CONCLUSION. (3)

 Articles.  Sentences become paragraphs, and paragraphs become articles.  There are two basic types of articles – (a) expository, and (b) narrative.  There are also (c) articles written under exam conditions. 
     (a) Expository articles.  These follow the (7 x 7) pattern : seven paragraphs, of seven sentences each.  This makes for a tightly-controlled structure.  There are advantages and disadvantages to this way of writing expository articles.  Advantages: You have a strong structure.  Once you know what to say, then you can focus on how to say it, and how to develop the individual sentences.  That is : You plan out the paragraph; you write out the sentences.  The (7 x 7) structure will be a help to you to write expository articles, in the early days of your development as a writer; later on, you can “move on” to other ways, or your own way.  Disadvantages: The “final product” is somewhat artificial.  You are “boxed in” by the confines of having to follow the (7 x 7) structure; where is the freedom, here?  It is hard to further develop an idea that you like, as you only have one sentence for that idea (sometimes). 
     Learning to write expository articles well in the (7 x 7) format is good training, practice, and development for you as a growing writer.  I believe that if you learn the (7 x 7) format well, you will be rewarded for it later on, as you continue to write expository articles. 
     Also, learning to write in English (your foreign language) is not just about grammar, spelling, and written expression.  It is about learning to think, and to structure your thoughts, in a new way.  Ultimately, learning to think in a foreign language is an act of cross-cultural adaptation and communication. 
     (b) Narrative articles.  What do most, if not all, cultures have in common?  They like to tell stories.  If you can do that too, then you can join in, too, and make your contribution (by writing), as well as have a “conceptual model”, with which to better understand other writers (by reading). 
     Perhaps the “Nine Part” model (i.e., Title – Introduction – Setting [place] – Setting [time] – Characters – Plot Summary – Conflict – Resolution of Conflict – Conclusion) of structuring narrative articles is too formal, or even “culturally intrusive” (that is, too “Western”), but it is used by many people, and it gives you a starting point.  Of course, there are other models and ways : choose what you like best.  To me, education is like learning to use a nut-cracker.  If you can use the nut-cracker, then you should be able to open most of the “nuts” in the forest.  Why memorize all the “nuts”, then?  Here (in this case), the “nut-cracker” is the “Nine part” model.  The “forest of nuts” represents all the narrative articles in the world – and there are many!  You can use your understanding of narrative article structure (and how to write narrative articles), so as to better understand other writers’ work, and to write your own articles, which you can share with other writers.  However, when you are “writing for others”, you might want to go beyond the basic “Nine Part” structure I have explained in this book, and expand it into something more fluid.  After all, the “Nine Part” structure is a bit “wooden”.  You decide! 
     (c) Articles written under “exam conditions”.  In life, we cannot only write for our own ends; we must write for others, and under the pressure of time.  This is a very different type of writing.  Remember : follow the directions and expectations of the exam-preparation booklet authors (usually)!  To be too independent might get you into trouble.... 
     I think it is best not to try and integrate “exam writing” with other forms of writing.  Instead, treat them as separate disciplines. 
     Learning to “write under pressure” is a good discipline.  Here is a story about this.... 
     In 1986, I had a summer job at a city newspaper, The Lowell Sun, in Lowell (City), Massachusetts, USA.  It was a typical summer job, combined with college practicum credit.  I was there for about two months, and rented a room in an apartment, somewhere in Lowell.  My job was to report the activities of the local government bureaus in one of the “satellite towns” around Lowell, a town called Billerica.  If my story was published in the next day’s paper, I was paid $50; if there was no story, I got nothing.  Typically, the government meetings (usually of the town’s Planning Board) started at 7:00 p.m., and lasted until 9:00 p.m. or even 10:00 p.m.  During the meeting, I would note down the major topics discussed, and as many details as I could.  When the meeting adjourned, I would scramble to ask certain officials, lawyers, and plaintiffs several questions.  Of course, they were in a hurry to go home and sleep, and not talk to some college student. 
     Usually, I left the town government offices at 10:00 p.m.  The drive back to the newspaper’s offices took about 30 minutes.  At that time, the city of Lowell was fairly quiet, save for the whine of old street-lights, and some wild drivers racing down the streets.  The pigeons dreamed in silence under the roof-eaves of the larger buildings.  I went into the office, which was very large, and was hazy from the cigarette smoke of several chain-smokers. 
     I was under deadline. 
     For the next few hours, I had to turn those notes into a newspaper article (and sometimes, a “feature article”, which uses a different style of writing).  It was late, and I was very, very tired.  I tried to eat strong candy, or drink Sprite, but I still wanted to sleep.  The only way to go was to write the article, and save it in the computer, for my editor to look at the next morning.  Only two things mattered : finish the article; write the article in the style desired by the newspaper.  At about 3:00 a.m., or occasionally 4:00 a.m., I went home.  The city was even more still, and nothing moved.  There were about five traffic-lights between the offices of The Lowell Sun and my apartment, and I tried to make it home, without having to stop at any “red lights”; over the course of that summer, I only succeeded in passing through all five “green lights” once, and that by driving at carefully calculated speeds.  I went to bed, but could not sleep. 
     At about 8:00 a.m., I had to get up again, to call my editor.  He too, was under deadline; the paper would be printed at 10:00 a.m.  I was sleepy, and he was ruthlessly businesslike with his “razor blade”; he had to shape my article into something fit for that day’s news, and I wanted to go back to bed.  Sometimes, he threw out the article, because it was unfit to be printed; sometimes, the article “died”, as there were other stories that day.  After that phone call, I went back to bed, but I could not sleep, as the night, and the day too, had been ruined.  I got up, and tried to live my “other life”... until that evening, and the next government meeting came up.  Living like that made me very tired. 
     That job was all pressure, business, deadlines, production.  There was no room for human warmth.  However, by the end of the summer, I was better able to “write on demand”.  There is a place for learning to write under pressure, so as to be a better writer overall, and this was the benefit of working for The Lowell Sun.  I am grateful for what they gave me, in terms of writing experience.  However, from that moment on, I decided to separate writing into two parts : (a) writing for others, making their product, and under their demands, and (b) writing for myself, making my own art, and under the good hand of my Muse.