Project 1: First Draft

Jackie Marschke

Professor Werner           

English 213

2/4/13

Project 1: What’s Your Process?

Before college, writing was never my favorite thing. This was probably because I hadn’t found an effective writing process for myself yet. But as I was challenged by the expectations of the college classroom, I found a process that works, and one that taught me to love writing. My process is very distinct: from the space in which I work to the ways in which I revise, conditions have to be perfect for me to create strong writing pieces.

Before I can even think about beginning to write, I need to be in an environment that is conducive to focused energy and productivity. I always get very distracted when I try to do work at home (and now, my dorm). But I discovered that a coffee shop environment is the best place for me to get quality work done. At school, the Kletz or Cup & Chaucer are the ideal productivity spots for me (when I don’t want to walk all the way out to Lemonjello’s or JP’s). Having all of these wonderful coffee shops nearby gives me options and I often end up going on a little adventure to find the best spot on a given day; whichever fits my mood at the time is the place I need to be. And of course, with a coffee shop comes coffee. I need my coffee. I can’t get any quality work done without it. When I’m settled at the perfect table, laptop open and coffee in hand, I click open Pandora Radio and set it to my Celtic Music Station. This may seem like a random music choice (in fact, my friends tend to poke fun at me for it), but I grew up listening to Celtic music and it brings me comfort and contentment every time I hear it. The similar instrumental rhythmic beat of each song is less distracting than the wide variety of lyrical pop songs the Taylor Swift Station plays. Once all of this is in place, I am ready to begin.

My next step is to assess the rubric I have been given. Each piece of academic writing is different and every professor has different expectations for their assignments. This may be an obvious fact of the academic setting, but these differing expectations greatly affect the direction in which my essays will go. Discerning what is expected of me gives me a springboard to go off of, allowing me to discover the perfect balance of my own voice with a rhetorical position that will give me a strong piece to answer the assignment.

            After consulting the rubric and deciding which direction to take my piece, I write out an outline. An outline is the backbone of each of my pieces, and I have a very distinct way about creating it. My outline notes have to be written in light blue ink (which helps me keep my notes separate from my rhetoric, in black). My outline and my essay also always begin on the same document; I delete my outline notes as I form the actual piece. In this way, I see my outline become a completed work with more immediate satisfaction than if I wrote it on a separate document. This allows me to get all my ideas out on the page before I hone in on specifics. It also helps with the immediacy of my thought process: often when I write, I will get an idea that might fit better later on in the piece. Instead of stopping in the middle of my current thought or trying to remember my new idea while I’m focusing another, I can just take a moment to jot down a quick blue note somewhere on my page to come back to later. That way, I don’t forget ideas that could potentially strengthen my writing. My notes are my inspiration. Sometimes just a word or phrase I jot down can trigger a whole paragraph for me; sometimes I can formulate the flow of whole sentences in blue notes. It is especially exciting for me when an outline note is eloquent enough to simply copy and paste where it fits and automatically change it from blue to black.

            When I begin to write actual rhetoric, my meticulous outlining becomes my life saver because that blue-to-black transition can be difficult for me depending on the topic and how invested I am in that topic. With my thoughts all laid out on the page, I can easily create flow as I string them all together. Sometimes as I write, the flow of my piece changes from what I originally jotted down. But this rarely discourages me. In fact, I get quite excited when I can take a blue note and copy and paste it in to a new section of my paper where it fits better (or even when I can delete notes to create stronger ideas). I write paragraph by paragraph, and not always in order. I tend to skip around, writing a paragraph for a point that will come later in my essay and going back to my earlier points afterward; this all depends on which thoughts come to me first or which are more exciting for me to write about. I also usually have to write in chunks. I generally can get in a good two to three hours of solid work in before I get overwhelmed or distracted; once I hit that mark, my argument easily starts to become weak and my language sloppy. If I don’t finish an essay within that time frame (which is usually the case) I have to put it aside and then come back to it later that day, or even the next day when I am more refreshed.

            Once I complete a draft, I read it over myself to make sure I have written all that I needed to. I tend to do this read-through aloud, to make sure that my ideas transferred to paper in a clean and understandable fashion. If some thoughts seem unfinished (or even too lengthy), I make revisions and then edit my grammar. Once I am satisfied with the draft, I print off a copy for my friend to edit. Taylor Ann is an English Major and would like to be an editor; she gives great notes. I tell her to “tear it apart,” allowing her to give me notes that will challenge my argument. Then I make corrections and adjustments based on how I want my paper to flow. Taylor Ann and I have an understanding that I might not take all of her notes if I don’t think they will benefit my argument (after all, a writer has to establish their own voice). In this way, I can create a stronger piece.

I use this writing process, not only for academic essays, but for other writing projects as well. I keep a blog about all my experiences in the theatre, and I experiment with playwriting and storytelling. Every time I start a new blog post or script, I begin with this same process. I sometimes even find myself going through this process when I write emails! Now that I discovered a process that works, I really do love writing. I always want my work to be something I can be proud of, and my process has given me that opportunity. As tedious and meticulous it may seem, I really do rely on it. This process has allowed me to discover the type of writer that I am and through it I have created some of my favorite pieces.