preface - kendall hunt publishers | kendall hunt higher ed

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Preface We shall neither fail nor falter, we shall not weaken or tire. . .give us the tools and we will finish the job. —Winston Churchill A tool is a device or instrument used to carry out a particular function or achieve a particular goal. The goal of Transportable Writing Tool: A Guide for Writing and Revising is to transform the way writing is viewed and practiced by delivering a comprehensive and focused tool that allows writers to use more effective writing processes and produce more effective texts. When I began teaching over 10 years ago, many writers expressed frustration with writing and concern for how to improve their writing processes, writing habits, and written products. When examining and questioning student writers, I noticed that many tended to hold a limited view of writing and the writing process and tended to think about writing in a narrow way. Moreover, many tended to think about revising as making very minor changes to a text or as something their instructors fabricated to give them more work to do. To help students, I sought out current resources and handbooks published in the field of composition; however, when attempting to locate an effective handbook, I found that many tended to focus primarily on only one important aspect of writing—editing—and tended to reinforce the notion of revising as primarily editing surface-level errors. In fact, an examination of 14 handbooks published by Norton, Wadsworth, Bedford/St. Martin’s, Houghton Mifflin, and Pearson revealed that handbooks devote an average of 40% of their texts to the concept of editing with some devoting as much as 60%. Upon further research, both in my own classes and in examining published articles on writing, I discovered that student and teacher writing practices corresponded with their views and thoughts about writing and revising—not only did they view writing and revising in a narrow way but they practiced and applied the writing process in a limited way, focusing primarily on editing. In her study of writing and revising practices for beginning writers, Sommers (2003) found that the writers she observed, like my own students, viewed the writing process as drafting a paper in one sitting and turning it into the instructor. She discovered that writers tended to focus on only one part of the writing process—drafting—and tended to leave out prewriting and revising unless required to do it by their instructors. In their work, Applebee et al. (1986) and Lehr (1987) found that those writers who do understand the writing process as including revising typically view revising as making only surface-level changes as they are drafting a paper or once a draft is completed. In fact, their study demonstrates that writers consider revising as simply a

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Introduction from The Transportable Writing Tool: A Guide for Writing and Revising by Kerrie Farkas | 9781465271945 | 2015 copyright

Property of Kendall Hunt Publishing

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rewording activity, the discovery of better vocabulary choices for words initially used in a paper. Thus, even those writers who include revising in the writing process tend to understand revision to be surface-level changes—changes in word choice, changes in proofreading, and changes in punctuation—rather than more global changes in organization, development, or unity. In the writers surveyed in my writing courses, writers named grammar and spelling as the most important elements of writing and the principle aspects of revising. For instance, in a survey of one of my advanced writing classes comprised of juniors and seniors, 95% (20 of the 21 writers) named grammar and spelling as two of the top three core elements of writing and revising (with 62% naming them as the most important and another 33% naming them as second or third in importance). In their study, Faigley and Witte (1981) actually found that instructors themselves tend to assess revision as copyediting and eliminating surface changes rather than as making more macrostructure changes to a text; in fact, Zamel (1985) and Dohrer (1991) found that instructors tend to focus on surface changes when responding to student writing. In his study of instructor feedback on writing, Dohrer (1991) found that 72% of teacher comments concerned surface-level features. It is no wonder, then, that writing is viewed in such a limited way because this is what is modeled and what tends to be rewarded in revising practices. Although editing, eliminating surface-level errors, is one key element of writing, other elements are necessary in order to write effectively. The lack of a suitable, available, and comprehensive textbook and students’ desire and need for more effective writing practices made me decide that I needed to actually create a tool to help writers. What I wanted was a tool that would include more than just editing, a tool that would bring all of the important elements of writing together in a focused and manageable way. I also wanted a tool that would integrate the important elements into an effective writing process and a tool that could be used across different writing contexts. This led to the creation of a taxonomy, a classification of the important elements of writing organized into a tool that writers could use across multiple contexts. The Tool The tool provides a comprehensive yet manageable method for writing and revising and provides an accessible set of writing components that writers can learn and apply to their writing. It also provides writers with a specialized but accessible language for discussing writing and revising and a focused and useful way to draft and revise writing. Specifically, it offers the following:



