Nina’s Reflection

Nina Volzhanina

April 24, 2022

This semester, I had the amazing opportunity to work with the same group of students as an embedded tutor weekly. Through this experience, both the students and I were able to witness the writing process in action. Most people who have completed a piece of writing in the past are familiar with the concept that writing is a process that involves several steps; rarely are we knowledgeable and confident enough to sit down in front of a computer and create a literary masterpiece. Writing takes time; writing taking effort; writing takes research; writing takes patience. Just like anything else, writing is something that must be nurtured and needs to undergo its natural cycle. The writing process is often introduced as a series of six steps:

The first stage in the writing process is the planning Here, students are going to consider what information they need to research, what resources they need to review, consider the thesis/position of their paper, and what kind of information they would like to present in their paper. To keep this mass of information organized, it is encouraged to create an outline that is convenient for the writer to organize their thoughts.
Once thoughts and ideas have been gathered, it is time to draft. This stage consists of turning the outline and all of the research into a fully formed piece of writing. Bullet points would turn into sentences and each main idea would be represented by a paragraph.
After your first daft is written, it is time to revise. This can be done independently or with someone. If you would like to revise your first draft independently, it is recommended that you read it aloud to yourself. This will help you slow down and become more aware of any missing words, awkward sounding sentences, or grammatical errors. Alternatively, you can also bring your first draft to a writing tutor at the Writing Centre to review it together. The tutor will be able to help you identify parts that may need revision and can answer your questions during this time.
Once you have identified what needs to be revised, it is time to rewrite. Sometimes, significant changes need to be made to our papers as we realize that we failed to meet assignment requirements, strayed off topic, or the paper was lacking a correct structure. Sometimes, the changes we need to make are minimal, such as inserting transition words and modifying word choices to provide variety in our writing. Regardless of the kinds of changes that are required, it is always better to plan ahead so that you have time for this step.
After you have completed your rewrite, it is always a good idea to edit the paper before submission. Similar to the revision stage, this could be done with someone or independently. No matter how much time and effort we put into our first revision, there is always a possibility of identifying new ways in which we can enhance our paper. It is important not to overlook this step as editing the paper can provide the write with an opportunity to elevate their paper through stylistic choices. Stages 4 and 5 can be repeated as many times as necessary until you are satisfied with your paper, or you run out of time!
The final stage of the writing process is to publish or submit your paper.

References

Caulfield, J. (2020, April 24). The writing process | 5 steps with examples & tips. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/academic-writing/writing-process/

Kramer, L. (2021, May 11). The writing process: 6 steps every writer should know. Grammarly Blog. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/writing-process/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjN-SBhCkARIsACsrBz5ln6gdwj7ZHcuB45nOOTsiRAeCI1N_xMLCVdjRLWqmsy-tlqQP4pwaAtzkEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds