Riley Bender, 5363924

Writing 2 WP2 Reflective essay

When first given the assignment of developing a research question about feelings I had

towards writing, I was excited. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with writing. There are

so many different aspects of writing that I love but also a lot that I dislike. When I was younger, I

really enjoyed writing; I loved exploring different descriptive words I could use in my papers and

was always searching for ways to improve as a writer. Yet, as I got older, specifically when I

entered high school, I began to dread the task of writing a paper. I was no longer writing for

enjoyment or growth, but scrambling to get assignment after assignment done. I found that it

took a subject matter or research question that I was very passionate about to enjoy the act of

writing.

Therefore when offered the quite open assignment of researching any feelings, questions,

or frustrations I had around writing I was enthusiastic. The first step of the overall assignment

was to brainstorm all the different questions I had about writing. My list of questions grew

longer and longer in just a few moments. At the end of this brainstorm activity, I stared at my

paper, examining all the possible research questions I could base my project on. This was the

first challenge I encountered when completing this project. I realized that figuring out what it is I

want to write about or what I want to say in my writing was always the hardest part of writing for

me, the activities I participate in before my fingers even touch my keyboard. A lot of the

questions I had written down surrounded the idea of generating ideas on what to write. By

experiencing that exact feeling when beginning this project, I knew it was what I had to research

about. Was there any way to make this idea process before writing any easier? Therefore I
formulated my research question: what strategies can writers use to gather their thoughts before

writing?

I wondered if there would even be articles based on this particular topic, and therefore

was nervous when it became time to conduct my research. The second part of this assignment

was finding sources via a database. In the past, I had often struggled with finding research

articles on databases similar to “CompPile,” which was the database we were required to use for

this writing project. To use this database, I had to narrow down my research question practically

into a single word. I could not simply just type in my research question and be handed all the

resources I needed. It was going to be much more work than that. I began with searching for the

word “brainstorm” or “ideas” and other words within the same realm. None of the results were

answering my question though. Nonetheless, when reviewing the keywords listed with each of

the recommended articles, I stumbled across a word that I was unfamiliar with: “pre-writing.” I

could venture a guess of what this word meant: the process that happens before writing. Could

this be the key word that I had been searching for? So I tried it. I entered the word “pre-writing"

into the database and various articles popped up. I am glad that I tried this strategy for searching

on databases because it finally allowed me to discover the articles I needed for my project. After

this experience, I will definitely be less nervous navigating databases like Compile because once

you can discover a keyword that is successful, the research becomes fairly easy. I was surprised

to find that there has been extensive research and articles on the topic of pre-writing. The next

challenge was finding the specific articles that would most benefit my research. I made a list of

around twelve articles that seemed to fit my topic based on the descriptions.

In the next section of the project, we were asked to narrow down the list I had created

into a smaller, more manageable list that seemed to be more relevant to my topic according to
their abstracts. Looking back on my process throughout this project, this is the part I wish I had

done more work in. After reading abstracts, I believed I had a good idea of what the articles

would be about. However, I realized in my PB2D (the next step of the project) in which I had to

analyze and paraphrase my sources, that some of the articles I had chosen were either

inaccessible to me beyond their abstracts, or did not really pertain to my topic as much as I had

wished. Therefore, I essentially had to reconduct my research and fully read multiple articles

until I was able to narrow it down to six that I was confident were suitable for my subject matter.

I was able to do this using the strategies I learned from the article, “Reading Games:

Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources,” in which the author Karen Rosenberg discusses

strategies for rhetorical reading, a way in which we analyze a text. As discussed in the textbook,

“Writing about Writing,” the authors speak about rhetorical reading and how the process allows

us to identify both the reader and writers’ motivation, their shared need that prompted the

creation of the text, the context, and its values and expectations. (Wardle and Downs, 2020, p.