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• synthesizes the seemingly unlimited facets of writing into eight essential elements • provides a means by which to learn the most important components of writing • presents writers with an effective means by which to plan, write, and revise texts • provides a focused and effective means by which to evaluate writing Unlike other handbooks, many of which focus chiefly on the concept of editing, this book provides a balanced treatment of eight different elements of writing, giving equal status and prominence to each element rather than focusing the bulk of the book on one concept—editing. What is unique about this writing tool is that it is transportable. That is, the tool isn’t just applicable to writing an editorial, a narrative, an essay; instead, it is a tool that can be used for all of these genres of writing and for most writing in which writers engage. Writing is ubiquitous and necessary for so many facets of our lives; as such, it is important to learn how to write effectively for many different contexts, and this tool can be applied to writers’ personal lives, their academic lives, their professional lives, and their civic and political lives. Many current handbooks on writing tend to present a seemingly unconnected and overwhelming listing of concepts or tend to focus on how to write specific genres (how to write an essay, how to write a letter, how to write a proposal). This book, instead, provides writers with elements of writing that transcend the particulars and that can be used as a heuristic across different genres of writing. This book can be used as part of a writing course, whether for basic writing, first-year writing, advanced writing, or any course that includes writing as an ample component of the course, or it can be used by adult writers outside of an academic setting. What Writers Have Said About the Tool Although this book is my first published work on the Transportable Writing Tool, I have been using it in various ways over the last 8 years, and over the years, I have received various notes and emails from students telling me how helpful the tool (sometimes referred to below as the TWT) has been for their writing. • “The TWT has helped to keep me focused and it has improved my ability to write.” • “The Transportable Writing Tool provides an excellent method for writing, and a

systematic and easily understandable way to write and edit papers for quality, efficiency, and effectiveness, which makes writing so much less of a mystery.” • “I have definitely seen an improvement in my writing with the TWT.” • “I used to just write a paper, edit it for grammar and spelling, and re-read it to make sure it makes sense. Now, after learning about the TWT, I focus a lot more on different aspects of writing, which definitely helps a lot.”



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• “Before the TWT, I had many of the parts I needed to build a house. The TWT gave me all the parts and the directions to guide through the process of putting the house together. I am not yet an expert architect, but am getting there because of the TWT.”

• “Even though I have been introduced to some components of the TWT such as editing and development, I never knew that there were so many other components that as a writer you should really be aware of. In my previous papers, I never paid much attention to concepts like unity, coherence, audience, or insight, but now that I have, I feel as though I write much better papers.”

• “I consider the Transportable Writing Tool like a leatherman multi-tool that can be carried and used practically anywhere. The TWT is even more versatile and portable, though, and can be applied to any type of writing you are creating. Just like the multi-tool has several instruments for performing a handyman's task (a screwdriver, pliers, a utility knife, etc.), the TWT comes with eight elements that, if used properly, help to create a written document of high quality.”

• “The written document, through the lens of the TWT, becomes much like a jewel, having many facets. A good jeweler examines a gem from all angles to evaluate its cut and quality. The TWT acts like a jeweler's loop through which the author can examine the facets of his work. It is an instrument that, if used properly, will help the author refine a rough imperfect idea into something that hopefully sparkles like a diamond.” Book Outline This text, which is intended for adult writers from high school age and up, provides an introductory chapter that discusses writing and the writing process and also provides an overview of the eight core elements of writing. The introductory chapter is followed by eight individual chapters that focus on each of the eight core elements; as such, there is a chapter on insight, a chapter on audience awareness, and a chapter on expression, conventions, unity, development, coherence, and editing. These are followed by a closing chapter that summarizes the texts and ties the concepts together.



