{"id":286,"date":"2023-09-20T11:27:54","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T15:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/?p=286"},"modified":"2023-11-17T15:11:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T20:11:11","slug":"lets-set-up-the-metaphor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/lets-set-up-the-metaphor\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s set up the metaphor.\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Emily Voneman ’25<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I bake, I follow a recipe. I triple check the amounts before I put them in the bowl. Being in the kitchen with me means watching me look at my phone for the eighth time in case the amount of baking soda I need changed within the last fifteen seconds. You\u2019ll see me scrape excess flour off of the cup measure with a knife to ensure the perfect amount. Just about the only thing I don\u2019t do is count chocolate chips.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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And here\u2019s the advice part.  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I write like this, too. I write like the prompt is a recipe I must follow. To some extent, this isn\u2019t a bad thing; in fact, I would highly recommend repeatedly checking the assignment requirements or rubric throughout your writing process so you don\u2019t leave an important feature out. It\u2019s easy to get caught up in your writing and forget a requirement, after all.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I find my writing sometimes suffers for it. I treat the prompt too much like a right-or-wrong question, like a recipe with rigid amounts and strict instructions. I focus too much on making sure it\u2019s obvious enough that I am fulfilling the prompt\u2019s question that I lose track of what I<\/em> want to say and how I want myself to sound. My voice as a writer is muted in favor of repeating obvious keywords so my professor surely knows I was doing this or that and grades me accordingly. If I throw in enough buzzwords and repeat myself enough, surely I\u2019ll sound like I know what I\u2019m doing and nobody could possibly misunderstand me. I end up sounding robotic and disjointed, my ideas disconnected from each other as I throw every idea into my writing one after the other to prove that I know the answer to the prompt. It\u2019s way scarier to experiment when you feel like you\u2019re baking when you write \u2014 like the essay might fall apart if you add your own personal touch, just like a cake would fall apart if you changed the amount of flour or added a new ingredient.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A disclaimer.  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t to say, of course, that you should disregard a prompt. However, I have to remind myself to keep in mind that I <\/em>am supposed to be answering the prompt. I am not a machine spitting out the best possible answers. I\u2019m me, and my professor wants to hear my point of view and see how I express myself. Yes, you should answer the prompt, but answer it in a way that sounds like you. Every writer has a voice. Express yourself! Your future career isn\u2019t just based on checking off boxes; your ability to express yourself in a way that makes an impression is equally as important as making sure you fulfill what\u2019s required of you.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put the cherry on top\u2026  <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to be you, to be open in your writing. I\u2019ll lead by example: To be honest, I\u2019m not even sure how well this metaphor works. I don\u2019t bake very much. When I do, it\u2019s something simple, because like I said, I check the ingredients 500 times and if there\u2019s more than like 6 ingredients, that gets to be a little much\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Emily Voneman ’25 When I bake, I follow a recipe. I triple check the amounts before I put them in the bowl. Being in the kitchen with me means watching me look at my phone for the eighth time in case the amount of baking soda I need changed within the last fifteen seconds. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions\/291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inside.wooster.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}