At the start of this semester, we read Tompkins’ (2019) chapter on the writing process, where I was more formally introduced to the stages of the writing process. I was familiar with writing workshop because of my previous experience in schools. There were times when I was observing in some classrooms where the teacher had the stages of the writing process posted on a clip chart where students would put there clip on whichever stage of the writing process they were currently in. However, I cannot recall learning the 5 stages of the writing process or using all of the stages of the writing process during writing while growing up. What I mostly remember from writing at a young age is writing a piece from start to finish, and then drawing a picture that went along with writing. I do not recall ever going back to the first copy and going through all of the stages of the writing process.
The genre pieces project has challenged me greatly. I have loved being able to write about a topic that is of high interest to me, that aspect of the project has made this project much more enjoyable. I decided to have my topic be about the Girl Scouts of America Organization. I have such a strong passion and love for the organization, which is why it is the perfect topic for me to take time diving in deep with on three different genres pieces. I have been able to create three different pieces, all of which have a unique voice, purpose, and primary audience.
While I have been having a lot of fun with this project, it has really challenged me as a writer in several different ways. Like I talked about earlier, when writing I typically just dive right into the piece, I typically skip over the prewriting stage because I get so excited to start writing. I don’t normally just take the time to think about the topic and write down everything and anything that comes to mind. Now, I have learned to take time to consider the topic I am writing about while I organize my ideas. I now consider the potential audience who might be reading my piece and my purpose for the piece. The last step in the prewriting stage that I never considered was deciding on the appropriate genre for my piece. Now, that I have learned all through Tompkins (2019) the importance of the prewriting stage, I make sure to take time during this stage.
The other two stages that Tompkins’ (2019), which I typically neglect, is the editing and revising stages. Typically, I complete a writing piece or a writing assignment, run the piece through spell check and a program called Grammarly, and then I am done with the writing piece. I am ashamed of even admitting this, but I don’t always reread my writing pieces. I simply use spell check and leave it at that. Now that it is a requirement to show proof of all stages of the writing process, I have been challenged to engage with each of the stages. It has pushed me to become a better writer. I am grateful for the challenge this project has given me.
References
Tompkins, G.E., & Jones, P. D. (2019). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product (7th ed.). NY, NY: Pearson.
Kristina, you provide a useful summary here of how you are using these stages, but it would have be great to hear you dig a little deeper. I almost wish you had started this entry with your third to last line "Now that I have to show proof of all stages, I have been challenged to engage....this has pushed me to become a better writer." As you think about your actual writing process for one of your pieces, what aspects have been hard? What are the new strategies you have developed to assist you?
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