My Writing Process

Salt, Alun. "Creativity" 26 Sept. 2006 via flickr. Share-Alike 2.0 Attribution 2.0 License.

What type(s) of writer do you consider yourself to be?

I consider myself a slow writer, and at times a bad writer despite people saying that once I actually produce writing that it is decent.  I might just be a harsh critic of my own work.  Part of it probably stems from my belief that many times the quality of the work I produce isn’t up to the standards I make when I consider the time and effort I spend writing it.  I have a hard time getting my thoughts down on paper.

Does your writing include several of the above approaches?  If so, which ones?

I think I identify strongest with the sequential composer approach.  I tend to go through the writing process in a slow slog.  I revise as I go and don’t necessarily go back all that much.  I don’t always have time to create plans or outlines; however, when I do, I try to over outline in a way that seems to fit in with the heavy planner approach.  Because I tend to struggle with writing, I often feel inclined to put it off in a way similar to the procrastinator approach, but this usually doesn’t work out well for me. 

Does your writing approach seem to be successful?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?

When I start early, my approach does seem to be successful at producing something.  On the other hand, my approach doesn’t seem efficient when faced with time restraints or other responsibilities.  I spend too much time trying to get things to sound good the first time around and run out of time for other things towards the end.  My approach is strong in terms of initial quality of writing, but it is weak because it is time consuming and makes it hard to get the initial content down.

Do you think it might be beneficial for you to try a different approach?  Why or why not?

It would be nice to try different approaches.  My approach definitely has issues for me, and some other approach might suit me better.  At the same time, I don’t have the time or motivation to experiment with new approaches on my own, and the assignments I have are too important to risk failure while trying something new.