Journal 3: Writing Processes

    As pointed out by Flowers and Hayes, "The most important thing about writing goals is the fact that they are created by the writer." (Flower and Hayes, pg. 372).  These are split up into two types, content goals and process goals. "Process goals are essentially the instructions people give themselves about how to carry out the process of writing... Content goals and plans, on the other hand, specify all things the writer wants to say or to do to an audience." (Flower and Hayes, pg. 377). Of course, real writing is never at neatly defined as Flower and Hayes assert, but then again, writing never is. 

    Due to the inherent chaos of writing, my own writing goals vary greatly on the style of writing I am creating. When I am writing a story, I focus on my process. I just start writing down whatever comes to mind and sort it out later, if I feel like it. If I'm to my friends, I try to keep my objective in mind and state it in a reasonably appropriate manner.  Regardless of process, the goal here is to effectively communicate content.

    I try to emphasize my freedom to write whatever I want, wherever I want, whenever I want, and with whomever I want. Of course, this isn't always the case. Sometimes we have to write very specific information in order to achieve a goal. For example, I am currently writing a research proposal to the IRB. This requires me to plan carefully, think about what I'm saying, and how what I am saying is expressing the content I wish to express. This makes the writing experience much harder because I know I have to write in a certain way or fail to achieve my goal (get approval). 

Unfortunately, students are usually in the same boat. Nearly every rubric has a section for grammar and convention. Are these bad things? No! Especially if these things are being actively taught. The problem is teachers encourage perfected writing regardless of what is being taught in the classroom. The majority of all writing we do is imperfect. Heck, I bet you could spot an error or 7 in this writing. Are projects the time and place for perfect grammar? It makes sense. But how can you grade someone on something they haven't learned. Is that not unfair to the student? It causes them to be wary of writing and feel like poor writers (the same thing happens to readers!). As educators, we need to keep in mind how we teach writing and what we're teaching. Grading and analyzing those should be the main goals, not perfection.