Writing is Like Playing Soccer
by Lexi Pollard
If you aren’t a fan of doing the writing your college education requires, try to relate writing to something you do like. For example, I like playing soccer. To be a good soccer player, you have to practice. To be a good writer, you have to practice, too. Practicing in soccer is--practicing. Practicing in writing is... blogging!
I see a blog page as a practice field. If you struggle with brainstorming and haven’t tried out blogging yet, you'll find that it does the same thing for your writing "game" that soccer practice does for your soccer game. It gives you strategies to call upon when you're facing your opponent: the writing assignment.
In the case of papers with prompts, there are rules, too. Like in soccer, I am confined by the boundary lines. If I stray too far, I go “out of bounds,” and get a penalty. In soccer I can’t be off sides if I’m waiting for a teammate to pass me the ball in an offensive position. The team needs to be correctly positioned. In my paper, everything needs to be correctly positioned as well: MLA, APA, structure, transitions, evidence, analysis, etc. All of the components work together for that hoped-for A, while the team works together for that win. Everything, and every player, has to work hard in order to produce success.
I see a blog page as a practice field. If you struggle with brainstorming and haven’t tried out blogging yet, you'll find that it does the same thing for your writing "game" that soccer practice does for your soccer game. It gives you strategies to call upon when you're facing your opponent: the writing assignment.
In the case of papers with prompts, there are rules, too. Like in soccer, I am confined by the boundary lines. If I stray too far, I go “out of bounds,” and get a penalty. In soccer I can’t be off sides if I’m waiting for a teammate to pass me the ball in an offensive position. The team needs to be correctly positioned. In my paper, everything needs to be correctly positioned as well: MLA, APA, structure, transitions, evidence, analysis, etc. All of the components work together for that hoped-for A, while the team works together for that win. Everything, and every player, has to work hard in order to produce success.
I can juggle a ball while I blog or brainstorm or outline, combining two things I love. However, humans aren’t perfectionists at multi-tasking. So, if you can relate writing to something you love to do, maybe you can find parallels and enjoy writing a little more.
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