Follow

the genre



Running Header: Follow the genre

Anjani Singh
Antioch University Santa Barbara

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To be a great writer, not only great thoughts are required, but also the ability to convey
those thoughts your writing. It can be argued that everyone who writes is a writer. But just
because you can write does not make you a good writer. I have always enjoyed writing privately,
journaling for instance. However, seldom have I enjoyed any other kind of writing- that required
following a convention. Often I felt that my writing is not easy to follow, and I have tried to
figure out why it is unclear, and awkward to read. While reading my work, the reader often feels
jerked around and confused. Some writers are able to captivate readers seemingly effortlessly.
Good writing often has a smooth and poetic flow to the sentences. Complicated and intricate
thoughts are conveyed in a clear manner. Having these qualities of a good writer in mind, I
picked Erik Hellsten he does not write professionally but for pleasure - to interview. After I
interviewed with him, I concluded that a good writer follows the conventions of a genre.
For a piece of writing to be easy to read be that text messages, emails, academic writing or
even love letters genre conventions must be followed.
The idea of what a genre truly means is fascinating. In school I was taught that genre is a
specific type of movie, film, or writing. And that genre is ancient and unchangeable, like a
language, so it is unlikely for anyone to create a new kind of genre. Therefore, it was surprising
for me to learn that genres can be created. Dirk explains:
When something new happens that requires a response, someone must create that first
response. Then when that situation happens again, another person uses the first response
as a basis for the second, and eventually everyone who encounters this situation is basing
his/her response on the previous ones, resulting new genre convention.
It is exiting to read Dirks words, because anyone can create a new genre, leaving a mark on
future society. Another aspect of genres that surprised me was how extremely important they are

 Follow the genre

to follow. I was under the impression that the only time it is important to follow genre

conventions, is when writing an academic paper. After interviewing with Erik, I realized the
importance of following genre conventions.
Erik is an entrepreneur; he frequently writes for his job, mostly emails. He has a deep
love and respect for writing. I interviewed Erik, because he won my heart by writing me a love
letter. I was extremely moved by the letter, not only because he conveyed deep feelings, but also
because he wrote beautifully. While reading his letter I felt every emotion he was trying to
display. Dirk claims Knowing what a genre is used for can help people to accomplish goals,
whether that goal be getting a job by knowing how to write a stellar resume, Winning a persons
heart by writing a romantic love letter. In Eriks case his goal was to get me to go on another
date, and because of a well-written love letter he won my heart. After interviewing with Erik I
realized that most of what he writes from texts to emails to papers is clear and concise. Eriks
writing is largely clear because he follows the conventions of a genre. The 6 artifacts from Erik
help prove that following genre conventions makes for good writing, which makes a good writer.
Erik follows genre conventions for effective text messages by keeping them short. In the
Following conversation Erik is asking his friend to join him for dinner. The text message
writes hey! Dinner at 20? Know a good place? This message is very short message, and if it
was a verbal conversation, probably could be interpreted as rude. However, because it is a text
message it is expected. A very important convention of a text message is that it is short. It is
called SMS, short messaging service. Text messages are assumed to be small, so when someone
sends a message that takes even just a minute long to read, it is can be tiresome. When Erik
writes a text message he likes to make sure he has followed the conventions of a text message;
making sure the message is short and sweet. In our interview, Erik explains, The text message

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has its own genre, it has the aesthetic of a telegram, a nice looking text has abbreviations, it is
nominal form. Technically the language is incorrect, but it looks nicer, because it is meant to be a
telegram. Even though the language is technically incorrect, it is expected. Therefore, it is ok to
send a text message with fragmented sentences. By following these conventions, he makes his
communication among his friends and family smooth and clear. The readers have certain
expectations on how the message will look, and Erik tries to meet those expectations.
Erik dislikes using emojis, because he loves language, but he uses this convention
to make up for the lack of tone in text messaging. Just like short messages, Emoji has become an
expectation. When Erik was asked about his feelings towards emojis, and whether they are an
important convention to follow. He explained, sending an emoji is taking the lazy way out. When
a writer does not want to have to try explain himself, and emoji is the way to go. To send a
smiley face after a message is a way to soften the tone of the message. Erik states there is always
a way to use language to express your feeling, but instead it easy to just send an emoji. Erik
would prefer to use words to express that he is happy, or feeling exited. However, because it is
the quicker way, he thinks its a good idea to through in an emoji. Often there is a lot of room for
misinterpretation in SMS, because, there are so few words we get to use to convey a message.
Therefor, an emoji can be helpful. Erik says A smiley face is like a white flag, the writer is
trying to say I come in peace. By which Erik means when he sends a message, that is a joke, or
can me misconstrued as sarcasm. A smiley face is good way to show the writer means no harm.
Following even just a convention as trivial as an emoji, Erik believes is beneficial to his
message.
Email subject titles are an important convention for Erik; because, it saves time at work.
In Eriks field of work, emails play a vital role. Erik works in his family business of gearboxes.

