Revise and Rewrite

This is the first post of the website (hopefully not the only one), so discussing the topic of “writing” itself appears to be highly relevant and appropriate for this memorable post.

For me, writing has always been a challenging task since elementary school. I struggled with writing in both Mandarin and English and that makes me feel extremely stressful (although this could be partly due to the time-limited nature of writing assignments in school. How can a student write a beautiful descriptive essay under the pressure of having only 30 minutes!). Writing has often been accompanied by feelings of depression, embarrassment, and frustration.

Having a good grasp of the concept but struggling to put it into clear words? Depression. Confidently completing an essay in high school, only to receive a 4/10 grade with harsh comments? Embarrassment. Spending two entire days working on an abstract, only to later submit an entirely different one after the advisor’s revision? Frustration.

However, writing is an unavoidable aspect of life, and I genuinely understand that. Regardless of the field I pursue, be it academic or otherwise, it is apparent that writing is a necessary and valuable skill. The question then arises: What mindset should I cultivate to better handle this stressful event?

That’s when I came across an article by Prof. Tsong-Min Wu, who taught me principles of economics during my freshman year and had a profound and positive influence on me. In that article, he offers advice about the appropriate mindset for writing and quotes the following sentence from Strunk and White (2000):

“Revise and rewrite.”

I was captivated by this quote because it doesn’t assume that people should write perfectly, nor does it direct people to some “ten rules that must be obeyed to write the best essay”. The underlying implication is that, yes, you will make mistakes during the writing process, but through dedication, practice, and gaining more experience, you will improve gradually. This subtle difference makes me feel much more comfortable about writing. It reminds me of one of my favorite, if not the most favorite, quotes by Irish writer Samuel Beckett:

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”

That’s it. I suppose that’s what I will continue doing from now on—write, failed, write again, write better. To write better, first I have to write something. And that’s why I am here, writing the first post.