The Writing Process: Drafting | Rhetoric & Composition | Study Hall
Summary
TLDRLearning a new language or writing can be challenging but rewarding. Drafting is a crucial step in the writing process, but it’s not the entire process. It’s about translating ideas into text while remaining open to change. Drafting often overlaps with other stages like planning, revising, and editing. Dr. Emily Zarka explains that drafts are provisional, allowing for multiple versions before reaching the final product. Through examples, she highlights how drafting is an evolving process that helps refine ideas and achieve writing goals, encouraging flexibility and persistence.
Takeaways
- 📝 Drafting is a key part of the writing process, but it’s just one step among others like invention, planning, revising, and editing.
- 🤔 Thinking of drafting as a separate phase from writing reduces pressure to make every word perfect from the start.
- 💡 Drafting brings ideas from planning into a text form, but it’s open to change and refinement as you progress.
- 📚 Writing happens in various environments, from word processors to specialized software, and even voice-to-text tools can assist.
- 🔄 The writing process is non-linear, with drafting intersecting invention, planning, revising, and editing at different stages.
- 🛠 Experimenting with different drafting strategies, like disconnecting from distractions or more thorough planning, can lead to better results.
- 🖋 Drafts are provisional, meaning they can and should be refined as new information or requirements come up.
- 🔍 Drafting can involve jumping around between different sections, not necessarily writing in a straight line from start to finish.
- 📏 Feedback and revisions may require going back to earlier stages of the process, but this is part of refining and improving the draft.
- ✅ The mindset of creating multiple drafts, rather than viewing each draft as a final product, fosters improvement and flexibility.
Q & A
What makes learning a new language challenging?
-Learning a new language is challenging because it involves not only mastering new words and grammar, but also understanding slang and cultural nuances that may not translate directly.
Why do English speakers use metaphors like 'get down to business'?
-English speakers use metaphors like 'get down to business' because the transition from thinking about doing something to actually taking action is considered a significant moment. These metaphors emphasize the importance of starting the task at hand.
What is the difference between drafting and the entire writing process?
-Drafting is just one step in the writing process. It involves transforming ideas and planning into text, but it is not the final product. Other steps like invention, revising, and editing also contribute to the final piece.
How can reframing the writing process as 'drafting' help reduce pressure?
-Reframing the writing process as 'drafting' reminds us that every word doesn't have to be perfect from the start. It allows writers to focus on progress rather than perfection, reducing the pressure of writing a flawless first draft.
What are some techniques that can make drafting more efficient?
-Efficient drafting techniques include writing a draft quickly without second-guessing, jumping around in the text to work on the clearest parts first, and incorporating some light editing as you go.
How has technology improved accessibility in drafting?
-Technology has made drafting more accessible through tools like voice-to-text software, which can help those who struggle with traditional typing. Drafting can also occur in various digital environments like word processors or even movie editing software.
Why is it important to see drafts as 'provisional'?
-Drafts are provisional, meaning they are open to change. This mindset encourages experimentation and helps writers view their work as a process of continuous improvement rather than a one-shot effort.
What should a writer do when receiving feedback on a draft?
-When receiving feedback, writers should retrace their steps to determine if minor tweaks are sufficient or if more significant revisions, including new plans or drafts, are needed to meet the goals of the project.
How can the drafting process be non-linear?
-The drafting process is often non-linear because writers may switch between invention, planning, drafting, revising, and editing. Writers might go back to earlier stages when refining their drafts or responding to feedback.
How does Gemma's bio-writing process illustrate the flexibility of drafting?
-Gemma's process of writing a bio shows the flexibility of drafting because, after receiving feedback, she had to revise her original draft to fit the new requirements. Her first draft wasn't wasted, as it provided the necessary information for her revised, shorter bio.
Outlines
🧠 The Challenges and Rewards of Learning a New Language
This paragraph explores the complexities of learning a new language, focusing on how different places and groups have their own slang that can be difficult to translate. It uses English phrases like 'get down to business' to explain how metaphors are often used when discussing the transition from planning to action. Writing is presented as a similar process that involves a blend of imagination, research, and physical act. The paragraph emphasizes the non-linear nature of writing, with blurry lines between planning, drafting, and editing.
✍️ Drafting: A Key Step in the Writing Process
Here, the concept of drafting is clarified, stressing that it's only one step in the writing process. Writers often confuse drafting with the entire act of writing, but acknowledging it as just a part can alleviate pressure. Drafting transforms planned ideas into text, with room for refinement later. The paragraph introduces the idea that drafting can be iterative and less about perfection, encouraging writers to be flexible as they move towards their final product.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Drafting
💡Invention and Planning
💡Revision and Editing
💡Metaphor
💡Non-linear Process
💡Provisional
💡Critical Feedback
💡Writing Environment
💡Spontaneity
💡Invention Strategy
Highlights
Learning a new language involves not only words and grammar but also understanding slang unique to different regions and groups.
