Dr. Write-Aid

First blog post of 2026 and the year is already halfway over! Well, recently, a student told me that they “hated writing.” I hear this sentiment quite often, actually, including from graduate students who joke about how they got into a profession of reading and writing. I also hear it from students who are more “STEM” (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), as well as working professionals who struggle to connect back to academic writing when applying to graduate programs. Certainly, as some people love writing, there are people who hate it. It is a very real sentiment that feels all-encompassing, and I see it among people of many backgrounds. 

However, this sentiment of “hating writing” is often so closely intertwined with perceived ability and specific rules of writing that I like to question it further. Do you hate writing because you hate writing under strict rules that make it so your writing is punished if you don’t follow instructions perfectly? Do you hate writing because your instructor gives you little feedback or instruction? Do you hate writing because you hate writing about yourself in a way that feels false? Do you hate writing because you feel as if you’re not good at it and it takes you forever to write? Or do you just hate writing about boring things? Perfectly fair; I dislike writing and reading about boring things too. 

Before I continue, I admit that I find it hard to recall a time in which I genuinely hated writing. Even when I was slogging through my dissertation work, I never really hated the writing process of reading through my sources, taking notes, analyzing my data, writing reports, and so on, and so forth. I loved writing my dissertation, actually. I was very lucky in that I wrote what I wanted to write, and I was very lucky to have very wonderful teachers all my life. 

To me, one sign of a strong writer is the confidence of having something to say and wanting to say it. The confidence aspect leads me to my point about perceived ability. Although writing is highly technical in that there are rules and expectations to navigate, confidence is key because it ensures writers persist beyond failure. 

A writer’s self-confidence helps them become a stronger writer because it helps them stay motivated to improve. Confidence is the reassurance that any failure does not reflect on their weaknesses as a person, but a sign of progress and potential opportunity to improve. 

A perceived lack of ability is also often a lack of confidence that manifests in comments like “I’m not good at writing,” “I’m not good enough to be in this program,” or “I’m just a slow writer.” For me, as a writing consultant and educator, teaching students and clients to help with their confidence is just as important as teaching them technical strategies for writing. 

Self-confidence in writing is also often harder to teach, because everyone is different and holds complex perspectives. That’s also why I like to joke that writing consultations are kinda like therapy; a lot of it is about unwinding personal perspectives, feelings, and insecurities in order to build up self-confidence. 

Usually, building up self-confidence requires trust and concrete guidance, which is why I like to spend time with students and clients understanding their perspectives, processes, and how they have improved over time. I also like to shift their focus to long-term goals because improvement doesn’t always happen overnight; it takes time, practice, and lots of motivation. Positive reinforcement from multiple sources also helps a lot with improving writers’ confidence in their own abilities, which is why I encourage my students and clients to ask for feedback from their peers and other people they trust in their lives. 

Overall, I’d say that my teaching philosophy has always been about unpacking each individual perspective because I recognize that self-confidence is crucial to success. A writer with confidence in their own progress will become a stronger writer because their confidence motivates them to persist beyond failures (which are inevitable in life) through improving their technical skills and expanding their worldview. Although results like grades, academic outcomes, and other assessments are important, confidence is often more important for a writer because it is crucial to their long-term success across backgrounds and interests. I love to emphasize this goal with my students and clients: I want them to grow more confident in their skills so that they can succeed when I’m not there to teach them. 

This post has gotten long (as always), but I imagine I’ll continue to write about my teaching and writing philosophy in future posts. I have several blog posts about useful writing resources, which I’ll link here: 1, 2, 3. 

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!