Monday, January 18, 2016

My Writing Process

1) What type(s) of writer do you consider yourself?
  • I tend to think of myself as a mix between a sequential composer and a heavy reviser.  Like a heavy reviser, I have found that for the opening of whatever I am writing, I must scribble down almost anything and everything that comes to mind.  From there, I take a fair amount of time editing that portion so that I have a clear "road map" for the rest of my writing.  The rest of my writing is somewhat similar to a sequential composer.  I will often plan out the writing in my head, and then make a detailed outline with some bullet points, as to not lose my thoughts as I continue.
2) Does your writing include several of the above approaches? If so, which ones?
  • As I mentioned before, I tend to utilize the approaches of both the sequential composer and the heavy reviser. For instance, I enjoy working with a thorough outline like other sequential composers.  This allows me to focus more on how I will construct my sentences and phrasing, in order to make my writing as effective as possible.  I am constantly revising my work as I write as well.  In fact I have a difficult time making actual separate drafts because I am constantly trying to pick things apart.
3)  Does your writing process seem to be successful? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?
  • Thus far, my writing approach appears to be successful.  I have come to truly appreciate outlines and the way they help guide and structure my paper.  My thoughts are far more organized and I experience less stress throughout the writing process.  The downside of my method occurs in the editing process.  Often times I will edit as I write. This can be beneficial; however, occasionally I will become so preoccupied with a section and neglect to even begin writing others.
4) Do you think it might be beneficial for you to try a new approach? Why or why not?
  • The last approach is the procrastinator method, and I personally don't wish to try that!  Reflecting on what I have said, I think the best strategy for me would be to tweak the method that I have already set in place by forcing myself to create actual drafts.  Instead of just working off of one document the whole time, I would have completely separate documents for each draft.  That way I can easily see what I have changed and how it affects my entire essay/writing project.  This method may also pull me away from constantly editing while I write, allowing me to manage my time on the entire work more wisely. 
McPhee, Nic. "2008-01-26 (Editing a paper)-18" 1/26/2008 via flickr. Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License


1 comment:

  1. Note on conventions of the blog post genre: Revisit Step 1.5 from "Deadline 1" to re-familiarize yourself with the conventions of blogging. You're missing one item on the bulleted list of conventions there.

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