Summary Essay

Professional Writing Expertise is a chapter written by Ronald T. Kellogg. The

essay covers the subject of professional writers, how they vary, and some of the
different challenges they face in their work. In this writing, Kellogg speaks on major
points such as the cognitive challenges that writers face, skills and expertise that
they possess and apply, managing the emotional challenge of writing, and the work
required to become a quality writer
Dr. Kellogg begins the essay by explaining how professional writers, although
all have different tasks, typically come across the same challenges. Some of these
challenges include cognitive demand, writing expertise, and overcoming writers
block. The author then begins the first points of the essays by explaining the first
challenge of the cognitive demands of writing. Writers are put up to the task of
structuring, organizing and translating ideas to well written text. He then elaborates
on how this requires an in-depth process requiring hours to days of drafting,
reorganizing and editing to create the best piece of writing. Kellogg gives an
example of how writers apply their cognitive ability with the way they select certain
words and phrases and order them to properly translate the message so it is not
misinterpreted by the reader.
Kelloggs next major point in his chapter he talks about a writers use of their
own set of skills to their writing. He clarifies how writers face to major problems in
their work: what to say and how to say it. While solving these problems, Kellogg
explains that after a writer forms an idea, they must then be able to construct a
clear and concise theme. The language that the writer uses has a big impact on the
information presented by the writing and how the reader a reader will interpret.

The authors next major point in the essay is the emotional strain of writing
and how professional writers approach this. Kellogg begins by saying how
professional writing is a task which requires a large amount of self-motivation and
critical thinking, and writers must learn to balance this along with their other
responsibilities. It is not uncommon for writers to succumb to writers block, or the
persistent inability to construct ideas in writing. Kellogg then begins to explain the
concept of flow and how it is important for a writer to possess to overcome
emotional challenges. Flow is characterized by knowledge of a particular subject
and confidence, and can allow one to suppress negative emotions. The author than
talks about how all writers have their own personal habits and rituals to maintain
their flow, create good pieces of writing, and keep themselves falling victim to
writers block.