Me too, gentle writer. Me too.
So let's get right to the heart of the matter: do you have the same trouble starting a conversation?
With an old friend?
I didn't think so.
Ok. So what is different between a conversation with a buddy about sports, movies, music, dating, etc. and an expository essay about the "human position of suffering" as it is found in Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts?
Or the ironic tone displayed in chapter 12 of Grendel?
Or how two symbols from To Kill a Mockingbird are expressed with two different literary devices?
Or discussing what the nature of art actually is?
Miles. The difference is miles apart. Make no mistake, we are talking about apples and oranges here.
But let us not be daunted. I want to very seriously distinguish between product and process. Because while the product is different (a casual, informal dialogue with a friend v. a revised, formal analysis on paper), the process is not. And this is good news. When I start talking to my buddy, I just start. Because I know my audience, and my audience calls for informality. Casual is okay, expected. But this is not the case with essay writing. We must be formal, analytical. Ok. So be those things.
But don't over-shoot! "Formal" and "analytical" do not, should not translate to Shakespearean syntax. We shouldn't suddenly don a phony British accent (because that's how smart people sound in Hollywood) in our writing. We shouldn't confuse "formal" with "right-click my mouse to find synonyms I've never used before." To be clear, formal means things like:
1. no apostrophes
2. no slang (unless it is quoted and therefore something to analyze)
3. limited jargon (no one wants to read the definition of synecdoche. Ever :)
4. no :) like in the previous example
5. in other words, nothing you normally put in an email or text to a friend!
Voila!!! We just hit on it!!! How do you type to that old friend? Emails and/or texts and/or tweets etc.? Good! Then elevate the formality of your diction just above that, and you're set.
Now stop thinking and start typing.
Because there is no perfect beginning. And if you forget everything else we just discussed, remember that.
There is no perfect beginning. There are plenty of good ones, and just as many bad ones. But no perfect ones. So get over finding it.
And start.
