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The Great Essay Robbery

by | Dec 8, 2019 | Essays, The Crafted Word Blog, Workshops | 28 comments

Good writers borrow. Great writers steal…

And for these essays you are writing, steal from yourself.

All of you–both my 8th and 9th grades students–are smack dab in the middle of writing your essays. Everybody is under the gun timewise to finish these essays, so make your life easier: do not reinvent the wheel. You already made a bunch of wheels. 

You guys in my 8th grade classes have reams of reflections about The Odyssey; likewise, my 9th grade class has already written quite a bit about Walden. Use what you have written. Steal your thoughts and recreate them in (perhaps) a more polished and structured form–a literary analysis paragraph!

I do it all the time. And I have yet to be caught and punished.

These essays should not require you to learn or study anything new. No writer writes well about anything he or she does not understand–even though they think they do–so just use some of the stuff you have already written and make them ready for the big time.

No joy for the writer. No joy for the reader. (oops…sorry Robert Frost.)

28 Comments

  1. Nick Beck
    Nick Beck on December 9, 2015 at 9:01 am

    Thanks for the update. This will be so much easier now

  2. Nico Bowden
    Nico Bowden on December 9, 2015 at 9:01 am

    Thanks for the update Fitz. I will steal from myself

  3. Daniel
    Daniel on December 9, 2015 at 9:28 am

    Good job fitz.

  4. Sam Farley
    Sam Farley on December 9, 2015 at 9:29 am

    Sounds Good, thanks!

  5. Callan Fries
    Callan Fries on December 9, 2015 at 9:29 am

    Thanks for the update Fitz.

  6. Lucas
    Lucas on December 9, 2015 at 9:30 am

    Sounds good, I will use this!

  7. Colin Cunningham
    Colin Cunningham on December 9, 2015 at 9:30 am

    Thanks Fitz! I will work to get my work done in time neat and handy!

  8. Arthur
    Arthur on December 9, 2015 at 9:48 am

    Thanks Fitz

  9. Jack Folz
    Jack Folz on December 9, 2015 at 12:20 pm

    Thanks Fitz

  10. Tim First
    Tim First on December 9, 2015 at 12:22 pm

    Ok this will make it a lot easier.

  11. Nathan Soukup
    Nathan Soukup on December 9, 2015 at 12:22 pm

    Thanks for the update!

  12. Whit feather
    Whit feather on December 9, 2015 at 12:22 pm

    Thanks for the tip Fitz

  13. Anonymous
    Anonymous on December 9, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    Thanks Fitz

  14. Henry Patton
    Henry Patton on December 9, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    Nice last sentence.

  15. Charles Brookby
    Charles Brookby on December 9, 2015 at 12:24 pm

    Thanks Fitz. I will work on wrapping my mind around “stealing from myself”.

  16. Abhinav Tadikonda
    Abhinav Tadikonda on December 9, 2015 at 12:24 pm

    Thanks for this tip. I am definitely going to steal from myself.

  17. Hank Parker
    Hank Parker on December 9, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    Oh I am gonna steal from myself so much…

  18. Charlie Cribb
    Charlie Cribb on December 9, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    Thanks for the update.

  19. James Ewing
    James Ewing on December 9, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    Thanks for this Fitz. I will be sure to steal from myself. 🙂

  20. Charlie Hutchinson
    Charlie Hutchinson on December 9, 2015 at 12:27 pm

    Thanks for the update.

  21. Greyson
    Greyson on December 9, 2015 at 7:29 pm

    Got it. Thanks

  22. Nico Carere
    Nico Carere on December 10, 2015 at 10:16 am

    This will make it a lot easier! Thanks!

  23. Max Ewing
    Max Ewing on December 10, 2015 at 12:19 pm

    Good to know. Thanks Fitz

  24. Matthew Gainsboro
    Matthew Gainsboro on December 10, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    Thanks Fitz. Wasn’t sure if you wanted us to write something new.

  25. Logan Renneker
    Logan Renneker on December 12, 2015 at 11:37 am

    *insert five or less letter word that implies I read this, but don’t really know what to say in response* Thanks!

  26. Bennet
    Bennet on December 12, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    Thanks, Fitz!

  27. Liam tasker
    Liam tasker on December 12, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    Thanks, Fitz!

  28. Julian Yang
    Julian Yang on December 12, 2015 at 9:52 pm

    Thanks Fitz!