ACADEMIC WRITING: ENHANCING THE “HAPPY SKILL”

Abstract

Writing as a discipline has a tumultuous history. The evolution of writing from being a mere aid to memory to being an independent discipline has been remarkable. Academic writing, the scholastic offspring of writing, is often perceived as a too scholarly to be mastered. Even though academic writing is the cornerstone of all written knowledge, it has hardly been explored in the pedagogical structure.  This paper aims to explore the mechanism behind academic writing by tracing the trajectory of writing and moving on to discuss the process of how to write with special focus on academic writing. Apart from discussing “the rules of thumb and tricks of the trade” of writing, this paper will also bring in the reflective and anecdotal aspect of writing. The main aim of this paper is to consider academic writing as what Robert Scholes says “So Happy a Skill”.