Writing, what is writing? How do you write, why do you write? All valid questions, but I am here to discuss the writing process I use. In the Spandel text from chapter five, Spandel quotes Stephen King and says he writes roughly 2000 words a day, which is about 10 pages. I do not do that, I am not a mad man, but I do try to write everyday. The writing could be in my journal, on Letterboxd after I watch a movie, doing homework, or if I am feeling real crazy I will write a letter. The letter is a bit strange. I write a letter to my future self in the back of my journal. The front is dark and gloomy, full of strange emotions and foggy rants, and the back is motivative and goal-oriented. When they meet in the middle, I have no idea what will happen, maybe a black hole will form.
Writing for me is a dump of words, phrases, thoughts, and language. I dump ideas on a page and keep writing until I am out of ideas. This is how I form my "body paragraphs" then I leave it how it is for a day. I come back and look upon my creation in horror. I then create my outline based on what works for me and discard what I do not like about my piece. After the outline, I revise the "body paragraphs" and after will write a super rough introduction. Sometimes I write my thesis statement before my conclusion, but most of the time I write it afterwards when my ideas are fully developed. Finally, I write the conclusion by linking the main points of the from the body back to the introduction/thesis. This ultimately leads to more revising.
My process if based on a go with the flow type model. I will be writing and have a beautifully crafted idea going, then an idea will strike me and I generate a new idea followed by an evaluation of the new idea. My track and rhythm from what I was previously writing is gone. Until, I remember what it is in the middle of the night. I have a scattered brain and when a lightbulb goes off, I take advantage and have to write it down right away.
When writing in multimodal settings, my process is sort of the same thing. I write and write then revise as I go. I also tend to draw inspiration from publishers like The Onion and Clickhole. In multimodal spaces, those two sites have great satirical articles about pop culture, politics, and economics. Every time the articles will be false for laughs and older generations do not understand it. They leave nasty comments about media literacy and how this whole article is fake?! It is ridiculously great.
Something from the reading that will stick with me like glue was from Spandel's chapter saying "You need to create a lot of garbage to get at the heart of it - the real message, the thing you want most to say, the voice that is really you," (p. 68).
Hey Eli!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I like how you brought up writing in your journal. As well as the different uses you have for parts of your journal- very interesting. I used to keep a journal but stopped, I definitely am considering beginning one again so I can look back on it when I am older. Dumping ideas is a strategy I use as well, I often just let the writing go wherever my thoughts are, and the revise it afterward.
I think it's super funny that you like the Onion. I remember when my Mom showed me that as a kid...I thought it was awesome! But anyway, as someone whose writing process is also a little random, I think mentor texts are super valuable. Being able to structure and model a logic or perspective and build off it can be more valuable than a stage model tract. My best writing usually imitates a master.
ReplyDeleteHi, Eli!
ReplyDeleteI love this post. "I come back and look upon my creation in horror." That is my exact experience put into words. I think if someone looked into either my notebook or my notes app the days leading up to a writing assignment being submitted, they would be scared too. There's a lot of nothing and a whole lot of everything combined. I have heard of the sites you listed, but never explored them. I think I will do that now.
Hi Eli, I can relate very closely to dumping words onto a page and then forming my body paragraphs based on the word dump. Glad to see I am not the only one that does this. I also like your quote from page 68 of Spandel, because I think people often forget that to get to the best outcome, you need to sort through all the negative components/roadblocks.
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