The Writing Process

By examining the wisdom found in Anne Lamontt's essay "Shitty First Drafts" and through my process of crafting my rhetorical analysis essay, I discovered that writing is filled with

Murray (1917-2006) was a scholar, journalist, and author among many other things. Murray wrote the essay “The Maker’s Eye: Revising your own Manuscript”, which was published in a magazine called The Writer. “The Maker’s Eye” explains why it is beneficial to revise no matter if you are a beginner or experienced. “As a word is changed, cut, or added, as a construction is rearranged, all the words used before that moment and all those that follow that moment must be considered and reconsidered.” This means when you changed any word in your writing that is the time to look at previously written words, but also consider the new words you are

Donald Murray provides strong advice on the drafting process in his essay, The Maker’s Eye. By beginning with a boost in confidence, Murray reassures his reader that everyone, even the most renowned writers have to start somewhere. In explaining what he perceives to be the chronological order of the writing process, he tells his readers to: “detach themselves from their own pages so they can apply both their caring and their craft to their own work” (Murray 1). In order to understand how one’s audience perceives a piece, they must remove themselves and be critical. Murray continues by describing the seven elements one must consider in constructing their first draft: subject, audience, form, structure, development, dimension, and tone. In tackling

Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”

By examining the ideas in the essays Freewriting by Peter Elbow and The Makers Eye: Revising your own manuscripts by Donald Murray. One can gain a better understanding of the process of turning a piece of writing from an inspiration into a craft. By examining the elements lined out in each essay can be beneficial in creating a piece of writing that is beyond a college or student level. Elbows essay lines out the importance of a strong prewriting regimen. That editing too early can ruin writing. He believes that by using the method of free writing, it can inspire ideas that may be limited when worrying about grammar. While Murray emphasizes the necessity to create many drafts to form writing into its full potential. Saying each draft is an opportunity to discover what the author has to say and they the best way to say it. By transforming writing into its maximum potential it goes from being an idea an inspiration a masterpiece.

Every writer has a particular way to describe their writing. Whether they describe it as a form of telepathy like the distinguished author, Stephen King, or as a painting like the renowned author, Annie Dillard, an abundance of writers can compare their process of writing to something. Even I have some way to describe my writing, I believe it is like being an architect creating marvelous building and cities made of words. This paper is meant to explain the writing process of the two aforementioned authors as well as outlining my own writing process. By comparing and contrasting the different metaphors used by each author one can see how similar every writer is to some extent.

Within the past eight weeks, I have realized my strengths and weaknesses within the writing process. I have realized that I do not utilize the first step within the writing process of prewriting. However, for the drafting, revising, and polishing steps of the writing process, I am very familiar and use additional resources to strengthen the writing assignment. I create multiple drafts, which includes revising and polishing in each step. Therefore, I use all three of these steps in multiple drafts as I reach the final product for

In the article Teaching Writing as a Process Not Product by Donald M. Murray, Murray argues that writing is a process of discovery not an end product. Rather than being criticized for a “perfect product” by the teachers, student should be provided with an environment of creativity to explore and discover. Murray states that many teachers focus on the end product rather than teaching students the process of writing in order to receive a better product. The writing process has three stages of writing which include: prewriting, writing, and rewriting. In the prewriting stage, students should take about 85% of their time dedicated to the writing process. Prewriting includes strategies such as daydreaming, note taking, outlining, and lead-writing. Next is the writing stage where it should take about one percent of a student’s time. The writing stage is where students produce their first draft. Finally, it is the

“Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge: Roles and the Writing Process” written by Betty S. Flowers suggests that writing is a process that can be blocked by different personas, or roles, in our brain. These personas can fight against each other or skillfully work together. The writing process can either be difficult or “can come only when the energies are flowing freely-when you’re not stuck”. To write successfully, we must separate these energies. Otherwise, you risk not ever starting or starting and not finishing. The roles that help use in the writing process are the madman, architect, carpenter, and judge.

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

In the beginning of this class I looked at writing as a chore. The word “writing” drummed up a vision of a thin man sitting at a cafe with wire rimmed glasses and a goatee. He was wearing dress pants that are too short and crisply creased with a matching vest. He sipped his coffee with his pinky finger curled and was completely lost to the world around him as he typed quickly then paused to read his work. He was born to write and highly organized; a perfectionist. He was all the things I thought I was unable to be, until now.

Lamott compares the process of writing with the painful process of pulling the teeth. She believes that in order to produce a high quality writing, the author must first put together all their ideas and thoughts in form of the “child draft”. This draft determines the flow and dimension

Harris argues that revision is overlooked and undervalued because, as readers, we see texts in their final form and do not see the “hesitations, repetition, digressions…and flat-out mistakes of earlier drafts” (442). He then supports this idea when he demonstrates in a draft, by a student named Abhijit Mehta, the difference between editing and revising. He comments, “at the mundane level, he

Writing is examined in the first chapter of “Writing about Writing”, a textbook by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Not only does it examine articulate writing, but specifically the threshold Concepts of writing: “ideas that change the way you think, write, and understand a subject,” (Wardle, Downs 2011). Terms are used to educate readers, these terms are essential for the writer to better understand how to write, and for the reader to better understand composition. Three terms seem to do this; construct, contingency, and rhetoric.

The standard impression most people have of writers is that they can sit down and just let a perfect composition flow from their heads onto paper. In her writing career, Lamott has observed how “writing is not rapturous. In