Applying Writing Process Knowledge to Writing

What does it mean to have writing process knowledge?

• Knowledge of how to get discipline-specific writing tasks accomplished
• Understanding the thinking processes in composing and phases of writing projects (Beaufort 221)

Why as a writer should you care about writing process knowledge? Developing and making time for the writing process will help you have a quality finished product—and preserve your sleep. As you go through your college classes, you will probably find that your writing assignments will grow increasingly complex and demanding. Experiment now as you are just beginning your college career what writing processes work best for you and for what kinds of writing tasks. Take advantage of the opportunity to practice and engage in the writing process in your composition class(es). Then, even in your other classes where the writing process is probably not built into the course, still use that process. For example, even though you may not be assigned a first draft, one week to a few days before the deadline of a writing project, take a draft to the Writing Center or your instructor for feedback, and then use that feedback and your own process of re-seeing your draft to revise and edit.

Prewriting for Writing Process Knowledge

• What familiar process strategies will be effective for this assignment?
• Which might not work well for this assignment?
• What is new in the process for this assignment and how will I handle this? For example, is this an individual or collaborative project? Does it require research?

When writing process knowledge gets messy. . . . I hope you’ve already realized that the writing process is messy. It is not a formula, not a series of linear steps to complete. With their eloquent and polished final writing products, professional writers’ published works make the process of writing look like an easy and solitary effort. In reality, days, months, even years of thinking, researching, drafting, and revising—with a team’s worth of critical feedback—lead up to each published piece of writing. What might be especially challenging for you as a student is that you don’t have that kind of time. You might feel as though you don’t have much time to devote to the writing process, and you just want to get the assignment done. Still, that recursive writing process is the key to a quality product, so it’s better to not procrastinate and get started.

In addition, as a student you might also find yourself wishing that your instructor would just answer your central question: Exactly what do you want me to write? This reading from Open English @ SLCC explains why we writing instructors can’t answer that question—why writing doesn’t work that way. “It depends,” we say, and you get so frustrated—sorry!