I have always found self reflections difficult to write, and this post is no different as it is a reflection of one's own writing or writing process and I am not sure how my process differs from others' process as each person has a different way of writing or working through a problem. The problem in this case, is the writing process ... I know that does not make much sense, but it does to me. And now I am ranting ... anywho.
I guess my writing process starts with trying to figure out a topic that I want to write about. For example, in my history class this semester, we have to write a research paper, but we get to choose the topic as long as it relates to the class. In this class and another class, we also get to pick a topic, given this class and the other are projects, but to me, projects and writing are the same. It all boils to the topic. Once a topic is chosen, I then need to conduct research and figure out which quotes I want to use. Once I have the quotes (in a separate note document), I can then begin writing. I differ because I do not use outlines or graphic organizers. I just write. I am not sure if this would be classified as pre-writing, as this is just a way to get ideas to flow, and I cannot skip around. I have to start with a title, intro, body, and conclusion. A lot of people have told me to just start with the body, but in my mind, I cannot, and the title, intro, and conclusion have always been my weak spot. This is the same process for projects, minus the quotes. A project needs a topic, research done on the topic, and if the project is being presented, an intro, body, and conclusion, and the project itself may change and be edited. One idea may not work and so the entire project needs to be revised.
Once I have my 'pre-write' written, I then use this document as well as my notes document to write the rough draft that will be edited and submitted as a final. However, as Flower & Hayes state: "We may call the second draft a “final,” but this is a misnomer, one that leads to a misguided sense of how real-world revision works. It is almost impossible, unless you get very, very lucky, unless your topic has been living in your head for a long, long while, to go from first thinking to working draft in just two tries. A writer may rework a draft for publication three or four times, put it away for a while, and then rework it three or four more. Sometimes, this process goes through several cycles, each of them a combination of rehearsing, drafting, and revision" ("The 9 Rights of Every Writer A Guide for Teachers" 68). I realize this is a long quote, but it provides an explanation for the thought that a piece of writing is never truly complete. A piece of writing can always be worked on or edited or revised.
The articles https://writing.ku.edu/writing-process and
https://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/resources/writers/writing-process/#:~:text=Writing%20is%20a%20process%20that,develop%20and%20expand%20your%20ideas. explain the processes of writing in a summarization as well what each step means. There is one difference between what step 2 should be, which is if research is needed. Other than that, step 1 is prewriting, step 2 (research if needed) otherwise drafting, step 3 is revising, and the last step is editing.
I was going to provide a picture of the documents themselves, but as these were written for a class, I decided to just take a picture of my saved files, as I did not want to break any Academic Conduct rules. But in Essay One notes are quotes as well as the questions that needed to be addressed in the Essay. Using Essay 1 notes, I was able to write Essay 1 without having to go back and fourth between the texts, as I had already picked out the possible quotes. That does not mean I used all the quotes in my notes, it just means I had an abundance of ideas and I was able to write my paper in a way that incorporated the quotations I had found.
