Writing as Labor: Skill, Power, and What No One Can Take From You
Before we move forward, we need to name something that is often left unsaid in college classrooms: writing is labor. Not metaphorically. Not “kind of.” It is real, skilled labor that produces value, meaning, and power. And like all labor, how it is defined, labeled, and rewarded is never neutral.
So start here: what counts as “skilled labor” in your experience? Who gets to decide? Whose work is praised, and whose is dismissed as “basic,” “natural,” or “unremarkable”? When people label work as unskilled, it is rarely an objective assessment. It is a political move. Someone benefits when labor is framed as easy, replaceable, or requiring no expertise.
Ask yourself:
Who benefits when people say “anyone can write”?
What happens when writing is treated as something that requires no training, no time, no compensation?
What is lost when writing is outsourced to AI and treated as a disposable task instead of an intellectual craft?
These decisions are not abstract. They are made by people with power—institutions, industries, employers, platforms—and they affect you whether you agree with them or not. When writing is framed as something “anyone can do,” it becomes easier to exploit, automate, underpay, or erase. When thinking and writing are treated as invisible, the people who do that work become invisible too.
That is why this course insists that you see writing for what it is: a form of skilled labor that produces thinking.
Why Writing Is Invisible—and Why That’s Dangerous
Writing is one of the most undervalued forms of labor precisely because it happens quietly. It leaves no physical product you can hold. It often takes place alone. It is expected everywhere and acknowledged almost nowhere. You are required to write constantly—in school, at work, online—but rarely taught to recognize writing as a skill that takes time, training, and effort.
But make no mistake:
Writing is labor.
Writing enables thinking.
Writing is expected, but rarely credited.
This invisibility is not accidental. When labor is invisible, it is easier to extract without compensation or respect. That is why you must learn to write and think for yourself. Not just to complete assignments, but to retain agency over your ideas. This is also why you must learn how—and when—to use AI critically. Tools can assist labor, but they should not replace your ability to think, reason, and decide.
Once you genuinely develop writing as a skill, it cannot be taken away from you. No software update can erase it. No institution can revoke it. No employer can automate your capacity to reason, persuade, and communicate clearly. Writing is portable power.
Critical Thinking Is Labor Too
Thinking critically is not an attitude—it is work. It requires effort, patience, and practice. It means slowing down when everything around you is designed to speed you up.
Critical thinking asks you to:
Assess the accuracy of a source: Who wrote it? Who published it? Why?
Examine whether opinions are supported convincingly with evidence: Are there statistics, facts, figures, or research?
Evaluate whether that evidence is valid, relevant, and fairly interpreted.
Consider opposing arguments—not to weaken your position, but to strengthen it.
This is labor-intensive. And that is exactly why it matters.
Learning to Ask Good Questions Is a Skill
Good writing is not only about answers—it is about asking better questions. Questioning is intellectual labor, and it shapes every part of your work.
Ask yourself:
Will your introduction interest readers and provide the background they need?
Does your conclusion do real work—reinforcing your claim and following logically from what came before?
Does your title accurately reflect what the essay actually argues, not just what it’s “about”?
These are not cosmetic concerns. They are rhetorical decisions. They determine whether your labor communicates effectively or gets lost.
(On a related note: don’t use cover pages—those are APA style, not MLA style. Academic conventions exist to make labor legible and accessible, not to punish you.)
Peer Critique Is Also Labor
Finally, understand this: peer review is work. It is collaborative intellectual labor, and it deserves to be taken seriously.
That means:
Providing a readable document (double-spaced, Times New Roman makes the labor easier for others).
Revising your own work before sharing it—peer review is not a substitute for effort.
Offering specific questions or goals so feedback is productive.
Being open to criticism and ideas, because learning to collaborate is itself a professional skill.
At the same time, you are not required to accept every piece of advice you receive. Not all feedback is correct. Not all feedback is useful. Your job is to use your critical thinking skills to decide what strengthens your work and what does not.
That judgment—that discernment—is also labor.
The Takeaway
Writing is not busywork. It is not a hoop. It is not a task to be offloaded to a machine and forgotten. Writing is skilled labor that produces knowledge, agency, and power. When you learn to write well—to think through problems, to argue responsibly, to revise thoughtfully—you are building something that belongs to you.
And no one can take that away.