Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 In search of the figurative rhetoric of writing
- 2 The double bind of writer and to write: Graded categories
- 3 Bind upon bind: The general-ability and the specific-expertise views of writing
- 4 Three licensing stories: The literate inscriber, the good writer, and the author writer
- 5 Writing as transcription, talk, and voice: A complex metonymy
- 6 The writing self: Conceptual blends, multiple selves
- 7 Writing to “get ideas across”: The role of the Conduit Metaphor
- 8 Codes and conversations: The other Conduit Metaphor
- 9 Metaphor and choice
- References
- Index
3 - Bind upon bind: The general-ability and the specific-expertise views of writing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 December 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 In search of the figurative rhetoric of writing
- 2 The double bind of writer and to write: Graded categories
- 3 Bind upon bind: The general-ability and the specific-expertise views of writing
- 4 Three licensing stories: The literate inscriber, the good writer, and the author writer
- 5 Writing as transcription, talk, and voice: A complex metonymy
- 6 The writing self: Conceptual blends, multiple selves
- 7 Writing to “get ideas across”: The role of the Conduit Metaphor
- 8 Codes and conversations: The other Conduit Metaphor
- 9 Metaphor and choice
- References
- Index
Summary
Knowing how to express yourself in clear, concise, and correct written English is a key factor for success in the twenty-first century. Writing with confidence and skill allows you to communicate your feelings, ideas, hopes, and fears. In this chapter, you'll explore why writing is so important, no matter who you are or what you do.
Laurie Rozakis, The Complete Idiot's Guide to WritingEach time we categorize writing at the basic level rather than above or below it, we have to ask ourselves fundamental questions about what it means to able to write: If you are a writer, does that mean you are an expert at writing everything – novels, biographies, product manuals, press releases? If you know how to write, does that mean you are equally competent to write term papers and screenplays? Or do writer and to write refer to something narrower?
We encounter the same kinds of questions when we categorize texts. Some of us think that it is not possible, really, to write a book; it is only possible to write something more specific: a novel or a crime novel or, perhaps, a police procedural. Generally speaking, the more subordinate the category, the more specific – that is, nontransferable – the knowledge and skills. I have seen best-selling author Harlan Coben described as the “master of the soft-centered suburban thriller” (Wiegand 2007). A subordinate category indeed. And a very particular sort of writing expertise.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Metaphor and WritingFigurative Thought in the Discourse of Written Communication, pp. 41 - 59Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010