Why does everything have to be a masterpiece? Should we only be forced to write in such a way that receives praise? Why cant we write in a way that is genuine & authentic to ourselves? Years of incessant grammar school teachings to high school papers has gotten us to this point. We’ve had to transcend & create based upon all of the rules we have learned to be inherent within our rhetoric. My question is… why must we always follow the rules? We’ve been taught to only write if it’s good & only let anyone see it if it’s great. But I unfortunately have a hard time seeing writing in this clinical sense. We’ve only been taught to write in a way that is conducive, clear, and correct. The writing I know is sometimes messy & disorganized. The words may not fit together but they are at the very least a good start. I know writing to be comforting. After a long day, the page & the pen have no judgements or prejudices only catharsis. Writing is so much more than just making something readable or ‘good’. Writing is giving a piece of yourself to something. Whether that is writing something personal, academic, or comedic, at the end of the day, all of the words on that page are a representation of yourself. People often love to use writing/English as a means to degrade others. Others are quick to point out errors within the writing instead of looking beyond the errors and seeing the true analysis. I think that manner of overcorrect thinking is going out of style, but how is anyone expected to enjoy writing when they’re not able to write on their own terms? I would argue that once you begin to write in your own style, all of the grammatical & technical errors can be fixed later. Having the critical thinking skills to analyze & respond effectively is definitely more important than knowing what tense to use or where to put your comma. If we taught more children to write in their own way then I believe that children would be able to communicate more effectively using their writing. Also, they’d just simply enjoy it more if they were able to explore writing on their own terms and with their own rules. Hammering English rules into students only ultimately turns them away from writing.