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Supplemental Material The Transportable Writing Tool: A Guide for Writing and Revising is also accompanied by a Companion Website that contains integral activities, exercises, and PowerPoint presentations for each element. After reading each chapter, each of which presents an in-depth discussion of one element, readers will be directed to the Companion Website to access and use the supplemental material.



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Introduction Many individuals have complained that learning to write well is too difficult, too mysterious, or too overwhelming, and many don’t seem to put in the effort to learn because they don’t know what to do or where to start. Too often, individuals claim that they hate writing or dread writing. Oftentimes, people don’t like things that they aren’t good at or don’t know how to do well. Are you someone who doesn’t enjoy writing or becomes frustrated by it, or do you know someone who fits into that category? What if you could become a better writer just by learning eight major concepts and applying them to your writing, and what if you had a book that would allow you to do just that—learn the eight key concepts that make up a piece of writing and serve as a guide for applying these successfully to your own writing? This book attempts to take away some of the mystery and anxiety writers may feel about writing by presenting a connected and synthesized set of concepts that can help you write more effectively. Even if you feel you are a good writer and aren’t overwhelmed by writing, this book can help you improve not only your writing process but also your written products. The eight concepts that you learn can be applied to more than just one kind of writing too; in fact, they can be applied to any type of writing that you do, whether it be academic writing (such as essays, reports, or presentations), personal writing (such as blogs, letters, or emails), workplace writing (such as proposals, job application letters, or memos), or community writing (pamphlets, letters to the editor, or brochures). If you can learn these eight concepts, learn how they are connected, and learn how to apply them to your writing, you can be a more effective and more successful writer. That is the aim of this book, and if that is your goal too, then let’s get to work. The Transportable Writing Tool This book introduces a tool that you can use not only for writing in all different contexts but also throughout all of phases of the writing process: through the generation of ideas, to the planning of your writing, to the drafting, and ultimately, to the revising. The tool is called the Transportable Writing Tool, and it synthesizes and categorizes all of the important aspects of writing into eight essential elements. You will likely have heard of and used some of these elements in your writing. What is different about the elements in this text is that this text not only brings all of those elements together into one tool but also shows how the elements are connected and how they can be applied to different kinds of writing. As such, even if you have heard of some of the elements in the tool before and even used them, this book will offer a more in-depth understanding of the elements, will provide



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specific strategies for using the elements to your writing, and will allow you to see how the elements are connected and how they can be applied to writing. The Transportable Writing Tool is comprised of eight essential elements of writing: • Insight • Unity • Coherence • Development • Audience Awareness • Expression • Conventions • Editing

Although each of these concepts will be discussed in its own chapter, presented here is a brief definition of each so that you can have a general understanding of each concept before delving more fully into each individually. Insight: clear or deep perception of a subject Unity: the quality or state of being one Coherence: the seamlessness of ideas Development: the progression of ideas Audience Awareness: understanding and attending to your readers and their needs Expression: the communication of beliefs, opinions, and emotions Conventions: the standards or customs of a genre Editing: modifications of grammar and usage, punctuation, and proofreading

InsightUnity

Coherence

DevelopmentAudience

Awareness

Expression

Conventions

Editing



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Each of the eight elements of writing has equal status, and one is not more or less important than another, though writers do sometimes try to justify the importance of one element over another. While most beginning writers tend to name “editing” as the most important element of writing and also tend to focus on “editing” when revising a piece of writing, it is important to note that every one of the eight elements is important for an effective piece of writing. Thus, for every type of writing that you do, you should consider and apply all of the elements rather than just one or two. Each of these elements is important in its own right, but all of them are needed for a well-written document. Think of the Transportable Writing Tool like a baseball team. A baseball team has nine players: pitcher, catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, short stop, right field, left field, and center field. In order to do well in a game, the team needs to have all of the players. You could possibly play the game without all of the players; however, it would not be played as well unless you included all nine. The same is true for writing. A piece of writing can certainly function without all of the eight essential elements (for instance, without addressing an audience); however, in order to be the most effective text it can be, it should contain all of the elements. Each of the elements is a member of the entire team, and the elements should work together to best achieve a text’s aim. Thus, you can and should use the Transportable Writing Tool for writing all kinds of texts—an essay, a proposal, a memo, or any other genre—and when you use it, you should be sure to use it as a whole and in its entirety. For instance, you wouldn’t only use insight for writing an essay, only use coherence in a proposal, or only use editing in a brochure; instead, you would use each of the eight elements in an essay, each of the eight elements in a brochure, and each of the eight elements in every piece of writing that you do.

