My name is Joette Whims. I grew up in a small town in North Dakota, but my family and I moved to California, where I continued my education in English Composition. I graduated with a Master’s degree in English Composition from California State University San Bernardino in December 2001. For the past fifteen years, I have worked as a writer, editor, and most currently, as a college instructor. As computer technology has advanced, so has my ability to work on a variety of different jobs and with a variety of interesting people in various places. This has added a depth and pleasure to my work that I didn’t originally expect.

In my teaching role, I find that many students don’t understand the value of writing well in the field they have chosen or are afraid of the process of writing. Many times, these misconceptions or fears stem from misguided educational practices in the past or a feeling of inadequacy. My philosophy is that writing is similar to an organized sport such as basketball. Anyone can learn to write at some level. Not everyone will be a Michael Jordan, but most people can learn to express themselves in composition. To do so, a writer must know the rule book (grammar) and the plays (the writing process). A proficient basketball player expects to practice hard at his or her style and skills to perfect them. A writer must make the same demands on himself or herself. Writing is a process, therefore, the good writer approaches his or her writing as a learning experience. The finished product is less important than the knowledge gained along the way. Since writing is a process, revision takes center stage as a way of gaining knowledge and of perfecting writing skills. Learning how to change what you have written is the secret to good writing. Although the writer learns the rules of grammar, the rules take a back seat to the expertise of the "game" of writing, and eventually become second nature. Just as a good basketball player knows when he or she breaks the rules of the game, a good writer learns to recognize grammatical errors. But just as the joy of playing, not the rule book, is the goal of playing basketball, the joy of communicating, not perfecting grammar rules, is the goal of writing. Grammar, then, serves as the final step in making the end product look and sound professional rather than as the most important skill used in writing.