My Writing Process

     My writing processes for both the informational and narrative essays were almost identical. For each one, I spent a few minutes mentally brainstorming and then started plugging away on the page. If I don't get something on paper, I'm liable to stare at a blank screen for hours, so I find it's better to get something out there and refine it later than stress about perfection before the horses even leave the gate.

     If I am going to write effectively, I need two things: quiet and comfort. When there's too much going on around me, I get distracted. Distraction can be devastating when I'm trying to be creative because my thoughts move and change quickly. If I miss a link in the chain then I find myself completely lost and have to start over from scratch. My train of thought is also derailed if I am 'too' anything. If I'm too hot, too cold, too hungry, too full, too tired, too energetic, that's all I can think about. For these reasons, the best places for me to write are at the library and at home, in that order.

     When I'm in the library, I know I'll have a quiet, calm place to work free of interruption. Occasionally someone nearby will be rude and noisy, but then I can simply move. Unfortunately, I can't control the temperature in the library but that's usually not a problem anyway. My home is usually quiet, especially before my wife and sisters get back, but when they do distractions abound. They want to talk about their days which I typically enjoy, but when I need to get work done I may as well give up for that night. Another problem about being at home is that the privacy and comfort enable me to procrastinate more easily. When I'm at the library I don't want people to see what I watch on YouTube and don't have the temptations of video games and the rest of the internet nagging at me. At least at home, however, I can control the temperature, and easily get food if I start feeling hungry.

     Once I've finished writing something, I like to transcribe it into a text-to-speech app and let it read my paper back to me. This is handy for catching accidentally omitted words that won't always show up on Word's error catcher. After that, I'll wait a few days before I read it again so that I can read my sentences with fresh eyes and come up with better ways to phrase things and evaluate what needs more explanation and what can be more concise.