It’s All About the Process
My low and high moments as a writer, the progression of my Theory of Writing, and the idea that writing is much more than just writing.
To be completely honest, up until WRD 103, my relationship with writing has been anything but pleasant. Yes, an alarming statement to lead with considering the title and expected trajectory of this article, but I promise I’ve come to terms with this difficult past, and there is, in fact, a happy ending to this story.
If I were to sum up what this relationship looked like, I would compare it to the relationship you had with that one annoying kid in kindergarten. The one you didn’t particularly like. You know…this kid?
You get the gist. Anyway, both of your parents were friends, so you were forced to invite the kid over for playdates. Was that just me, or…?
Either way, those conversations would typically follow the lines of:
"But, mom! Do I have to? There are so many other kids I would rather have playdates with, and [insert name] is annoying!”
to which they would respond by ignoring my complaints, and despite my efforts, I was obliged to be complicate.
Though a bit odd, my writing past could be similarly compared to this situation, but it looked a little something like this. My high school english teacher would force me to write an annoying, uninspiring, analytical essay about a book that I may or may not have read (I swear I was a good student), when there were so many other things I would rather do…like math homework, which says a lot. Eventually, though, I would have to buckle down and put up with it. And by buckle down, I mean that I would put off the paper until the day before it was due, power-write the night away, and was subsequently somehow confused as to why I hated english so much, but I’ll get back to that later.
All of this changed, though, in WRD 103. Through concrete evidence of the reading response assignments, major projects, and in-class activities that this article will feature, I will take you on a journey through my defining moments as a writer, the progression of my Theory of Writing, and the idea that writing is much more than just writing.
September 2019 B.W. (Before WRD 103)
Initial Thoughts on Writing
What is writing? What makes writing effective? Seriously? These are the questions that introduce the very first reading response assignment of WRD 103? Apparently so, and I, a naive, first year writing student am expected to concoct an answer to these seemingly simple questions. Note that this was done prior to completing the reading that I would later realize concisely answered said questions. For now, though, this was solely based on my past knowledge of writing.
“Writing,” I begin, “is a form of communication, but underneath this overarching definition, there are many subcategories.”
Good one — that sure makes a lot of sense. If this doesn’t strike you as terribly confusing and non-descriptive, just wait for my next response.
“Effective writing is compelling.”
Let the record show that I am currently cringing. Defining writing doesn’t seem so simple now, huh? I was shocked. I had no idea where to start. Never before had I been asked to define writing nor had I even had the thought of doing so. Writing isn’t something you define. It’s just something you do!
Following this assignment, one of our first in-class activities was to create a key terms map . What is a key terms map, you ask? Great question. This map consists of
“key terms to explain what writing is, what writing does, and what writing is for.”
In WRD 103, we used these key terms maps to revise, add to, and enhance our previous beliefs about and definitions of writing. I chose to highlight the transformation that occurred between my very first and very last key terms maps. To be able to refer back to the headspace I was in when creating my original key terms map not only helps me to gage the progress I’ve made as a student and writer but it also allows me the opportunity to acknowledge that every writer has to start somewhere. One of the most important lessons that I’ve learned through the course of WRD 103 is that writing is a process, and when writing, it’s better to start somewhere, no matter how rough, than no where.
Original Key Terms Map
Considering my lack of prior experience in defining what writing is, when approaching the creation of my initial key terms map, I decided to utilize the aforementioned ‘What is Writing’ reading response assignment as well as the reading that followed it. Little to my knowledge before, this first reading was especially imperative to the way that I approached this assignment. After realizing how truly difficult it can be to sum up the essence of writing, the reading not only provided a solid introduction to dissecting what writing truly is but it also offered a general guideline to follow for the rest of the quarter.
“What the reading did for me was it expanded my thinking.”
This quote from my first reading response assignment stuck out to me for that very reason. Sure, I had initial *very rough* thoughts about writing, which could have supported me through this key terms assignment. But, the reading enhanced my map because it addressed my initial thoughts about writing and then it took those thoughts, explored them further, and opened me up to new ways of looking at writing.
My map includes words such as ‘type of communication,’ ‘effective,’ ‘rooted in past experiences,’ and ‘threshold concept’. At the time, some of these definitions felt a bit foreign in regard to discussing their relevance to writing; however, from the reading, I was able to develop a pretty solid introductory understanding of what writing is at its core.
For instance, I never would have considered writing to be ‘effective’ or ‘rooted in past experiences,’ but when I took the time to consider what that actually means, it totally made sense. Writing cannot exist without either of those terms. Why write at all if it is not going to be effective? Writing is used to convey a message, and if it does not do just that, it is ineffective and therefore, it is considered unsuccessful communication.
