University of Chicago Writing Program Lecture

Introduction

• The University of Chicago's Writing Program uses a "top-down" approach to writing, different from most other universities.
• Most schools focus on freshman writing; UChicago does not have a freshman writing course.
• This program was created to help faculty with writing, not students.
• The notion that writing programs are remedial is incorrect; the focus is on helping people at an advanced level, not imposing rules.

Problem with Rule-Governed Training

• Rule-governed training is useful for churning out low-value writing quickly (e.g., business memos).
• Advanced writing requires focusing on readers instead of adhering strictly to rules.
• Experts use writing to help their thinking process, making their writing challenges unique.

Challenges for Expert Writers

• Expert writers think about complex subjects and use writing to develop their ideas.
• They often interfere with the readers' process by using complex language patterns that do not align with how readers read.
• This interference causes readers to slow down, misunderstand, get aggravated, and eventually stop reading.

Understanding the Real Audience

• Student writing is read by teachers paid to care; professional writing must be valuable to readers who have no obligation to read it.
• Writing needs to be valuable, not just clear or organized.
• Value is judged by the community of readers, not by the intrinsic quality of the ideas.

Creating Value in Writing

• Use specific language to signal value to the reader (e.g., words like "nonetheless," "however," "anomaly," etc.).
• Identify and understand the codes used in the community you are writing for.
• Engage with the work of others and identify where it falls short (politely) to show the value of your contribution.

Use of Transitions and Building Problems

• Transitions like "but," "however," "although" are critical in creating tension and signaling instability, which engages readers.
• Instead of rule-governed introduction structures (e.g., starting with definitions), focus on presenting and solving a community-relevant problem.

Academic Writing Strategies

• Spend time analyzing top articles in your field to understand how they communicate value.
• Create an "invaluable word list" of terms that signal value to incorporate in your own writing.
• Learn the specific challenges and objections your readers may have about your work.

Importance of Readers

• Writing must clear, organized, and persuasive, but more importantly, it must show value to the reader.
• Persuasion is tied to understanding the doubts of your readers and addressing them.

Lit Review and Community Engagement

• Effective literature reviews enrich problem construction by setting up layers of complexity related to the problem.
• Instead of listing existing works chronologically, highlight tensions, contradictions, and gaps that your work addresses.
• Show how the existing body of work creates instability or raises issues that your work seeks to solve.

Practical Application

• Read publications in your field to identify language creating value.
• Apply this knowledge by revising your own work to ensure you are creating recognized and readable value.
• Understand that writing is more about changing reader perspectives than simply conveying your own ideas.

Conclusion and Final Tips

• The goal of writing in academia is not to elicit appreciation for your knowledge but to influence and change the thinking of the academic community.
• The director welcomes one-on-one meetings to help with writing.
• The emphasis is on the practical application of these concepts to avoid struggling unnecessarily with writing challenges.