I have always wrestled with writing. I always perceived it as a task for school, although I kept a diary when I was seven.

I had to maintain a structure for an essay with topic sentences and proper grammar. I had to fit in quotes carefully and footnotes properly. It was always a task. What kept me going was the subject matter which I enjoyed – history.

I would get a flow going –write the paper then make the necessary adjustments but it was always a task.Writing about writing scares me. Writing is not my forté. I always enjoyed the reading aspect of the course. Writing grammatically correct within a framework was a painstaking activity.

Having read avidly in my youth many Nobel prize winning novelists, I think I had an adequate cultural background though to embark on academics. I had the vocabulary but could not always make the connections required for English essays. History essays came more easily.

Writing about writing is daunting and anxiety-provoking. Analysing my ‘‘writing identity’’ and my writing makes me anxious and stirs up self-doubt. Whenever an essay was done I did not give it a second glance once I received the mark. I would just make a sigh of relief. I just felt that essays were jolting but a necessary evil to accept if one wanted to learn. I cannot say I was ever an inspired writer. It was a necessary chore. But the writing would eventually flow.

 Self-analysis creates roadblocks for my writing. That is my personal opinion. I disagree with the article Helping students meet the challenges of academic writing by Linda A. Fernsten and Mary Reda. I think too much analysis of one’s writing stifles the writer. It cramps the writer. I believe having different forms of writing  projects such as writing poetry and keeping a blog stimulates a writer and gets the ball rolling. It is a starting point for a writer in a less constricted form.