To begin my writing process, I obviously picked my topic. My
topic (or reality if you will) is that writing is not a linear process like we
have always learned in secondary school. Now, older and experienced writers are
going to look at that statement and say, “Duh!” However, inexperienced and
young writers are likely thinking, “What do you mean?” Since my start of
college, I’ve discovered that mostly everything I thought I knew about writing
is false. This really makes me wonder, if writing is in fact non-linear, why do
we learn it in the first place? Is it to help explain the steps you could use in a process? If so, why do
teachers neglect teaching the transition from secondary to post-secondary
writing? Are there ever times when implementing a linear process is necessary
and/or useful? …I guess you could say I have several questions that I want answers to- or at least find information
on.
So, after picking this topic, I did some research. I found
several academic articles that could be useful in my discovery process. One of
these articles is actually a government published outline for how teachers
should teach the writing process. I also went to Alden Library to look for some
books on the writing process in different levels of education; these will definitely
be useful. From what I have gathered and read so far, there are two worlds I’m
jumping into. Secondary school teachers seem to teach nothing but linear and
have no instruction on how writing in college is different, or that it is even
okay to write differently. (I’m not implying that the teachers are not doing their
jobs- just that they do not touch on the recursive writing process at all-
perhaps their teaching standards are set that way). Post-secondary teaching in
the area of writing does everything to destroy the idea of a linear writing
process and emphasizes that no writer is the same, writing can take as long as
it needs to, and there are several different steps you can take in any order to
write. Now, this is what I expected to find in my research, but it still does
not answer the question as to why there is no “transition phase.” Thus, my engagement
in the argument of writing processes has been centered on that niche- the “transitional
writing phase.”
Now I plan to do a little more research. Then I will begin
my actual “words on paper” process. Hopefully some more of my questions are
answered, and I can write an interesting new piece for this discourse
community. I will keep you posted.
Some sources I have found so far (not all in citation form):
Bay, Jennifer. "Writing Beyond Borders: Rethinking The Relationship Between Composition Studies And Professional Writing." Composition Studies 38.2 (2010): 29-46. ERIC. Web. 18 Sept. 2012.
Gebhardt, Richard. "Process And Intention": A Thirtieth-Year Reflection." Writing Instructor (2011): ERIC. Web. 18 Sept. 2012.
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/422/The_Writing_Process_Rejected.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d
http://www.capella.edu/interactivemedia/onlinewritingcenter/downloads/theWritingProcess.pdf
http://www.ksbe.edu/spi/PDFS/Reports/WritingProcessreport.pdf
http://www.fredonia.edu/faculty/english/spangler/Renewal2009-10/12_f_Murray--Teach_Writing_as_a_Process.pdf
See: Ideology and Freshman Textbook Production: The Place of theory in Writing Pedagogy by Katheen Ethel Welch
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