-What type(s) of writer do you consider yourself to be?
I'm generally the kind of writer who needs time to work. In high school, being assigned an essay that was due the next day was a nightmare, because I can't force myself to sit down and write. I need time to ponder, brainstorm, and plan.
Unfortunately, all of that thinking doesn't usually make its way onto paper, so I lose a lot of genius before I can get to my laptop to start writing. This process makes for some choppy essays, so I have also become a decent editor and revisor.
-Does your writing process include several of the above approaches? If so, which ones?
Generally, I am a mix of a heavy planner and a heavy revisor.
I do a lot of planning even when I'm not actively trying to write; sometimes the best ideas come to me when I'm showering, driving, or doing everyday tasks like laundry.
Like I said before, my writing process works well for finding inspiration, but leaves a lot to be desired as far as an eloquent, well thought out essay goes. This is where the revising comes in.
For one of the essays that I wrote for a scholarship, I saved each draft in case I wanted to come back to something I had written earlier. I ended up with 10 individual drafts. They all had the same basic ideas, but every draft was structured and laid out differently. I'll keep proofreading, moving paragraphs around, and rewording sentences until I am happy with the final product.
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| Image by Leung, Jessica. "Energy" 12/5/07. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License. |
Does your writing process seem to be successful? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?
So far, this process has worked well for me. One drawback is that it is time consuming. Unfortunately, that's part of why I did not do very well on the AP English exam. The lack of time to think and proofread greatly decreased the quality of my essays.
The positive side is that I usually end up with essays that I am very happy with and proud of.
Do you think it might be beneficial for you to try a different approach? Why or why not?
I am extremely set in my ways, so trying to change my writing habits at this point would most likely be unsuccessful. My writing style has gotten me this far, and I see no reason to change it.
Reflections
I read Isabel's post first. She is a sequential composer, which I think is awesome. I would most likely have much less revising to do if I wrote that way, but I really do like the way that my process works for me.
After reading Emma's post, I realized that most people in this class will have aspects of either a Planner or Sequential Composer. As higher level writers, we need to have the perfect idea on which to build our essays, and that can only come with the right inspiration and planning.
We have a similar writing process. I can relate to the heavy planning and contemplating throughout the day; however, I do not do much heavy revising. Also, I do not create multiple drafts or take many days to write; I am able to finish a draft in a few hours. In the case of AP English, I was able to finish my writings, sometimes before time. To combat time constraint, maybe you could focus less on planning and more on the writing aspect, given you spend a lot of time revising anyway; or vice versa. I feel as though one only needs either heavy planning or heavy revising, generally not both. However, I do admire how much effort you put into your work, it pays off!
ReplyDeleteWe have different styles of writing, and I enjoy seeing a different style. I would agree that the best writing comes with an inspiration! Although you take a long time to write, as you said, you turn out with your best papers, and ideas. I don't disagree with any part of your writing style. I respect that you put your best into every paper!
ReplyDeleteAs a complete procrastinator, I admire your ability to spend a good amount of time planning out your writing. I, too, am somewhat of a heavy reviser so I can relate to the importance of going back to edit sentences so that they all flow together. I also enjoyed seeing that someone else has the same issue that I do of having ideas but not remembering them long enough to include them in the essay. My way of fighting this is to spend more time writing so that the ideas I come up with can be put right into my text. Overall, I have respect for anyone who puts so much effort into the writing process and I hope your style continues to pay off!
ReplyDeleteHi Morgan!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Addie from Bottai's section 14! I have a few follow-up questions for you regarding your writing process:
1. You mentioned that your writing process is time consuming, throughout this course did you find the blog posts/deadlines effective in keeping you on track? Why/Why not?
2. Throughout this course, did you struggle with focusing on a single writing topic/idea? Did it help at all that you were focusing on a topic within your major?
3. Has your writing process changed throughout this course? How?
I think the way the deadlines were laid out for this class was incredibly helpful. I broke the deadline up and did a couple of posts per day, so I was able to spend more time thinking about and writing each post. If we had just had something due at the end of the week without any steps, I would probably not have done very well with figuring out how to manage my time.
DeleteIt was difficult to decide what article/controversy I wanted to focus on for the projects, but once I had a topic, I ran with it. Especially because psychology has so many subfields and sub disciplines, it took forever for me to decide what topic I wanted to use.
I don't think my process has changed much during this course. I still spend a significant amount of time on each post, I have just learned how to manage my time so that I can still do that effectively.