Writing is an art form from any angle that you examine it. Some people write elegant sonnets, while others write scientific articles. Yet the unifying idea that connects these varying compositions is that there is always someone behind the written text. Every writing process is both physical and cognitive, and everyone has their own unique way of producing quality work. Over the last four years in high school, I was the Editor-In-Chief of my school newspaper, The Patriot and my school’s literary magazine, Pieces. Both writing styles were on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
One required me to be concise, accurate, and well-rounded while the other needed to be bursting with colorful word choice, imagery, and emotion. Being in these two positions showed me the diversity that exists in writing. For the sake of this essay, I’ll describe my journalistic process and compare my writing style to Anne Lamott, Douglas Downs, and Jonathan Beer. Building off of that note, being the Editor-In-Chief rewired the way my brain thinks. After years of studying the journalistic approach, my writing style often shifts to it even in normal academic writing.
I write as quickly and efficiently as possible, and I have no set routine. When writing so much and so frequently, I learned to adapt myself to various situations and force myself to work through it, so now I can usually write whenever and wherever I can. Like every other writer, I take my writing word by word. I’m only human, and I often get stuck on figuring out what I want to say or how I want to say it. My first draft is rarely perfect, and most of the time I end up rearranging, rephrasing and reorganizing it several times before turning it in. Typically, I strive to finish writing an essay in one sitting and I allow myself up to three days to critique it. During this stage of my writing process, I try to minimize my cell phone use. Although I should probably completely turn it off, I don’t, and I usually just place it face down next to me. I set small goals for myself before I’m able to use it again.
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For example, I make sure to finish 2/3 of my body paragraphs, and I then I’ll take a 5- 10-minute break. During this time, I try to get up and stretch my legs, maybe get a snack, or just watch a stupid YouTube video to give my brain a short rest before powering through the rest of an essay. Most of the time this works for me, but sometimes I really get distracted and it’s hard for me to refocus back on a boring subject. If that happens, sometimes I work on another assignment and try to get back to later. Regardless, I’ve always believed that revision was a crucial necessity for producing quality work. Sometimes the first draft is terrible, so I make sure to reread everything several times before being confident with it.
When I finish writing a piece and have reread it, I usually sleep on it and look it over the next day. This way helps me establish whether I’m using the right word choice or if my thoughts are portrayed clearly. Also, I often think of new ideas or phrases that I want to add to my article, so at this stage, I usually make sure to incorporate them into my essay. Most importantly, I have to read every essay out loud to make sure that it flows eloquently. If I think it sounds good, I usually run it over with a trusted friend or family member and consider their critics. By taking this strategy, I’m able to test out what effect my words have on others and if I’m getting my intended message across. Similarly, I think everyone has a different writing style.
American novelist and non-fiction writer, Anne Lamott goes in-depth describes her writing method in “Shitty First Drafts”. In 1994, her novel, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life depicts her struggles of overcoming writer’s block and just writing a shitty first draft. Moreover, Lamott’s main purpose in this piece is to discuss how to capture the best product of one’s writing through letting lose and writing a shitty first draft. Lamott explains her method by, “Just get it all down on paper because there may be something great in those six crazy pages that you would never have gotten to by more rational, grown up means” (Lamott 1994). The free-spirited writer continues to add that not even the best writers write good first drafts, and she persuades other writers to simply start writing because great things will come of it. Lamott’s comedic tone entertains readers while also relating to the elementary struggle of overcoming difficulties when being at a loss for words and not knowing where to begin.
Lamott’s antithesis is Douglas Downs, writer of “Revision is Central to Developing Writing” which was published in Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle in June 2015. In “Revision is Central to Developing Writing”, Downs discusses the importance of revising and building time into the writing process for better quality work. “In the same way that writing is not perfectible, writing also is not in the category of things that are often right the first time,” (Downs 2015). Downs believes the concept that writing is always of better quality the more effort you put into it. Next, he informs readers that revising their writing will often bring them new perspectives and ideas that they lacked prior to the conception of their piece. “Revision works because writing shares a characteristic of other language-based endeavors: using language not only represents one’s existing idea, it tends to generate additional language and ideas,” (Downs 2015).
Clearly, this quotation explains that when one revises they are able to generate new ideas to contribute to their work. Lastly, he advocates the need for revision by promoting the idea that writers who revise are vivid indicators of skilled, mature, professional writers. This text is meant for the general writer, yet with the collegiate tone Downs takes it feels as if he is speaking directly to students, professors, and other policymakers alike. Lastly, Jonathan Beer takes his audience on a visual spectacular as he explains his “Writing Process Animation”. This video was retrieved from Youtube.com and was published on June 2, 2011.
In this video, Beer briefly describes his past career of being a programmer, and he explains how he used his writing skills to strengthen his communication with his co-workers, bosses, and clients. In this animation, he continues to inspire his viewers with his excellent communication skills. He also entertains his viewers with his concept on the importance of keeping an organized outline to discover the best outcomes in ones writing. He illustrates his writing process and shares his story to help inspire others to take certain actions to be the best writer that they possibly can be.
Another crucial topic that Beer tackles is the importance of setting goals for oneself. He urges his viewers to set goals that are still attainable yet challenging to keep them focused, interested, and eager for improvement. Beer shares how he channels his best work through specific disciplines such as limiting his electronic distractions, and in which atmospheres he writes his best. Clearly, Beer finds his success through a strict, organized outline and guidelines he sets for himself to be his best. In all three of these documents, all of the authors advocate the importance of revision. Lamott writes a shitty first draft, goes on various tangents, and later goes back and tones down her work for the final installment. Lamott holds nothing back, and simply gets whatever pops into her mind down on paper.
Meanwhile, Downs advocates that the more work one puts into their piece, the better it will become. He also stresses that revision shows maturity in the writer’s skill, and they will have better ideas the more they examine their piece. Lastly, Beer goes through a meticulous routine while writing his first draft, and still makes time to go back, grade himself against a rubric, and has an extra set of eyes read over his finished product.
All in all, it is evident that good writing must be looked back upon several times before it can be finalized. Out of all three of these varying techniques, I can correlate my own writing style to that of Lamott. I believe that her idea of writing a shitty first draft is helpful. There have been quite a few times where I’ve been at a loss for words and genuinely have had no idea where to start. By just letting loose and letting the creative energy fly, I can see where her success originates. I believe that this writing process works the best for me, but if I were to improve my style, I would strive to be more like Beer. I often find myself getting distracted by technology, and I think by having a strict written outline like his would definitely help me buckle down and write more efficiently. In high school, I simply didn’t have the luxury to pick where I wanted to write. I had to adapt and find ways to write and think of ideas while doing several other tasks.
Now that I’m in college, I might try and mold myself into a more educated writer, and actually, have a plan instead of just sitting down and typing. All in all, after analyzing these texts I found the prominent message to be that revision is the key to success. In the future, I hope to become a more educated writer and as a result I plan on incorporating various revision techniques into my writing.
References
- Beer, J. (2011, June 2). Writing Process Animation. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1pnpL8295E.
- Downs, D. (2015). Revision is Central to Developing Writing. In L. Adler-Kassner and E Wardle (Ed.), Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts in Writing Studies (pp. 66-67). Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.
- Lamott, A. Shitty First Drafts. In P. Eschholz, A Rosa, and V. Clark (Eds). Language Awareness: Readings for College 9th ed (pp93-96). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s. Retrieved from https://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf.
