Process Writing

Libby Dulski

Process Writing 

11/19/16

          I have had the same process for writing since the beginning of high school. First, I usually think about what I am going to be writing about. Then, after coming up with some sort of concrete idea, I will talk with a friend about what I want to write. Talking to a friend allows me to brainstorm ideas; the friend often has good ideas as well that help spark ideas of my own. I found that the best ideas for writing often result from talking to friends; in high school I often talked to my mother about writing prompts which was also helpful. Here, I usually talk to my suite mates or boyfriend about writing prompts. After producing a concrete topic that I feel confident about, I start writing. I write anything that comes to mind, the first draft I write is usually all over the place and has terrible grammatical structures and spelling, but this doesn’t matter as it is a rough draft of scattered ideas. Once a rough draft is completed, I create a new word document and start over, using the pieces from the draft that I like. Most often, will print out this copy and mark it up by hand circling and underlining the information that I want to use in a final draft. From there, it’s all about editing and re-reading over and over. I discovered this process from years of writing. My sophomore year of high school I had an amazing English teacher that improved my writing techniques significantly; that was the year I started discussing my writing assignments with peers which helped create ideas for me. 

          I get frustrated with my writing when I do not feel a connection to my piece. I find that when I am not inspired to write my work does not turn out the way I want it to. For example, when I first started writing my Perfect Meal piece I was thoroughly uninspired by my first rough draft; it lacked character and depth. It lacked dialogue, sensory detail, and simply listed things in chronological order. When I do get frustrated, I find that I must walk away from the work and return to it later. After clearing my head, I find that I can get back to work and write a much better draft that I feel a connection to. 

          One particular breakthrough that I achieved this quarter was when I realized that I cannot assume that the readers know everything I know: It is important to include details like location, physical descriptions, sensory details, time, and setting. Readers’ comments were helping in this department as I would often forget to include where a story was located and a reader would comment this and I would immediately realize that I had assumed the reader would know (which is silly because how could the reader know?) 

          On the other hand, sometimes I would not take the readers’ comments into account. If a reader does not understand something or wants something to be clearer, then of course I will improve my writing to make it clearer. However, if a reader wants me to change something that would alter the overall significance of the piece or would change the tone of the piece that I did not like, then I would not listen to the reader. I do not usually receive comments that’s say to drastically change the piece; however, when I do I tend to examine my piece carefully really thinking about if I need to change my entire piece. I find that comments that ask to clarify details are the comments I receive the most from readers which are very helpful. 

          Writing for this course taught me that I really love to use sensory details in my writing. I also love to use in-depth detail and slow down scenes when writing. I also learned that I will probably never be a vegetarian or vegan. Even after reading countless pages about the slaughtering of animals in horrible ways, I still found myself eating chicken or craving a juicy burger just hours after reading. I know that the purpose of those readings was to make the reader more aware and not to necessarily turn the reader away from meat itself. I would definitely say I am more aware of the meat industry, but I will probably continue to eat meat, but I will try to be more aware of where my meat and food comes from. I am glad I took this class because I love English and I love writing. Taking this class has made me realize just how much I love writing and how much I want to continue taking courses that involve writing. That is why I am taking Arts Journalism in the winter!