Metaphors are often used to describe the transition from planning to taking action, reflecting how pivotal this moment is.
Writing is a complex process that goes beyond the physical act of putting words on paper; it involves imagination, research, and drafting.
Drafting is not the entire writing process, but just one step in creating a piece of work.
Thinking of drafting as part of the process relieves pressure, allowing the writer to focus on getting ideas down without worrying about perfection.
Drafting is where invention and planning take text form, creating a foundation that can be refined later.
The process of drafting can be fluid, where writers often move back and forth between planning, writing, and revising.
Students can experiment with various drafting strategies, such as using voice-to-text software, jumping between sections, or refining during writing.
Drafts are provisional and subject to change, emphasizing the iterative nature of writing.
Gemma’s example of writing a bio illustrates how a first draft, while not final, helps refine ideas and work toward a specific goal.
Revisions might require significant changes, including rethinking the invention or planning phases to create a more fitting draft.
Even if a draft doesn't meet its intended purpose, the work can be valuable for future projects.
Drafting helps writers learn and improve by retracing steps and making necessary revisions to achieve their goals.
Framing writing as drafting rather than a single, definitive version reduces the fear of failure and encourages experimentation.
Drafts are about progress, not perfection, and the willingness to revise and change leads to better writing outcomes.
Transcripts
Learning a new language
is a really rewarding but challenging experience, right?
Like not only are you learning new words and grammar,
but then every place or even groups of people
have their own slang that might not translate very clearly.
Like, just think about how many phrases we have in English
to talk about getting something done.
Maybe you've heard people say stuff like
let's get down to business or get down to brass tacks.
They don't really mean that you should launch a corporation
or finish upholstering a chair with some brass pins.
It's just a way to say, let's do this.
Part of why we use a lot of metaphors
when it comes to getting stuff done
is that the point between thinking and planning something
and actually doing the thing is a significant milestone.
And so even though some of us English speakers
like to focus on this momentous moment
when action starts happening, writing can be a lot messier.
Like, the physical act of typing
or putting pen on paper is writing,
but writing also refers to
the entire imaginative research and creation process
of written communication.
And depending on how you want to work,
the lines between the thoughtful planning stages,
the putting words on paper stages,
and the finalizing stages can be kind of blurry.
But thinking about
how we turn our preliminary ideas into actual writing
can still help us prepare
for the real and sometimes messy work of getting going,
getting off the ground, and getting rolling.
Let's get the show on the road
and learn more about drafting.
Hi, I'm Dr. Emily Zarka,
and welcome to Study Hall Rhetoric & Composition.
So let's start with what drafting is not.
Though it can feel like a pretty significant phase,
drafting is not the entire writing process.
It's just one step.
And when writers think drafting equals writing,
they discount all the other steps
that help us create our best writing,
starting with invention and planning
and wrapping up with revising and editing.
And recognizing that drafting is just part of writing
can actually be kind of freeing.
Like if we tell ourselves,
I'm drafting my paper tonight rather than,
I'm writing my paper tonight,
we're reminded that every word doesn't have to be perfect
and there's not so much pressure.
Instead, think of drafting as the phase
where your invention and planning get put into a text form.
It's open to change,
but it's also moving you toward the final product.
It's based on your plan,
but it's also something that can be refined later.
So let's think through what drafting really looks like.
For me, when I'm writing a script or an essay,
I'm usually sitting at a computer,
typing and retyping sentences,
clicking over to my sources for inspiration,
and rereading any other materials.
That's a pretty complex experience.
And in 2022, drafting can happen
in all kinds of digital environments,
like a word processor document,
but also in a movie editing software
or in a specialized program
for creating screenplays or digital games
or so many other things.
Accessibility tools have made drafting
in a way that works for your brain even more possible.
Many students discover
that after struggling with keyboard input writing,
they're able to flourish
by speaking their sentences into voice-to-text software.
And with such a complicated experience,
it's pretty likely that, realistically,
we don't fully separate drafting from invention and planning
or from revising and editing.
We'll talk more about it
in a specific episode on drafting techniques.
But part of invention could be drafting a complete draft
but doing it quickly without a lot of second-guessing.
