‘Hers Was Just Better’ – Culpwrit

By Jill O’Mahony Stewart

She was a math major taking a lot of elective art history classes. I was an art major taking a lot of required art history classes.

I was a mediocre student.

But this time, I had really studied for the essay test. Maybe I got a B, or B-. I don’t remember the exact grade, just the disappointment.

I actually confronted the professor with my dismay and even questioned why Kathy had gotten a better grade than I had.

“Hers was just better,” he replied.

Fast-forward to nearly 20 years of teaching, grading papers, and giving out grades. Now I understand  what makes a piece of writing “better.”

Granted, grading can be a highly subjective exercise. I’ve often wanted to have a group grading party to see how the same material was evaluated by several other teachers. It’s a geeky exercise for someone wishing to validate her judgment and confirm her assessments as fairly as possible. But it’s not really practical.

So, back to the question: what makes something “better?” As I prepare for spring quarter, I’d like to share my observations of better writing and invite feedback from industry professionals and academics on their definition of “better writing.”

For me, students who succeed in our writing classes

• Review instructions early in the process and ask questions when things aren’t clear to them.
• Demonstrate familiarity with the material – background research, the textbook, additional readings, in-class guidance, previous feedback, and the assignment itself.
• Use specifics and examples succinctly, but sparingly.
• Provide essential details without being wordy.
• Show a “sense of style” across the board [thank you, Steven Pinker, and of course, Strunk & White ].
• Treat formatting as an important part of the writer’s responsibility to the audience’s ease of navigation.
• Allow enough time to plan, research, write, edit and polish their work before submitting it.

My early, painful lesson about not being good enough obviously stuck with me. And we learn more from failures than successes, so they say. But there’s nothing quite like quantifying success and aiming for it deliberately.

 Jill O’Mahony Stewart, MS, MA, is a writing teacher, coach, and life-long learner, and a frequent contributor to Culpwrit.

Feature photo by Startup Stock Photos