Post #3 My Writing Process

My writing process has changed dramatically over the years. In the Spandel essay, she discusses that most students writing is assessment driven. This is exactly how I started writing. Even my rough drafts, were written to be a "final draft" that only needed some grammatical or formatting corrections. I would write my thesis first and then fill in the rest of my essay. When I went back to College, this assessment style of writing was so ingrained in my head that that is how I continued to write. It was my fool proof sure way of being successful in my writing.

It wasn't until one of my professors introduced me to Anne Lamott's "Shitty First Drafts" that my writing style really changed. Similar to what Ballenger suggests, that we teach students to write badly first, Lamott believes in writing a bad first draft, just writing everything down, every thought that comes to mind, not caring about grammar or sentence structure. It's a draft that no one will ever see. Honestly, it was really hard to break my old habit and just start writing like this, and I've never really fully gotten away from trying to have some sort of "structure" in my first draft, but I do really enjoy just getting all my thoughts on paper without trying to come up with a thesis first, or writing a good introduction first. 

I've discovered that for me it's easiest to write this "shitty first draft" or "bad writing" and then combing through the crazy mess and highlighting what is important. I copy and past sentences into paragraphs, still not worrying about if it makes sense, and then I essentially have the bones of a second draft. I absolutely never finalize my thesis until I give my paragraphs meaning and depth. I write a conclusion paragraph before I write my thesis, and I write my introduction paragraph last. The major thing I've learned throughout my years of writing, is that the process doesn't have to make sense to anyone but you. 

The only problem with my writing process is when an instructor asks for a thesis upfront, before I even write a rough draft, or sometimes a professor will ask for the first few paragraphs of your paper, even when the paper is still days or weeks from being due. Then I usually just write an idea, an I usually just change it later. I think the purpose for these "checks" is that you want to make sure you're actually writing and have a solid base for your paper. I find it annoying and feels a lot like micromanaging. 

 

(Oh the dreaded red pen!)

Obviously, my process is quite different from novice writers, who typically write how I did when I first started writing. It has taken years for me to change my writing process. I know that when I become a teacher, I want to teach my students the importance of "writing badly." I think it's just so important for students to just keep writing, get the thoughts out on paper, even if they don't make sense, or punctuation isn't in the right place. This at least gives them a a solid structure and begin to form a really great paper.

Admittedly, my writing process is really different when I'm writing online. For example, this blog, I don't do the same writing process as I do an academic essay. Here I go back to that assessment type writing, however, I feel like online writing is more casual so it doesn't have that same type of stress factor that an essay does. I do read over my work and edit as necessary, but I definitely feel more confident when I'm writing online. 

Here's an article that summarizes Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and LIfe of which her essay "Shitty First Drafts" is from: https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/11/22/bird-by-bird-anne-lamott/

Here's a link to an article about abolishing using red pens for correcting: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/send-the-right-message-ab_b_9100560