InsightUnity

Coherence

DevelopmentAudience

Awareness

Expression

Conventions

Editing InsightUnity

Coherence

DevelopmentAudience

Awareness

Expression

Conventions

Editing InsightUnity

Coherence

DevelopmentAudience

Awareness

Expression

Conventions

Editing

memoproposalessay



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Moreover, you can and should use the Transportable Writing Tool throughout the writing process; that is, you can and should use it when you are generating ideas and planning your writing, when you are drafting, and when you are revising. Before discussing each of the concepts in the Transportable Writing Tool more fully, the remainder of this introductory chapter discusses the writing process: what it is and how you can use the Transportable Writing Tool in all phases of the process. The Writing Process Writing is often viewed by student writers as a sit-down-write-all-night-and-turn-in-what-I’ve-completed-before-class-starts process. Although many may not want to admit it, research shows that students often write papers following this process. Reasons for this vary, but many students claim that they write this way because they procrastinate and run out of time, have less than desirable time-management skills, don’t know how to write any other way, or just don’t want to put in/don’t have the time it takes to write in another, and perhaps more successful, way. While many writers have, at some point or another, waited until the last minute to write, many would acknowledge that this really is not an ideal process to follow. Think about your own writing process and how you typically write. Are there methods you use every time you write or that you follow somewhat regularly? Is there a specific succession of activities or a sequential process that you regularly use when writing? Are there times when you don’t follow a particular process? Does the process differ, depending on what you are writing, to whom you are writing, and for whom you are writing? For instance, do you follow a consistent process when you write academic papers but use a different process when writing an email, a letter to the editor, or a blog? Although there isn’t a one-size-fits-all linear writing process, there are certainly a number of common phases that most writers follow, though the order in which writers use the phases varies significantly.

“I like the TWT because it is applicable to all kinds of writing.” —Student from English Composition



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What the Writing Process Is Not Despite what you may have thought (or been told), the writing process is not and should not be the exact same process for every text that you write; in fact, the writing process often changes for writers depending on the rhetorical situation in which they write, that is, it changes depending on the purpose for writing, the audience for whom the author writes, and the genre (type of writing) the writer has chosen. The process you use for more informal types of writing is naturally going to differ from the process you use to write formal papers. The process you use to write to your friends and peers will (and should) also differ from the process you use to write to a boss or to a professor. Also, the process you use to apply for a job will be different from the process you use to entertain friends via social media. Moreover, the writing process is not and should not be a sequential, step-by-step, linear process that only follows a chronological order (first, generating ideas; second, drafting; third, revising). In fact, many writers do not follow the order of first generating ideas, then drafting a paper, and then revising a paper all in a neat and tidy consecutive order. This may be different from what you previously learned because, often, the writing process is introduced as a sequential process where you have to finish one step before proceeding to the next; however, research has shown that this is not the way real writers approach writing tasks. What the Writing Process Is and Should Be The writing process should be seen and used as a recursive process where phases of the process are used and repeated throughout a writing task rather than following a straight and sequential path. Thus, writers may begin by generating ideas, start drafting, revise what they’ve written, go back to drafting, stop to plan out the remaining text and generate additional ideas, draft some more, and then revise.

Rhetorical Situation: the context in which you write, including the purpose for writing, the audience for whom you write, the genre (essay, memo, letter, proposal, and the like) you use

“I like that I can use the Transportable Writing Tool before, during, and after writing a paper.”