Other techniques that also yield drafted work
can include jumping around in the text,
writing things like the core part of the paper
before writing the introduction
in order to work on what is most clear in your mind first.
And we'll often do at least some editing as we go,
as you'll note if you ever click the backspace key
to correct a typo right after it occurs.
We still benefit from a big-picture reread
when a draft is fairly complete.
But you'll notice that
lots of your individual moments of drafting
are spontaneous hops and skips between all the stages:
invention, planning, drafting, revising, and editing.
Figuring out the exact strategies for drafting
that work for you starts with understanding
what drafting is, but it continues to develop over time.
So when you're not getting what you want from drafting,
try to look at the work you're doing
and see if there's something you can change
to experiment and have more success.
Like if you're distracted by your pinging email,
you can try disconnecting from the internet
or switching to a physical notebook.
Or, if you find that you get stuck a lot,
maybe experiment with a longer,
more thorough planning process
before you dive into the draft.
And really, the biggest truth about drafts
is that they are provisional or open to change.
Drafting is an opportunity to learn that intersects with
and draws on all the other phases of the writing process.
And just because it might take us more than one version
to get to the final product,
that doesn't mean that time is wasted.
Let's look at an example.
Gemma has been asked to submit a short bio about herself
for a conference where she'll be speaking
to her fellow flavor development chemist.
Now, it's just a short bio,
so her invention and planning strategies
aren't super formal.
In fact, she might not even realize that's what she's doing,
but they do matter because they help her
get a sense of the project
and evaluate a lot of options for her bio.
She thinks through what she wants someone to know about her
at the conference and how its purpose
can be to communicate who she is,
plus help her do some networking
and establish her credibility
so people will come to her talk.
And rather than just starting writing
and ending up with pretty much her entire autobiography,
she sets up a plan for how she'll draft too.
She'll reread four of the last year's bios,
look over her own resume
for potential accomplishments and language to use,
and then type up a few sentences to start.
Her drafting involves slipping back and forth
from the physical program from last year's conference,
her own resume,
and an empty document where she's adding sentences.
She ends up putting together a long paragraph
that reflects her professional experience,
where she's worked, and where she was educated.
But when she sends it to the conference organizer,
she finds out they're only doing
three-sentence bios this year to save space.
This revision request ends up being basically
a return to drafting.
But that's part of how the writing process works.
It's often a non-linear journey.
Though Gemma's initial work wasn't in vain,
she actually has all the needed information
in her original draft,
so she can make a second draft
that fits her needs much faster
than if she was starting from scratch.
She still spends time reviewing the sentences,
so she makes a great first impression,
but her first and second drafts
helped her address her audience
and the specific needs of the task.
So even seemingly simple projects
can go through multiple drafts
as we learn more about the project and what we want to say
and refine our initial ideas
from the invention and planning phases.
That doesn't mean you did the assignment wrong
or that you're starting over completely
because you know a lot more now than you did at the start.
Drafts are always subject to change, even major change.
The trick is figuring out
how much change is actually necessary, which is a big part
of becoming better and better at drafting.
Think about it like if you lose your keys.
You retrace your steps until you find the moment
when you inexplicably stuck your keys in the freezer
or wherever they ended up.
Similarly, when you receive
critical feedback on some writing,
you'll retrace your steps.
Do you just need a tweak here or there
or more substantial revisions?
Just as often,
you'll need to go further back in the process.
Maybe a new invention or a new plan are what you need,
which will lead to an entirely new draft.
If, after she'd found out it had to be a lot shorter,
Gemma had just gone back
and corrected a typo in her long bio
and then resubmitted it,
the conference organizer would be understandably annoyed.
She needed to retrace farther back to draft a new short bio,
not just tweak the one she had.
At the same time, Gemma didn't fail to produce a good bio.
She can reuse what she'd written somewhere else,
even though it didn't suit this particular project.
And we've got to stop thinking
of our writing efforts as failures.
Drafts can always have a next draft.
She and we are doing the best we can.
We may find dead ends on what we're promising,
drafting directions, and we may realize
that what seemed aligned with our purpose
just won't accomplish our goals.
Try to see your success as a writer
as based upon your willingness to work the steps
and retrace as needed, writing new drafts
and making changes to them
until your writing accomplishes your goals.
When we define a single draft as the act of writing,
we're more likely to feel like that was our one shot,
and now we've failed.
Thankfully, that's not true.
And framing this step as drafting rather than writing
really helps us keep
the potential for change and new drafts in mind.
We hope that your process,
but not your home, is very drafty.
After all, it's invigorating
to start seeing your plans take shape as text.
Let's get down to business and draft.
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