Ferreira 1 Aubrey Ferreira Professor Guenzel ENC 1101-0107 28 October 2013 The Writing Process of a Wandering Mind As unique

individuals, we are all different. We enjoy different interests, different foods, music, friends, and we all have an individual writing process. The way we write is formed by daily activities, education and really, just the way we are. I have a few things that really set me apart from others in my writing process. After closely observing all of my writing in 48 hours, over one weekend in October 2013, I have come to see how completely different I write when writing for school and for out of school purposes. My writing process consists of a unique setting and multiple different steps. In middle school and high school students were taught basic information about writing that is very different from what students are taught on a college level. In middle and high school I was taught everything was to be a five-paragraph essay styled a cheeseburger. The intro and conclusion were the pieces of bread that held everything together, the first body paragraph was the lettuce, important but not the best part, the second body paragraph was the cheese, more important but still not the best part, and the third body paragraph the piece of meat, the best part and most exciting paragraph. Students were taught to write in classroom settings with fifty minutes to complete an essay. After just a day in college I knew my writing was expected to be much more than the five-paragraph cheeseburger essay I learned to write in middle and high school.

Ferreira 2 One of the most drastic differences about my high school writing and how I write now is the setting of which I write. All my life I have had a focus problem; any little thing has always managed to distract me. In college, my problem just got worse. The one time of the day that I can give something my full attention is the very early hours of the morning. Four A.M is the time I do my writing. At four in the morning text messages cannot distract me because there is no one to text as everyone is sleeping. Social networking is also no longer a distraction at this hour because no one is updating them. It is just my computer and me. I am also usually tired at this time so my reward of finishing my work or paper is sleep. I must be sitting at my desk in my dorm, with my desk lamp on, and be in complete silence. Noises will distract me. I will never be one of those people that can write while listening to music. People that know how districted I get often suggest that I simply turn off my phone, and disconnect my laptop from Wi-Fi. It seems like a simple logical action that would really help me, however I find it impossible to do. First step of my writing process is brainstorming and planning. When I first get my assignment I brainstorm nonstop for a few days. I try to get ideas from everything and anything. No matter what I am doing I make sure to write any idea down. Even if it seems like its a silly idea, it could provoke other thoughts and ideas later. For example, if an essay-related thought crosses my mind from watching TV or a movie, or listening to music, I write it down in my phone. If Im with friends, if Im out to eat, if Im at work or just cleaning my room, I stop and write my thought down. When I have a good idea of what perspective I want to write from and how I will approach the paper, I start planning. I plan out my main points and sub points and write down any particular things I am sure I want to include in my paper somewhere. After having planned out my paper my late nights take place. I start writing my first rough draft over the course of one to two nights. In high school, I wrote one draft and was done.

Ferreira 3 In college I have learned you can never have to many drafts, which brings me to the next step in my writing process, the editing and revision. My editing and revision is the longest, most timeconsuming step out of my writing process. Writing is always a work in progress. Each night that I work on a paper I have something different to add, or a new point of view. The more I work on it, the better it gets. There is nothing particularly specific about the way I edit and revise. I simply take a break. I dont think about it for 24 hours. Then when I come back to it at four A.M., and its just my computer and me, I make different realizations from what I experienced that day. Different realizations start a thought process that leads to new ideas and new perspectives for my paper. I try to edit and revise every night I can till my paper is due. When I observed how I write for 48 hours I saw the differences in my writing for school and for my everyday life and activity. I am quite a fan of texting and social networks, particularly twitter. In the 48 hours I was observing my texting I realized I sent over 300 text messages each day. I also tweeted 33 things over the course of those 48 hours. It was Saturday and Sunday so I didnt have class to write in but I did complete homework. However, I participated in much more writing that was not school related. With my text messages and tweets, there was really no planning process, no revision and no editing. I often used incorrect grammar and spelling in my texts, as usually I was just trying to get what I had to say out as fast as possible to send my reply. Instead of taking the extra time to type out a few additional letters I use abbreviations. Instead of typing are I type r, instead of typing you I type u, and instead of typing your or youre I type ur. Something that would make an English professor just shake their head in disappointment. With my tweets I was more grammatically correct and spelled properly. That is unless I was cutting it close to the 140 character limit for a tweet, where I would have to butcher my spelling to fit everything I had to say in one tweet.

Ferreira 4 Every individuals writing process is different; it is one of the many things that make people unique. After observing my writing for 48 hours I have realized that I take two very different approaches to writing for school and writing out of school. Writing for school is a process. I have my own individual writing process of brainstorming, planning, writing and editing and revising that takes place in my very specific setting. Writing for daily activities is mindless and any editing or revision I do is so automatic I dont even think of it as a step I take. Every individuals writing process is different, coming to understand other peoples processes can help become a better writer.