterson.
Both of these writers have similarly styled characters, all carrying the trait of using sarcastic humor. As I continued to delve into the story containing these characters, I noticed that in my process of creating fictitious characters for my own novels, each imaginative person began to closely resemble the heroes and villains of Riordan’s and Patterson’s books. This revelation is what Graff and Birkenstien is attempting to uncover in every person. However, it is difficult to say that this is a good thing. By making templates a habit, it can be difficult for writing pieces to break the mold and for writers to form unique writing styles. In fact, I find the act of relying on templates, although may be useful as guides, is a lazy person’s way of writing. Yes, personal analysis or thoughts may be unique, but using guides will limit how well your own viewpoints can transfer onto paper as words. Afterall, there isn’t a search bar that can find a specific fill-in-the-blank template that will fit with an argument you are trying to make in every essay situation.
“They Say/ I Say” highlights the formulaic nature of writing that allows for the organic thoughts to form naturally. Although this viewpoint merits good points, I find it hard to see any long term progress that can be made through such methods. At one point, this methodic nature idea is reflected in songwriting which reminds me of an interesting little number I stumbled upon on YouTube.
In fact, the idea that even songwriters follow templates to produce great hits makes me wonder what else in the world builds its foundation on modelling after others? Will anything in this world be unique anymore?