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He works mainly in customer service, often sending and receiving emails. Erik believes it is
important to be clear and concise about your intentions for a formal email. A subject title is the
first thing the reader will read in an email. In one of Eriks email to a business associate he writes
his sub title as: Ford Ranger 4WD 2,5TDCI -08. From this title the reader knows exactly what
Eriks email is about. Erik said A subject title is like a news article headline, it should
summarize what the email is about the most important thing. When the reader sees Eriks
subject title, he will know whether he needs to open this email immediately or not. Thill, J. &
Bovee, C explain, Missing or poorly written subject lines often result in messages being deleted
without even being opened. Having a message deleted before it is even read can be detrimental,
especially when it is a work related message. So, even when Erik writes a formal email, he
follows genre conventions.
Erik explained, one important convention of formal business emails is to be clear and
concise. Erik likes to be mindful of his audience. It is important to send an email making it
perfectly clear the reason for the email. Erik explained, the reason it is vital to make intentions
clear in a business email is so there are no misunderstanding that might jeopardize the business
relationship. Eriks email to Tom, his business associate: Hi Tom, Thanks. That means we
could deliver straight from our stock because you rebuilt an XM327002TA for us (tag id
11045). Is there some way we can be a little more sure that it fits the customers car? is
concise. In this email, Erik talks about exactly what he can do, and inquires about what he
needs. So when Tom reads this message he does not have to figure out what Erik wants, or
why Erik sent the message. The point of a formal Email is to get needs across, as clearly as
possible.

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Erik believes writing a formal email with grammatical mistakes and careless errors,
affects the writers ethos. Erik also emphasized feeling disappointed when a person of
authority or leadership, writes a sloppy email. A convention of writing an email, or formal
email is to be grammatically correct, Word choice is important. Erik feels it is also vital to a
proof read the message. For instance Zacks father in-laws message got lost in a misspelled
word. Even if the whole email is beautifully written, misspelling the word condemn, was
enough to loose the weight of the message. Therefore, when Erik receives an email from a
politician and the email is sloppy, it hurts the politicians credibility. Its about the
politicians ethos, why should the reader listen to him/her. It is hard to take the president
seriously if he/she misspells a word. Bunn explains, the conventions for each genre can be
very different, techniques that are effective for one genre may not work well in another. Many
readers expect poems and pop songs to rhyme, for example, but might react negatively to a legal
brief or instruction manual that did so. There fore, an Formal email is suppose to be formally
written. It would be expectable to use connotative language in an informal email. However,
it is expected in am formal email to use denotative language. Like formal emails, it is also a
convention of an academic writing to use denotative language.
For Erik writing an abstract for an academic research essay is about summarizing the
paper. By writing an accurate summation of the paper, Erik is respecting the audiences
expectations, and respecting their time. The goal of an abstract is to let the reader know what
they are getting into. Therefore, if reader choses to read a 12 page paper research paper, on
account of the abstract, and it turns out the abstract was misleading the reader would get pretty
upset with the writer. Also the writer would loose people who would be genuinely interested in
their research, if the abstract misrepresents the research paper. Erik writes in his abstract

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This study is an institutional analysis of the firm both as it is theoretically

conceptualized and how it takes shape and changes. The role of power relations between
management and employees is especially examined with the aim of evaluating possible
connections between the firm as an institution and power relations within it.
Reading a passage from Eriks abstract, it is obvious his paper is about power relations, and more
specifically in the work place. Even though I have only showed a small part of his abstract, as a
reader it is easy for me to predict what his paper will be about. Helping the reader understand the
content of his paper was Eriks intention. One the other hand, the conventions of a love letter are
pretty relaxed.
Erik believes the conventions of a love letter are to describe your feelings, and
explain when and how they began to manifest. Erik explains Writing a love letter is like writing
a diary, The letter is a release of emotions and feeling. So, as a reader when I read his love
letter, I should feel connected to him. When Erik wrote me a love letter, he got me to feel what
he was feeling. Erik wrote in his letter, After just one date I realized I had fallen for you. Erik
further explains after the first date, his feelings for me overwhelmed him, astonished by the
intense feeling of missing me all week. As a reader I was captivated, and I felt like I was him
while reading his letter, because he described his feelings effectively, he was able to win my
heart. If Erik only stated his feeling, and did not describe them, I would never have related to
him. After stating his feeling, in his letter he made sure I felt valued by him; by writing I
remembered every word you said to me during our date, I even ordered the book you talked
about. So as I read the letter I felt flattered and special. To make me feel even more special, he
further went on to emphasizing that he rarely feels the way he did when we were together. And
ending with how he would be extremely disappointed not to see me again. After reading his

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letter, as a reader I felt compelled to see him again, even though I did not share the same feeling
at the moment. Not only because I was able to relate to him, but also the beauty in which he
conveyed his message made me want to see him. He followed the conventions of a love letter,
because he successfully got a person to understand his loving feelings. And he was successful In
winning my heart. If Erik had not written a love letter, and plainly stated his feeling, I would
have lost of a relationship of a lifetime. So following genre conventions can be even more
beneficial than just getting an A on an assignment.
The argument I have tried to prove is that following genre conventions are important and
beneficial. Also, the reason Erik is a good writer is because he follows genre conventions. Part of
genre conventions are, expectations, and audience. The reason we follow genre conventions, are
for the readers, not for our self. Because, it is the expectations of others that create a genre.
Following short of those expectation results in the reader being confused, loosing a flow, feeling
jerked around, and unfortunately irritated. When someone picks a genre whether it is to read, or
listen to music, or watch a movie. They picked that genre for a reason. If a man picks country
music song, he/she is expecting to hear a sad song about a man losing his job, wife, or dog. And
if instead they get a pop song from Britney spears, well, just imagine the disappointment.

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References

Thill, J. & Bovee, C. (2011). Excellence in Business Communication9hed.). Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Dirk, K. (2010). Navigating Genres. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Parlor
Press.