A former classmate of mine shared an article that I think the ENTIRE WORLD should know about. The oh-so-important topic? Shame in academic writing.
You know the feeling. You’ve lost sleep, worked super duper hard on an important paper, spent hours of your life that you will never get back trying to capture your eloquent thoughts in standard 12-point Times New Roman font. You turn it in, hoping to get an A, but halfway fearing that it might not measure up. Or at worse, your professor will laugh uproariously at your best effort.
I remember once working through the night on a draft of my master’s thesis. The feedback on my great piece of theoretical work was less than stellar. MUCH less than stellar. So un-stellar it was that I immediately burst into tears after reading the professor’s comments. It is still a blur to this day, but I remember something about “disjointed and disorganized.”
You may have figured that the fear of incompetence, incoherency, and lack of brilliancy eventually goes away. Sorry to burst more bubbles… but nope it doesn’t. Don’t believe me? Read on for the anecdote of a tenured professor who felt the same exact way!
There’s Good and Bad News
“Is it normal to feel stupid after getting an edited manuscript back?” the student in the article asks his professor. You betcha! What you’re feeling about writing and turning in your admissions essay is 100% completely normal. Those feelings of “this doesn’t measure up” don’t go away, no matter how many degrees, status, or professional clout you obtain.
Now for the GOOD NEWS! You don’t have to walk around feeling like a dunce. Most great written works are vetted through an editorial process. Some describe it as a grueling revision-after-revision process, others call it adding polish and perfection to your draft. No matter what you call it, after the tears have fallen, hurt feelings and bruised egos have been repaired, you usually end up with a better draft than you could have created by yourself.
Practice Makes Perfect
Listen to that nagging feeling inside that something crucial is missing that can transform your writing from “just OK to great.” Chances are that your intuition is completely correct. It is up to YOU to heed the call. When it comes to writing and perfecting your graduate admissions essay, seeking out an objective eye or soliciting advice from a seasoned professional can literally make or break chances of getting into grad school.
Another set of eyes can help to lucidly translate and commit your ideas and thoughts to paper. Facing the fear of “not good enough” means swallowing a dose of humility, picking our faces up off the floor, and accepting negative feedback as an opportunity to “do over” – only better this time around.