—Student from Advanced Writing



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Other writers may start by drafting, stop and do some planning, revise, go back to drafting, and finish by revising.

What is important for writers is that they try out and test different techniques and in different orders to discover what works best for them in different contexts because there isn’t just one single way to write. In this way, writers can develop a repertoire of strategies that they can use at different times and for different writing situations. Part of learning to write effectively is actually becoming aware of what you are doing and also learning what works best for you and when. If you go into every writing project without thinking through it, it will be very difficult to grow as a writer. If you are learning how to throw a baseball, keep throwing it wide of the intended player, and never stop to think about what you are doing and why you might be throwing it wide, you will likely never learn to throw it directly to the player. You need to think about and reflect on what you are doing in order to learn; as such, it is important to think through what works for you as far as a writing

WRITING PROCESS

generating

drafting

revising

WRITING PROCESS

drafting

planning

revising



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process when you encounter different writing projects and then implement these successful practices when you write. Although the process itself may differ for different writers and different contexts, the process should involve the following three phases: • Generating Ideas • Drafting • Revising Generating Ideas One phase of the writing process is the generation of ideas, what Aristotle and classical rhetoricians referred to as inventio (invention), the process of constructing ideas for your argument or finding the best available means of persuasion for an issue. Although this phase is typically associated with prewriting or what happens prior to drafting, it can actually occur throughout the writing process. In fact, when you write, you should continuously generate ideas about your topic, your research, and your method. Drafting Drafting is another phase of the writing process and involves preparing a preliminary version of a paper. Notice the word “preliminary”; this means that it isn’t the final version but just a first attempt to put your thoughts, ideas, and plans into a complete text. Some writers prefer to write a complete draft of a text before doing any revising. Others, however, prefer to begin a draft and revise as they write, including going back and generating further ideas on the topic. If you are unsure which method you would prefer, you should try both methods to discover what works best for you. Revising Revising, another phase of the writing process, means re-seeing a piece of writing and looking at it from a fresh and critical perspective; in fact, revising should be viewed as the opportunity to look at your writing and make decisions about how to make it more effective. Some writers claim that they don’t revise because it is difficult to look back at their own writing and find aspects to rework; they think

Inventio: the process of constructing and generating ideas for discourse

“I am amazed by how helpful this method is when it comes to being the writer. It helps you expand your mind and look at the whole aspect of writing. I wasn’t a great writer when I started this course, but with this tool, I feel I have improved my writing skills dramatically.”

—Student from Business Writing



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that they’ve given their best, that’s all they can do, and they need an expert to mark up their text to tell them what to rework. However, being able to revise your own work is an essential skill. You won’t always have someone to rely on to revise your writing, and you shouldn’t have to do so. Instead, you should be able to tell whether or not your writing is effective and what you need to work on for the revision. It is one thing to have someone else read what you wrote to get their perspective; however, it is something else entirely if you are completely dependent on someone else to create an effective product. This text will provide you with a manageable way to generate ideas, draft, and revise according to the Transportable Writing Tool to the extent that you should be able to rely on yourself to write an effective text. That is, you will learn how to generate ideas, draft, and revise for insight, how to generate ideas, draft, and revise for unity, and how to generate ideas, draft, and revise for coherence, development, audience awareness, expression, conventions, and editing. This is not to say that you shouldn’t share your work with others for feedback because even expert writers share their work; however, it is important that you know enough about writing to be able to write independently, when necessary. Generating Ideas, Drafting, and Revising with the Transportable Writing Tool The Transportable Writing Tool is a tool that brings together the eight essential elements of writing and a tool that can and should be used throughout the writing process: when generating ideas, when drafting a paper, and when revising a paper. In the chapters that follow, each element is discussed in detail. Each chapter begins with a definition of the essential element, an introduction to the concept, and a discussion of the techniques you can use to understand and apply that concept to writing. Companion Website Please visit the Companion Website to view PowerPoint presentations, exercises, and activities for each component of writing.



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preface - kendall hunt publishers | kendall hunt higher ed

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