1. Writing Process David Masiel University Writing Program WAC Workshops drmasiel@ucdavis.edu

2. On Marathons “Nobody runs a marathon. The human mind can’t hold 26.2 miles. So you run one step, and then another and another and another. Until 26.2 miles sneaks up on you.” --Jon Tollner, marathoner

3. Writing Process Pre-write Write as a tool of inquiry: the focused Freewrite Make a topical Outline Find Successful Models Draft Write out of order Run that marathon one step at a time Revise “Re-seeing” Re-structuring Edit/Polish Step away Read aloud

4. Pre-Writing: Place and Time Find a PLACE that belongs to you and your dissertation. Office, Table, Desk, Corner… Find a TIME that works for you. If you can’t find a SET time, then get in the habit of finding snippets—fifteen minutes here, a half hour there. Winning Battles = Winning the War Find small tasks that you CAN complete.

5. Pre-writing: Tool of Inquiry In other words, Write as you Research, not to create a finished product directly, but to process what you read and generate ideas: Summarize Literature Formulate Statements Question Results and Implications Analyze Data and Methods Evaluate Conclusions: Gaps Compare and Contrast Studies: Points Define Terms: Class + Differentiation

6. Outlining Get a BINDER with TABS These are your CHAPTERS Remember: you are not writing a book, you are writing CHAPTERS, or even SECTIONS of CHAPTERS Break it down into smaller sections When you OUTLINE, state TOPICS and SUPPORT Disciplined Pre-Writing  Easier Drafting Why? You’ve been writing all along…

7. Drafting Jack Kerouac’s Rules of Spontaneous Prose Rule #1: Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy Rule # 2: Submissive to everything, open, listening Rule #3: Be in love with yr life Rule #4: Something that you feel (or believe) will find its own form Rule #10: No time for poetry but exactly what is Rule #13: Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition Rule #17: Write in recollection and amazement, for yourself Rule #29: YOU ARE A GENIUS ALL THE TIME

8. Drafting: Problems and Solutions Problem #1: Writer’s Block, or, Everything Must Be Good Divorce your Critic from your Creator Consider Audience: Toughest Critic or Best Friend? Consider Function: State it Plainly, Even Simply Problem #2: Writer’s Rush, or, Everything Must Be The Discovery Draft, or, The Glory of the Tangent The Practicality of Word Comment Function The Power of Writing Out of Order

9. “Quit trying to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are fascist. Throw some ground balls. Ground balls are democratic.” --Crash Davis, “Bull Durham”

10. Drafting Discipline Is A Dirty Word Start small Start writing Keep writing until you’ve completed a thought, no matter how small Stop writing when you know what you want to say next, no matter how simple Turn off the Grammar Checker! Small Habits Become Routines, and Routines Become Disciplines

11. Revise, Revise, Revise Step Away Print! Practice the Power of the Backward Outline Read it Aloud to your Imaginary Friend Find Readers in Concentric Rings View and Re-view Think and Re-think Kill your Pretties Save Your Uglies

12. Editing and Polishing Step Away Again Know Your Limitations Proofreading Dotted I’s and Crossed T’s Attention to Detail Forms and Formats

13. The End