Teaching Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools Chapter 2

Composing the writing process

Like Blasingame and Bushman pointed out, sometimes a piece of writing for school is introduced at 10:00 and it is expected to be finished at 10:50. In between that fifty minute period there are certain guidelines that must be done in order to finish that piece of work. Writing was established that way for me in high school, and so that is how I tend to compose my pieces of writing. I want it to be as concrete as possible, therefore I’ll know what to do. Chapter two also mentioned that it is important to give students assignments that they’re familiar with or have knowledge about. That phrase is pretty self explanatory for me. If I don’t know what I’m writing about I either will compose a not so good piece, or I’ll wait until I get the knowledge I need in order to write.
I stick away from the brainstorming on paper when it comes to writing. I do that part in my head. The brainstorming in my head occurs for a couple of days depending on when the piece needs to be done. From the brainstorming part, I like to do an informal/sloppy outline just so I know where I’m headed. Even if an outline isn’t required I do it because it helps me see the knowledge I need for that piece more concretely. Then I write. If it’s a ten page paper I usually do three-four pages a day. I don’t like to write more than four pages any session. It seems if I write four pages a session, I can stop for awhile, brainstorm new ideas, and continue what I was doing. Once I finish a piece, the revising gets kind of tedious. One thing I’ve learned over the past year is to print out your composed work and proofread it that way. It lets you see and feel the whole flow of the paper. Recently I learned that if you read a paper out loud, it generally helps you take out the things that make the paper less sensible. And finally for revising, I always enjoy the help at the writing center.