Definition:
The series of overlapping steps that most writers follow in producing texts. See also:
- The Writing Process
- Discovery Strategies
- Invention
- Freewriting
- Writing With Lists
- Brainstorming
- Drafting
- Revision
- Editing
- Proofreading
Observations:
- "A watchword of much recent composition theory is 'process': teachers are warned against concentrating on papers as products and invited to engage with papers as part of the writing process. . . .
"Teachers interested in the writing process may turn their classes into writing workshops in which commentary on papers is designed to spark an ongoing process of revision. In at least one influential model, this workshop atmosphere follows from the belief that students already know how to express themselves, that writing is based on an innate competence for expression."
(Harry E. Shaw, "Responding to Student Essays," Teaching Prose: A Guide for Writing Instructors, edited by K.V. Bogel and K. K. Gottschalk, Norton, 1984) - "The open-ended writing process may lead to successive versions of a short piece of writing as it goes through various stages or transformations: you end up keeping what is in effect the 'last version' and throwing away all the previous ones--that is, throwing away 95 percent of what you have written."
(Peter Elbow, Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process, Oxford University Press, 1998) - "The stages of the writing process should not be thought of as lockstep and linear; rather, the stages are fluid and recursive . . .. In other words, during any stage of the writing process, students may engage mental processes in a previous or successive stage."
(Adriana L. Medina, "The Parallel Bar: Writing Assessment and Instruction," in Reading Assessment and Instruction for All Learners, edited by Jeanne Shay Schumm, Guilford Press, 2006)
Also Known As: composing process
