Melissa Redfield Dr.

Steffen Guenzel ENC 1101 Fall 2013 10/30/13 Final Draft Creating the Perfect Masterpiece Writing has proven time and time again to be a complex process. The thought of scrambling a cluster of words together to create a paper persuading, analyzing, or describing a subject or study makes anyone cringe. The contemplation of starting a paper can drive people up a wall. I feel as though the hardest part of writing a paper is actually starting the paper. The question: how do I write? Can best be answered in Barbara Tomlinsons article Tuning, Tying, and Training Texts: Metaphors for Revision. Tomlinsons article breaks down the writing process in where she studied 2000 writers and what they perceived the writing process as. She then uses eight clever metaphors in which she describes the writing process using the metaphors: refining ore, casting and recasting, sculpting, painting, sewing and tailoring, and tying things off. I believe that Tomlinson breaks off the writing process into eight parts so that the average every day writer can compare their work procedures to any one of those steps. Now even though writing is a vigorous process that involves a lot of thought and time, I find myself comparing my writing process to one metaphor in particular. When writing major assignments, I find that I can compare my writing process to what Tomlinson refers to as painting. As there are many parts to the writing process and creating the perfect paper, I felt as though the way in which I complete my writing assignments can best

Redfield 2 be described as painting, considering I myself am a painter. When I begin a painting, I start out with a rough sketch of what I plan on completing on my canvas. Ill either take a piece of paper or sketch right on to the canvas itself with a pencil. Just like painting, I do the same for writing. I always find myself taking a few scraps of paper and writing down an outline or two with a complete thesis and a few details of what each paragraph will contain and how I will get my point across. Maybe in some cases, Ill look back over something Ive written or sketched onto a canvas and be dissatisfied with it. In that case, I am able to change and adapt my work before I get into the depths of it. Thats the beauty of a rough draft or sketch; it is never set in stone and is such an early stage in the development process that changes to it wont damage the paper. In her article, Tomlinson articulates that painting, another delicate process requiring something of art as well as skill, also implies substantial reformulation (Tomlinson 256). She is comparing the writing process to the manner in which a piece of art is created, and how even though it is a fine skill, the painting part of the writing process is an early segment of the progression and there is much work to do before a paper would be completed. Painting is a vigorous process; you start with a blank slate and are expected to create a masterpiece from strategically placing and swiping paint in certain places, creating shadows, hues, and temperatures. Writing is the same kind of idea, you want to create a paper that will draw your audience in and make them want more. You can influence your audience to feel a certain way just by adding a color to a work, just as you can influence your

Redfield 3 audience to feel a certain way by adding facts, adjectives, and an attitude to your paper. Now painting isnt a one and done process. Artists spend months, even years, on specific pieces it took Leonardo Da Vinci four years to create the Mona Lisa, so that might give you some perspective on how important the painting part of the writing process actually is (DeCillis). When you begin to paint you start with a base layer, the colors you may want to see behind the subject you focus on, but it could change. Your idea of a piece you want to create can be totally different from the outcome you have, and it is totally ok. Writing is the same way, if your outline doesnt cover everything you want it to, your missing some minor details, or you dont like the flowchange it! Im a painter when it comes to writing because I find myself creating outlines for papers and going back and changing things about it, I am never fully satisfied with what I write until I am able to go back and paint over a few details. In Tomlinsons article she states: Gore Vidal uses painting imagery when he claims that he has altered his rewriting process over the years, like a painter changes materials (Tomlinson 257). I agree with this statement because as you get older, you start to understand the writing process better, and therefore spend less time fixing your mistakes. As a painter, you might start with watercolors, or washable paints, or even paint by number. As you start to get older, your techniques change, you move on to more serious mediums like acrylic and oil paint. As you get into more serious mediums like oil, you are able to create layers. I would compare part of my writing process to that of creating a painting with oils. I like to start with

Redfield 4 a base and build off of it. If I dont like how something is starting to sound or look, I simply am able to paint over it creating layers and layers of work, until I have my finished masterpiece. Just because I compare my writing to the painting part of the process, doesnt mean I forget the revision and editing process. To me, the painting process includes those steps as well. An excerpt from Gore Vidal explains this theory. Each book is worked over several times. I like to compare my method with that of painters centuries ago, proceeding, as it were, from layer to later. The first draft is quite crude, far from being perfect, by no means finished; although even then, even at that point, it has its final structure, the form is visible. After that I rewrite it as many times---apply as many layers---as I feel to be necessary (Vidal 220). While I write, I revise and edit constantly. I would compare that to the layers I add to a painting to create the texture and feel I ultimately want to express. By comparing my writing to painting, I feel just that more confident about my process. Tomlinson, with the help of excerpts from other contributing authors, has helped me understand my own writing. Starting with outlines and sketches helps construct the base of my writing and papers. I feel as though my process of painting and writing papers directly correlates with my work ethic itself. Im always open to new ideas and changes along the way. If something doesnt work out, you dont start over, you build from it. Working layer by layer, I construct the body of my paper, getting my ideas out on paper in a flow that works with my thesis. Even if the paper isnt my ideal final draft, I still can go back and build off of the layers that Ive created to make the perfect final draft. By comparing my text to painting I am able to

Redfield 5 take a step back and re-evaluate my writing process, and sometimes that is all that is needed when constructing a formal paper. Painting is all about creating something amazing from a simple sketch, and I believe that I can create a masterpiece from a simple outline on a piece of scratch paper.

Redfield 6

Works Cited DeCillis, Diane. "All About Mona." Mona Lisa Mania. Lido Gallery, n. d. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. <http://www.monalisamania.com/aammain.htm>. Tomlinson, Barbara. Tuning, Tying, and Training Texts: Metaphors for Revision. 1st ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 251-257. Print.