Writing as a Problem Solving Process Chapter 16 Writing as a Problem Solving Process

Multiple Drafts Experts use multiple drafts to come up with their final version Early stages of writing: Discover, deepen, and complicate ideas Keep revising and clarifying Create global revisions rather than local revisions Cross out paragraphs, pages rather than words See example on page 419

Why Multiple Drafts? Multiple drafts help writers overcome the limits of short-term memory Writing a draft captures and stores your ideas as you develop them When you reread your draft, you can revise, note problems, develop more ideas, extend draft, recall more info, see what doesn’t fit Multiple drafts help writers accommodate changes Ideas can change and evolve and writers focus on more detailed info Multiple drafts help writers clarify audience and purpose What do your readers already know? How can you change their views?

Multiple Drafts cont. Multiple drafts help writers improve structure and coherence Early drafts follow the writers thoughts as they are created Later drafts are restructured to meet the reader’s needs Multiple drafts let writers postpone worrying about corrections Early drafts are rough and messy Later drafts allow the writer time to correct grammar, spelling, cohesion, and clarity Expert writers continually cycle back to earlier stages of writing as their thinking evolves

Revise Globally As Well As Locally Local revisions: Changes that affect only one or two sentences Global revisions: Changes that affect your paper on a whole. One revision could affect other parts of your draft Include substantial rewrites and starting over See strategies on page 421-422

Ten Expert Habits Use exploratory writing and talking to discover and clarify ideas Freewriting, idea mapping, dialectic conversations Schedule time Don’t begin your writing the night before it’s due! Leave sufficient time to explore, draft, revise, and edit Figure out what methods of drafting work for you Typing versus freehand, create an outline, freewrite, etc. Think about your audience and purpose from the start What effect will your writing have on your audience? Try to change your reader’s point of view

Habits cont. For the first draft, reduce your expectations Expect your first draft to be bad, messy Use your first draft to get ideas flowing Revise on double or triple spaced hard copy Print out your rough draft and write all over it Easier to make edits to a hard copy than to scroll through your text on a computer Think increasingly about the needs of your readers Be aware of your reader’s expectations

Habits cont. Exchange your draft with others Save correctness for last Get other people’s reactions and thoughts Peer reviews Save correctness for last Make corrections when you’re close to your final draft Learn how to satisfice-suffice and satisfy Do the best job you can considering your time constraints and difficulty of the task Realize when enough is enough

Peer Reviews Review classmates drafts Provide comments and suggestions Be specific and give helpful ways to fix the issue Read the entire draft before making any corrections or comments Use a peer review template to help you cover all the bases ( I will always supply this) Peer reviews make you responsible to provide fresh insight and ideas to the writer Talk to the writer after the review and talk to them about problem areas, offer advice