Journal #5
(Image: lots of gears turning together)
Writing while intimidating at times can be a simple and elegant process if executed and understood correctly. I typically approach writing tasks by identifying what I will be writing about. Then I make a plan on the structure and nature of the paper I'm writing. For example, deciding whether it's informative or argumentative. Once I got those two basic initial steps out of the way I can begin to write. The first thing I do is the inventive step or more commonly the brainstorming step where I gather my ideas about what I will write on. This can be done with simple bullet points or a word bubble chart. Then I move to the planning stage where I list the different topics I will write on in order and structure it in a sort of paragraph format so it will make it easier to simply expand on those ideas. Then I write my first draft of the assignment, this step is done with the knowledge that I will revise it later. So the margin for mistakes is going to be a lot higher than on the final draft. The next step is to revise the draft after it is written. This can be done by doing it on your own, however, this can lead to some parts being overlooked. Typically I will have a fellow student or friend give a quick scan of the paper or assignment to make sure I didn't miss anything. This is because I was the one who wrote the paper, so I am more likely to miss some mistakes as I was the person who made them in the first place. An outside perspective serves as a countermeasure to one’s internal writers’ bias and ensures that more mistakes are found and corrected. The last thing to be done is the editing stage. This is where I get into the nitty-gritty technicalities such as a missed spelled word or a missed comma. Grammarly is a huge help to identify such mistakes but it’s still good to read through another and time and check on some things it might have missed. I often find that Grammarly can make mistakes.
I found that the process described above and the writing process in the course are practically identical. This might be due to the fact that I have had some English teachers who taught this specific process but it is spot on. The writing process is critical for any person who is attempting to write. While it may seem that writing is free and can be anything you want there has to be some structure to it. Freedom in writing is an amazing thing however the process described simply gives you the stepping stones in which to walk. It is important to recognize this structure as helpful and not try to cut corners. In my experience, it only provides a disservice to the writing tasks that you complete.