The first thing that got my attention in Dirk’s essay was his unique writing style. Now, I’ve seen many essays that start with a more tangible concept, such as Dirk’s use of country songs, but it was new to me to see the writer reflecting upon his own writing process within the essay. I believe Dirk’s informal tone was an effective way of conveying his point to his audience. This shows the importance of knowing your audience and how beneficial it can be to one’s writing. I like the point that he made that genres are not static. I had never thought of this before, but it is true that as a novel or essay progresses the genre can take unexpected turns.

Dirk writes about how precise genres can be and that new ones are always emerging. He states that when you are the first to write in a particular genre you have complete freedom. Dirk discusses that prior knowledge of genres is always applied when one is reading. This primarily happens without us even realizing it. Dirk uses the example of thesis statements to bring up the point that even within a specific genre there can still be vast differences. Dirk brings up a good point in that the rules of writing change as the genre does. But, there are also some rules that can nearly be applied to all writing. I agree with Dirk that learning about a variety of different genres is much better than mastering only one.

In closing, Dirk makes an important remark about what needs to be considered during writing. This list includes, but is not limited to form, audience, purpose and genre. Dirk leaves the audience with four steps to effective writing. First, decide upon what you are trying to accomplish with this writing. Second, learn about the writing situation, which includes purpose audience and more. Third, research similar papers that have been written to try and accomplish a similar goal. Fourth and final, ask a lot of questions. I like this four step process because it is not a formula for perfect writing, but instead a set of guidelines that can be used to lead one to success.