Discovering Your Writing Process (Revised)

I would consider myself a heavy planner with a hint of procrastination. Depending on how much other homework I have, how much I'm working, and other general circumstances, I sometimes fall a bit more on the procrastination side. I'm more successful sitting down for a few hours and writing than splitting up the draft over a few days or weeks. While I attempt to write my draft earlier, I often start the Sunday before. That said, by this point I have already heavily planned my ideas, examples, and writing, so the actual draft does not take as long to write and is very near its final form.

Over the semester, I have gotten busier and therefore have become more of a procrastinator. However, I have tried to incorporate more of a revision process into my writing to combat the effects of procrastination. By still heavily planning my essay and leaving time for the revision process, I hope to still produce a well-written and effective essay despite my tendencies to procrastinate.

In the process of writing our second essay, a rhetorical analysis of a visual work, I developed my skills dramatically in considering the rhetorical context of a work to analyze the effectiveness. Although we also worked on this concept in the QRG, I really didn't apply this until the rhetorical analysis. After gaining this skill, I applied my knowledge in my public argument to consider my audience, the context, and what rhetorical strategies will be most effective.

My writing process first begins with identifying my audience, occasion, and purpose by writing a SOAPSTone. After that, I develop my ideas by making an outline and doing necessary research. Then, I construct a first draft that is very well developed; after making minor revisions and edits I am finished with my essay. This process stays mostly constant but the elements of my SOAPSTone and research vary with the project. Before this class, I never considered the rhetorical situation, but now that I do, my essays are much more effective.

This semester I did try to spend more time on the revision process and outlining. We used a variety of prewriting strategies, SOAPSTone, observation/inference charts, and outlines, that dramatically improved the content and organization of my essays. I also learned different revision strategies which improved my language and conventions. Overall, the skills I've learned this semester furthered my proficiency in writing and taught me how to become and more effective writer.

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