wow

Today, I was surfing the net a little, looking up information on how to improve my writing. I found a website that had free essays. I assume these are for people in high school or college, who don't want to do the work themselves, so they download some anonymous writing off the web. That is the first wow. I know students since the beginning of time have been trying to squirm out of assignments, but this is a whole new level of sloth. I wonder how teachers deal with this new cheating technology. But the second wow came when I read some of the essays. They say you get what you pay for and in this instance they hit the bulls eye dead center. The writing was horrible. Not that mine is perfect. I'm sure I have dangling participles and split infinitives and all other kinds of grammatical sins peppering my writing. But these essays sounded like they were written by someone who did not speak English very well, at least not as their native language. Come on people, if you are going to cheat at least have enough sense to use material that will garner you a good grade! I guess that is just one example of why you should not trust every peice of information that flows to you on this vast river of information, the internet. Be selective and use discretion as to what you accept or reject. But hey, why not be radical and write your own darn paper. Just a thought.

On the good side, I found one of the best pieces of advice when trying to improve your writing was to "just do it". Do it often. Do it everyday if you can. It admonished that the exercise of the muscle was the only way to build it. I was pleased with myself because that is exactly what I am doing here. My prose may not be perfectly planned or executed, but I am doing it. I'm doing it every day and flexing that muscle. Hopefully it is growing stronger, more agile with exercise and these short wind sprints will prepare me for the marathon ahead! Only time will tell if I make it across the finish line.