43) Rather than passively reading the article, Rosenberg suggests drawing information from

various parts first, like the abstract, introduction, headings, and conclusion first, in order to more

clearly identify the overall main argument. After the main argument has been established, it is

easier to decipher which areas of the article you want to look over. (Rosenberg, 2011, p.

216-218) I wanted to make sure I had a wide range of sources that were participating in the same

conversation, but offered various perspectives on what the best strategies and components of

pre-writing are. I was able to find articles that all talked about different aspects of pre-writing but

still applied to my research question. I found articles that spoke about writer’s block, texts that

discussed the best strategies for brainstorming and preparing yourself to write, as well as pieces
that spoke about the importance of embracing one's thoughts and feelings before writing.

Therefore, I was fairly certain that I had achieved my goal.

The next step in the project was proposing a genre. In Rosenberg’s article, she explains

the importance of considering the audience of the work. When reading scholarly articles, it is

important to identify why the author made the choices they made in the writing to apply to their

intended audience. (Rosenberg, 2011, p. 219) Therefore, in my project I wanted to successfully

compose a piece of work that would benefit my primary audience, students who are struggling

with writer’s block and are looking for help. When exploring the various genres I could choose

from, I had trouble finding one that would allow me to say everything I learned within my

research as well as provide students with the help they need with their writer’s block. I wondered

how to successfully review all the research I had explored while also being able to provide my

own personal ideas and perspectives.

In class we discussed the idea of engaging in conversational inquiry about writing

studies. This means asking questions and searching for answers through conversation with

others. Because the articles I found had such different perspectives and were only arguments of

their opinions, the information found during research does not provide an individual with the

definitive response to your research question. Yet, it will aid you in assessing how the discussion

has developed and any gaps that your perspective might fill. We analyzed the importance of

“Creating a research space” or “CARS” which can be defined as the way in which researchers

establish their participation in an ongoing discussion. (Wardle and Downs, 2020, p. 62) Creating

a research space is important because it allows writers to develop their own voice rather than spit

out information that is not theirs.

students that were struggling with writer’s block and gathering their ideas for writing, with a

piece of work that presented them with useful knowledge on the topic. I concluded that the best

way to do that, would be to translate everything into an article. Within my article, I wanted to

present different strategies for young writers who are experiencing writer’s block, but also

explain to them the idea of pre-writing and why it is such an important step in the overall writing

process. I liked the idea of writing an article because the genre is pretty flexible. Every article

looks different and there is not a strict format. I think the hardest part of writing my WP2 article

was finding the best information to utilize. I had found so many useful sources and had so much

I wanted to discuss but could not include it all. I made my decisions on which information to

include in my article by what I believed would be the most helpful for student writer’s to learn. I

determined this by which information interested me the most, as a writer, and what I believed I

would use in the future to benefit my own writing. I wanted to also convey the importance of this

prewriting step because it is one that is often overlooked. I personally skipped this step

frequently in the past because I was often working within a tight deadline and just wanted to get

the assignment done. But, I was making it a lot harder for myself in the long run.

When writing my final draft of my article, I struggled with incorporating my own voice

and perspective within my article. I wanted to establish myself in the conversation and believed

that by offering different sides to the conversation, and combining the different aspects of the

pre-writing process from various sources, would be beneficial for my intended audience. I

definitely experienced points of writer’s block in places I wanted to input my own opinion into

the research, however, I reassured myself that this was a normal feeling that happened to every

writer. Thankfully, I had gained some strategies for how to combat this feeling. I learned that it
was acceptable to step away from the keyboard at times and gather my thoughts and opinions.

For that reason, I am glad that I was assigned this project because I learned new approaches to

writing that I will likely use frequently in the future. Despite all the challenges, it was worth it in

the end.

Bibliography

Wardle, E., & Downs, D. (2020). Writing about writing. Bedford/St. Martin's, Macmillan

Learning.

DePeter, R. (2020). How to write meaningful peer response praise. Parlor Press.

Rosenberg, K. (2011). Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources. Writing

Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 2. Parlor Press.