A theory of Writing

A Theory of Writing
Joseph Weisenberger
Arizona State University
English Composition 101

A theory of Writing

Writing is everywhere around you. We all write in different forms. The forms vary on what the
writers intentions are or what he or she wants to create. If youre a student, you likely live in a world of
essays and papers. If youre a business man, your writing is most likely proposals and reports and or
letters. If youre a journalist youre likely spending the most of your writing in the form of articles. There
are four main types of writings, expository, persuasive, narrative and descriptive. Three forms of writing,
Expository, Persuasive, and descriptive all develop an intention otherwise known as reflection. No
matter what form of writing youre practicing. Each one of them has its own guidelines and its own
importance in this highly written communicative world. What these entire writings share in common is
reflection.
Reflective writing records a writers process of thinking about what he or she is doing. Reflection
helps a writer grow beyond succeeding in a particular writing project. Most writing is reflective, where
you describe something that happened or develops a story. It gives the writer insight that leads to
further learning. With reflective writing writers can adapt to a variety of purposes, audiences and
contexts, it is important as writers learn to compose, a variety of texts for different purposes and
habitats. The most important function of reflective writing is to establish a habit of self-reflective
thinking within the writer. Like John Getty describes an American-Born Philanthropist and book
collector. Describes rhetoric as the act of speaking in such a manner, as to obtain the end for which we
speak. Rhetoric is important if you want people to do certain things, to use language thoughtfully, to
get them to do those things, or to understand things better. I use Rhetoric in my writings, by using
statement phrases that explains to the reader what my point is and understand my reasoning behind it.
The first time that I had to perform reflective writing myself was in the spring of 2016. It did feel
like a conduct at first. I was a first year English class at Arizona State University. Sure we were taught
about how to write essays, or letters. But we werent taught on How to write. In high school we werent

A theory of Writing

taught about the theory of writing, we werent taught about reflective writing or the habits of mind
when it came to writing. We were only taught how to structure sentences and later paragraphs. We
were taught how to research via the web. Outside of that we really werent taught about how to write.
It wasnt until I started taking this class that I learned the processes of writing. In Dr. Pacton class I,
learned the concepts of writing from rhetorical knowledge and how to write in an audiences point of
view. I learned how to read and analyze data in the form of an essay. I have learned how to write about
myself, something that I have always hated doing. I began thinking critically in making decisions about
what to write about and not write about and what researching methods to use. We also learned the
various components to the writing processes and using digital technology within our writing. Dr. Pacton
taught me the benefits of using habits of mind within my writing. In class on top of each writing
assignment, we had to write several journal entries which led us through the various elements of the
writing process. On top of the writing assignments we had to publish an e-portfolio of all of our writing
adventures published.
Our last assignment was a miscommunicated attempt at a good student giving the teacher what
he wants. Our assignment was to write an ethnography. To write this sort of paper is was required to
conduct some research within a community of choice. I decided to determine the health and lifestyle of
my friends and family, those that I am closest too. To conduct my research I developed a survey for this
community. Within the writing process I confused the rubric, with what I actually wrote. I had way too
much internet research that my paper consisted of too many statistics of a continuing problem. I was
not writing myself into the research that I completed nor was I incorporating my personal experiences
within my ethnography. I realized this after my completing my rough draft and my peer reviewers asked
that I write myself into this community, they wanted to see a personal story. I may have disagreed with
them, but I wanted to show myself responsive and taking advice about my writing from other writers.
After my revisions I did a better job later more personal, more honest before turning in the final draft.

A theory of Writing

After Dr. Pactons class, I hope to use reflection and began developing ways of using it in all of my future
writings. Reflection helps the writer develop his or her intentions determine the relation within your
audience. Uncover problems with writing processes, set goals for revision, and make decisions about
language and style. It provides the writer and reader, develop more insight into and control over
composing and revision.
Despite reflection within writing, one should also consider, the Habits of Mind refers to
several ways of approaching the learning process that will support students success in a variety careers
and studies. There are eight core habits that are essential in your career, as well as writing.

Curiosity- the desire to know more about the world

Openness- the willingness to consider new ways of being and thinking in the world

Engagement- a sense of investment and involvement in learning

Creativity- the ability to use novel approaches for generating, investigating, and
representing ideas

Responsibility- the ability to take ownership of ones actions and understand the
consequences of those actions for ones self and others

Flexibility- the ability to adapt to situations, expectations, or demands

Metacognition- the ability to reflect on ones own thinking as well as on the individual
and cultural processes used to structure knowledge.
("Framework for Success in Post-secondary Writing." N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Rpt. in
Council of Writing Programs Administrators. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-10. Print.)

The most important piece to consider when thinking about the Habits of Mind, and its
relationship to writing, is creativity, and critical thinking. As writers are asked to take risks, develop
research, explore questions, topics and ideas but also use methods that are new to the writer.
Represent what was learned in new ways and evaluate the effects and consequences of their own

A theory of Writing

creative choices. Thinking critically is involved in all aspects of writing a paper. By thinking critically the
writer realizes his or her intentions in piece of writing. A sense of audience and purpose and of what the
writer wants the essay to do, is essential to a good piece of communicative writing. Critical thinking
usually requires conducting research in more ways than one. Research can be done in a variety of
methods from online to conducting an interview. It is important to know details of a topic in a broad
range rather than only knowing the basics of a topic. Beginning an essay, with a personal story it often
helps to establish the writers relationship to the text and draws the reader into your writing. It also
helps ease the writer into more complex research. Once you start writing productively they produce a
much better chance of developing expertise and working more successfully in future writing situations.
Readers are engaged by clear, expressive writing and directed by critical thinking produces a movement
of ideas that give the essay more depth and meaning.

How will my own Writing Develop

As humans we are constantly learning, its what makes us who we are. One thing though that I
think grows overtime is our writing and our writing habits. Every one of us has a different style of writing
and that style can change the readers intentions of a piece. We learn to write by reading and evaluating
our own writing. But also reading other peoples writings, we start to develop the writers intentions
within that piece. We start to ponder, what the author is doing to create this mood, to develop this
character, create this tension, or set up a plot twist. We start to evaluate the writers intention whether
it is right or wrong, and by learning from their creativity, we learn how to use creativity better within our
own writing. Learning to write is not about memorizing a set of rules, its about mastering a technique.
Writing comes with revision and not creation. Learning to write is literally a lifelong process and one that
is constantly evolving.

A theory of Writing

Works Cited
Basbender, Gita. "Volume 2." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 2. Fort Collins: Colorado
State, 2011. 37-51. Print.