At the same time, one cannot write without referring to past experiences. How could you? In order to be effective in your communication, you must know what you want to convey and how you want to convey that message. One can only do so by referring back to past experiences and assessing the best and most effective way to deliver the message. Once this has happened, they can then base their writing off of those experiences. All writing stems from a personal, past experience.
My biggest take away from this initial key terms map is the fact that there is so much more to writing than just writing in regard to communication. This really stuck with me probably because I’ve never looked at writing as anything but simply writing. I even found this thought crossing my mind many more times throughout the duration of this course. This assignment allowed me to open my mind to all of the possibilities that writing entails.
Change of Thought + Contributions
Looking back at the quarter, a lot happened between the creation of my original key terms map and the creation of the final one I recently developed. If I were to highlight one part of WRD 103 that contributed most to my change in thought about writing from beginning to end, it would be the assigned ‘Discourse community,’ and ‘Genre’ readings and their subsequent reading responses. These two concepts completely changed the way in which I thought about writing.
When assigned these passages, I remember becoming lost in the readings, which I can confidently say is not something that happens to me often, especially with textbook readings. For some reason, this one hit me differently. It was a weird sensation. Imagine discovering a completely new and eye-opening thought about something that you’ve been doing for nearly your whole life, something that you’ve put little to no thought into before.
I say this lightly, though. Nothing I learned from these readings was insanely profound or life-changing. It was more-so the fact that the readings broke down these seemingly new concepts, genre and Discourse, and showed me that these are things that I’ve ‘known’ my whole life, I’m just not actively conscious of it when it happens, which really blew my mind.
“Discourse is a form of life that integrates words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as glances, gestures, body positions and clothes.”
Previously, when I thought about speaking, I would define it as simply choosing a sequence of words to say out loud that would, hopefully, result in a cohesive sentence or statement; however, when broken down, communication is so much more than that. As this definition suggests, speaking and communicating goes much further than saying words. Body language, facial expressions, clothing all play a role in the messages we convey to the world, verbal or not. Again, this is obviously something that I am aware of, but I never would have thought that this fact would be relevant to an english class. I was so wrong. In order to understand writing fully, one must understand these social cues, the unwritten, nonverbal communication.
“Genre is a rhetorical action in response to a recurrent situation.”
When I read this, I realized how incredibly helpful it is to have a term, genre, to sum up the importance behind why certain things are written the way they are written in specific, recognizable formats. Not that this will be consciously on my mind every time I write in the future, but I think that it is an important idea to be aware of. Had I not learned this, sure, I still would be able to continue on as a writer, but with my knowledge of the term genre, I am able to explore my writing further and understand it on a deeper level.
I think that these readings were especially important in my change of thought from the beginning to the end of WRD 103 because they suggested that I consider the subconscious aspects of writing and communication as just as, if not more important than any verbal or written communication. It forced me to acknowledge these, not as something we do, but as something we do because it has purpose and meaning behind it. This has helped me to recognize the importance that writing truly carries. To call myself out, it is not something we just do.
November 2019 A.W. (After WRD 103)
Current Theory of Writing
After a quarter’s worth of dissecting many different aspects of writing, I was confident in my ability create a final key terms map. Further learning and understanding has led to the development and finalization of my current Theory of Writing.
To delve deeper into the details, much more than just reading assignments have contributed to this final masterpiece. In fact, though it was the reading assignments that initially introduced me to this knowledge, it was the transfer of knowledge from the homework to a final project that especially contributed to my overall understanding of what writing entails.
Seen above in my final key terms map, many of the same words from the original map can be found. I think it is important to note that no, this is not me being lazy and rushing through the assignment. If you can believe it, this was an intentional action carried out by none other than myself. The reason I decided to do so was actually to show how much my thoughts truly have changed since September; however this is apparent not in the change or progression of words, but in the meaning the words hold behind them.
Project #3, for instance, showed me that writing that is effective is so much more than simply conveying a certain message. When developing this staff homepage for Radio DePaul, I realized how much thought and consideration actually has to be put into creating something of this nature, as without careful thought, the composition would simply be ineffective. The most difficult part of this idea is the fact that so many implied or expected aspects of this genre are what make it a truly effective genre in the first place. By this, I mean that without the small, easy-to-look-over details like failing to include something as simple as the ‘Add Comment’ feature, the effectiveness of the writing is completely nullified. Without this minute detail, the homepage could be interpreted in a completely different way than I had intended for it to be interpreted. It’s the details like this, the things I could not have learned from a textbook or reading assignment, that have contributed to a deeper understanding of the word ‘effective’ in relation to writing, which can be said about all of the terms and phrases that I chose to include.
The Chicken or the Egg
What came first? A revised theory of writing to better account for my writing practices, or a shift in my writing practices to align with my theory of writing? Well, that’s an interesting question to put into perspective.
