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Bobby Mahoney Professor Walcott ENC 1101 10/8/2012 Writing Self Study Introduction Writing, along with any other activity, takes repetition and practice to become more skilled. There are not many people in this world who are born with extreme talent in various fields of study. Although writing does take practice like other skills, it is slightly different from the others; take sports for instance. With sports, one focuses on how to be good at that sport and practices drills that specializes in their game. Everything is text-book and if it is followed correctly it will bring them close to perfect in their sport. Writing, on the other hand, is unique to each person and cannot be practiced the same way by everyone. Everyone has their different styles and there isnt one style that is better than another. One thing that we can all agree on, though, is that writing can be very tedious and takes practice to become a skilled writer. This very topic is studied by many researchers today. For years researchers have been interested in and studied different writers processes and what makes them write that way. So far not one has come to a final conclusion on the subject. Researchers such as Sondra Perl have set up experiments which have done a good job on analyzing the matter and have received some interesting results. The problem with these

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experiments is that everyone is unique in their writing and the only person who can analyze their writing fully is themselves. A researcher cant sit their subject down and stare into their head to get all of the thoughts and information out of their mind. Therefore it is up to the subject to develop a technique that will analyze their writing process, which is what the rest of the article focuses on. Methodology Before I even came to my research question, a lot of preparation was involved in the process. Before any writing took place I was given reading assignments written by Sondra Perl, Carol Berkenkotter, and Donald Murray. These writers took different routes in their experiments; Perl studying new writers and Berkenkotter studying Donald Murray, an experienced writer. I focused more on Perls article, as I regard myself as a new writer rather than an experienced writer. Her article was very informative and brought many interesting points which I could relate to. One thing that they brought into their experiments was the think-aloud process, which externalized their thinking process as much as possible (Perl, 194.) After completing the journal assignments I wrote an essay about how I write where I described how I felt about my writing process in as much detail as possible. Everything I do during my writing process and all the habits I have while doing it were included in the paper. While writing this essay I verbally translated everything that was going through my head during all times of my process. I attempted to repeat every little thought that raced through my mind, out loud. To keep track of all my sounds I recorded the entire process on my laptop so I could come back at a later time and review the video. After reviewing the video I then transcribed it.

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Anything and everything that was heard from the video was thrown onto a piece of paper. This includes anything that was going on around me, any odd saying that came from my mouth, and any side-notes that came to my mind while writing. Once the transcribing was completed I read over it a few times. We developed a coding rubric in class which I therefore followed to find patterns in my writing. I noticed things such as repetitive pretzel eating, my out-loud stuttering, and me constantly talking to myself. All my data was collected so it was time to analyze my information and come to answers about my writing process. Findings The study that I performed shows that there were many environmental factors that pose as a threat while writing but also assist me. I noticed that while I write there are many surrounding activities going on at the same time. These activities include unreasonably loud music, dimwitted TV shows, obnoxious food-eating, and any side conversations with passersby. Not only do the activities have some impact on me, the time of day also plays a role in this. I saw from my coding that I repeated myself on almost every thought and sometimes changed the entire thought. The repeated thought is most likely due to the catchy beat of the music surrounding me that can just not be avoided. I talk to myself out loud quite often and if I didnt hear myself the first time I have to repeat it. While the obvious idea would be to turn down the music down or even off, it cant be done. I get bored easily and if the music is too low Ill focus too much on trying to hear what beat its at. Another problem I came across was losing a thought completely. I believe this is the result of the TV show that is going on while Im

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composing thoughts in my head. The TV distracts me but at the same time I stay entertained so I can keep writing my essay without getting entirely sidetracked; I would almost call it my happy median. One last thing that really stood out in my transcription was the countless number of space fillers I had such as umm and I personally said lets see way too many times. I think this could have been for a few reasons; one of these reasons mightve been the fact that I felt like I needed to be talking out loud at all times to get better information for my transcription. The other reason, which I believe to be true, was to get myself back on track and keep the train of thought going. After every lets see I immediately followed it with a new idea and it basically got me back in the zone every time I got distracted. Just about every essay Ive ever had to write on my own time was done the very last minute, usually being the night before. When I wrote the think aloud essay it was night time and I found that the outside quietness puts me in a comfort zone that allows me to write more smoothly. The fact that I know that no one around me is doing anything, allows me to focus on my writing. While the night time gives me a sense of quietness, Im usually more tired and my ideas dont come as easy. Although, there is always the feeling of being rushed when writing essays last minute, which I usually enjoy. I do realize that if I gave myself more time to write then I would have a good chance of acquiring better ideas. There are many different external factors that come to play when I finally decide to begin my writing process. Discussion While carrying out this study I came to multiple conclusions and found a relative answer to my question. This experiment showed me my writing process and it helped me figure out

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skills to improve my writing. When dealing with my surroundings I think that if I changed some of my usual actions I would be able to focus more on the actual writing than other things around me. Ive come to conclude that playing my music too loud distracts my thought patterns and trying to write with a TV on isnt ideal for me. I found that the best time for me is to write is still during the night but I need to give myself more time and even plan ahead. Im given more time for a reason and I need to take advantage of that. With giving myself more time gives me more chance to develop better ideas. After going over my data and looking at my results, I noticed a few things that I shouldve or should not have done, and things that I can change if I attempt to do this again in the future. One thing that I should have done was to write my think aloud essay in different environments or at different time periods. This would have given me two different subjects to compare and provide me with even more information about my own writing. I dont think I should have taken my self-portrait essay lightly because I would have more information to work with; although writing in comfort and in my natural environment gave me more valid information. If I ever attempt this study again, I will do one of two things: I will either write the same essay in chunks and in different contexts, or I will write multiple, shorter, writings in different contexts. This study gave me a good understanding of my own writing and helped me gain skills to improve it. Berkenkotter and Perls studies were very well put together, but one cannot fully learn about anothers writing process so easily. The think-aloud idea gives the writer a whole new perspective on their writing and lets them break it down a lot more easily. I believe that

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my procedure gave me great information on my unique writing and I can now use these newfound skills to improve my writing composition.

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Works Cited
Perl, Sondra. "The Composing Process of Unskilled College Writers." Writing About Writing: A College Reader. N.p.: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 191-215. Print.

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