Reading, thinking critically about the topic, and then articulating a critical point are integral parts of being an academic writer. I am a librarian, and I love to read, discuss books and think critically about what I have read; however, I struggle with writing phobia. Within the article “Helping Students Meet the Challenges of Academic Writing,” it is noted that the least likely of people do identify as writing phobic or struggle with writing.

Writing for work or writing for academic purposes always makes me nervous. I know I struggle with wordiness and articulating my point. As I develop my writing skills, I will need to improve my editing. Identifying your issues is okay, but doing nothing about the problems doesn’t create an academic writer. 

Sometimes I feel as if my brain works faster than my mouth, and I struggle to put my thoughts into words. I realize that writing is a skill that requires practice and effort.   People who are not academic writers can change that by working on their issues, and so can I. My biggest fear about pursuing graduate studies is my writing abilities and ensuring that my research efforts and hard work are appropriately articulated. No one takes an article or an essay seriously if your points are riddled with spelling and grammar errors. Looking beyond the academic world, people do not take you seriously if your social media posts are riddled with those errors.

Again we come back to what is an academic writer? An academic writer is someone who can articulate their point well and constantly puts effort into being an academic writer.