THE "RECURSIVE" WRITING PROCESS

PRE-WRITING:

The first five steps, the pre-writing steps, are simultaneous to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the writer and the situation. Generally, the longer the paper is, the more clearly independent these steps will become.

1.) Analyzing the writing assignment: Before the writer can plan his paper, he must know for whom he is writing, what the length limitation is (such as in publication), what the conventions (based on the situation) of subject matter, style, and organization are.

2.) Searching for a paper idea: Starting from what she knows, the writer casts about until she feels she has something that will work in terms of the writing situation of the moment. Sometimes what she comes upon is no more than a feeling and at that one too indefinite, too uncertain to be called a purpose; really it will be something like a sense of direction, a feeling that if she starts writing along a certain line, something right will come into being. At other times she may get a sense of shape or form; she may have the beginning of her piece, or the end, or both; and the whole will grow from the part or parts. Sometimes the writer will have a notion or an idea--something that she wants to say, that she thinks others should hear or will want to. Generally speaking, what the writer doesn't have is material. And a writer writes by finding material that will somehow give reality to her feelings, her emotions, her ideas.

3.) Examining his knowledge or the selected topic for areas which may need investigation: The writer must now determine what information he will need to find before he can begin writing the paper; this is the step where he may choose to use an informal outline of a series of running notes on the subject to determine the gaps in his knowledge of the topic.

4.) Gathering information: The writer may gather all of the information for the paper from memory, but more often she will need to consult books or other people (interviews) to find the information she needs. Occasionally she may perform her own experiments as a source of information about a subject.

5.) Organizing the paper: The writer may do this formally or informally; he may write out his notes in a more or less formal outline of the paper, he may organize them in his head, or he may simply sort note cards into separate piles which he then arranges according to a predetermined plan. This plan may be taking shape simultaneously with the preceding two steps, particularly in the case of the short paper.

WRITING:

6.) Writing the paper: Some writers prefer to rush through this step, writing the rough draft as quickly as they can, to "get everything down on paper" while their flow of thought is uninterrupted. Others write the first draft more slowly, thus eliminating the need for as much rewriting as the first group has. Occasionally, one finds a writer who writes and rewrites as she goes, so that when she writes the last sentence or the first draft, her paper is finished. The last writer is rare, however, and is usually found only among the highly experienced writers; still, it may be the method that comes naturally to one or more students in class.

POST-WRITING:

7.) Revising the rough draft: Some writers revise as many as six or seven times before they are satisfied with the style, grammar, spelling, punctuation and minor details of organization. Revision is a time-consuming process; it is necessary to allow the paper to lie fallow after the first draft has been written and perhaps even after each of the revisions themselves. The writer needs time for reconsideration of the topic is he is going to be able to approach the revision with freshness.

8.) Copying and proof-reading the manuscript for typographical errors.

9.) Conferring with an editor: At this point professional writers usually submit their pieces to an editor or a group of editors and the finishing of the article becomes a collaborative effort. In the classroom the teacher may serve as editor. (Indeed this may be the teacher's only proper function.)

SOURCE: Dr. John Banschbach, MSU-Mankato (1994)