As I began the quarter, I definitely felt as though I had a solid idea of what my personal theory of writing looked like, but looking back, it didn’t necessarily align with my writing practices, as I found that I was not writing in the way that my theory of writing would suggest. To be frank, I never actually attempted to abide by the rules that I set for myself, which essentially deemed my writing ineffective. I realized that I had been coasting on the idea that I was following some internal set of rules to make myself feel better about the lack of effort I was putting into assignments. Aside from this obvious reason, it was definitely ineffective for another very important reason. Considering that I had never been taught the myriad of words and concepts associated with writing, my initial theory of writing was naturally wrong, simply because I did not possess the vocabulary to do so.
Now that I have a fresh (pun intended) perspective on the question, I can now confidently say that throughout the duration of this quarter, I have been given the tools to articulate what writing is, and I have settled on a final *for now* definition or set of key terms that make up my current theory of writing. That having been said, some of the ideas of best practices that I had in my head prior to WRD 103, the ones that were not necessarily implemented, actually, I found, align with the current theory I have concocted.
*The reason I say for now is the fact that a theory of writing should be a living, breathing theory, subject to change, adapting to the writer’s current needs. It is important to always keep your theory in check and assess how it aligns or doesn’t align with your writing practices and vice versa. I think that the most effective theory of writing is the one that works best for you, and that could mean that it changes quite often, but that’s okay.*
So, to answer the question, neither one came first. I’m sorry, it’s a copout answer, but it’s true. Previous as well as new writing practices have contributed to my ever-changing theory of writing, implying that there is too much overlap to crown one as the spark that started the fire.
And That’s a Wrap
Beyond WRD 103
As sad as it is, the time has come to say goodbye to WRD 103 and leave all of these skills behind. Wait…but why do that? Don’t worry, you can rest assured knowing that all of your hard work throughout the quarter was not for nothing. In fact, I am certain that I can seamlessly transfer the knowledge I gained this quarter not only to WRD 104 but also to essentially any and all writing situations to come. If you really think about it, no matter what writing you do, english class or not, inside of the class or outside of the class, the one thing writing has to be is effective. Lab reports, birthday cards, texts, Instagram posts, you name it. If it’s written, it’s gotta be effective, and this is something that extends far beyond the classroom. So, if you’re worried about learning a ton of stuff that you’ll ‘never use in the real world’ *cough, cough calculus,* chill out and look at the big picture. Writing, whether we acknowledge it or not, is such a huge part of our lives. It always has been, and it always will be. Simply put, WRD 103 is more than just an english class if you change your perspective to see the knowledge gained not as classroom knowledge but as everyday, common knowledge.
Epiphany
So… I have a secret. My high school english teachers, contrary to my belief, were actually not scheming to torture me and ruin my life completely. In fact, looking back, I realized that I was actually just uninformed about the way in which my brain approaches writing. I’ve always struggled with breaking down large tasks, and I don’t know about you, but I would place a five page, analytical essay under the ‘large task’ tab. Little did I want to admit, I usually had a plethora of ideas and thoughts regarding a paper topic, but I simply did not have the skills to effectively organize those thoughts in order to form one, cohesive paper, nor did I have the motivation to go through all of that work. Considering this difficult past, never would I ever in my wildest dreams have thought that I would utter these words, but after coming to terms with the way my brain processes information and gaining the tools necessary to work around that, I now find a lot of joy in writing. I’ve realized that this is all because of one simple truth about writing (hint: it’s the title of the last paragraph).
Writing is More Than Just Writing
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering: you told us your relationship with writing before WRD 103. What does that look like now? Well, I’m glad you asked. If I were to compare my current relationship with writing in a similar fashion, to that of a real life relationship, I would say it’s one of those relationships with that one friend that can only be maintained by really putting in the time and effort. Unlike other relationships that can naturally coast with out much work put into them, this relationship, which requires the most attention and hard work to maintain and is definitely difficult at times, is usually the type of relationship that pays off in ways you never could have imagined. In a similar way, writing requires time, commitment, maintenance, and hard work, but if you’re willing to follow through with all of these things, it can really pay off, trust me. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why writing is all about the process. In order to get the most from writing, you must abide by this. For me, it’s a matter of taking the time to flesh out the process to its fullest extent. In allowing myself the space to sit down with my thoughts, see them and organize them on paper, and subsequently outline, draft, and revise from there, I am able to be most effective in my efforts of conveying a certain message. Without doing so, I find myself lost in my thoughts, unsure of where to start, procrastinating until the night before, and rushing through a paper or assignment that I know could have been truly great had I given myself the time to make it great. So, if you take away nothing else, just remember that if you want to make strides towards being a more successful and effective writer, it’s all about the process.
“Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.” G. K. Nelson
