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Writing

It took me a long time to grow comfortable with my own voice in writing. I can be very self-critical and early on that self-criticism outweighed my ability, so I avoided writing as much as possible.

I did have a facility for computation and math/science, and for a while I thought that that facility would excuse me from a need to write. I see that same mistaken thought in many of my students. If you can't communicate clearly what you are doing in STEM then your career path is one of hermitage.

Part of it was needing affirmation from others. As I wrote more, people complimented it more in honest and specific ways. I try to offer my students that kind of encouragement, knowing that it changed my path for the better.

Part of it was developing a bigger picture of what my writing was trying to communicate. Strangely enough I need to thank the Educational Testing Service for that. I spent two weeks in adjacent summers grading AP exams for the ETS. The money, the being with other members of my tribe, these were incentives but I also wanted to learn how to write exams and grade them in a more focused manner. I learned a lot from ETS about distinguishing major thoughts from minor details. That carried over directly to my writing.

There is an old quote about sculpting; start with a block of marble and take everything that doesn't belong in the statue you are creating. I've gotten more particular over time about pruning things that are good and interesting and belong somewhere other than in what I am currently writing. 

This doesn't shorten my output; it often reveals gaps and deficiencies that need to be filled. Ruthless pruning of weeds allows flowers to grow.

In any event I am enjoying writing more and more as I grow. I don't publish research papers much; a lot of the exposition there is so niche as to be uninteresting to me. I write for my students, I write for my colleagues, I write for my administrators, I write because writing is how I communicate professionally. If anything I enjoy my job much more now as retirement is on the horizon because of making peace with writing.

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