Don't Just Write a Paper, Take a Trip

Have you ever asked this question before: Do I really need to take the time and go through a writing process to achieve a good quality paper?  This is a question most people who have written an academic paper have asked themselves at some point in time, especially during tight deadlines and time constraints. I confess, I have.  

The answer is yes. You do have to go through a writing process to achieve quality writing. However, it does not have to be just any process. Producing good quality writing most often involves some type of pre-writing, outlining, drafting, and revision, which can all add up to be a lot. However, instead of the writing process being an extra series of tasks or chores to trudge through (sometimes begrudgingly), I suggest you look at your process in a new way and try something different to make it work for you. Try this. Each time you start a new piece of scholarly writing that involves research, imagine your writing process like taking a trip, the trip of a lifetime, complete with a satisfying narrative. 

Beginning –The Pre-writing

I encourage you to begin your writing process, as you would your travels, with keen analysis. From your experience as both a traveler and a researcher, you will gain useful information and you will find flaws in your information. When you travel, you may encounter the hotel brochure’s description of your quaint charming accommodations was just an act to masquerade that your room is nothing more than a mop closet with a doll sized bed. In turn, as you do your research you may find that one of your sources produced a thorough analysis of the season of winter, spring, and fall, but for some reason left out summer. You make a decision to look to a different research source or to look into reasons as to why the author of this source may have done left out summer. Your individual take on your own experience with the information you acquire on your topic is the value of your paper. Your readers want to gain your perspective: the pros, the cons, your response to them, and your stance on your experience (your trip) and what you make of it all.

Middle – The Outline 

From there, you must decide how you will document your journey –the process of transcribing your thoughts into words. The thing is – is that thinking is not a linear process, and molding and shaping thoughts from the brain into linear formats like paragraphs and essays involves transformation. Thus, the very nature of the writing process itself helps connect writers to a linear path. This linear path is your outline, often referred to as a road map that illustrates how you want your readers to get from Point A to Point B and so on.

Because the writing process is cyclical, meaning you do not have to follow a specific chronological writing process order, like: pre-writing first, then outlining, next drafting/composing, and last revision, you can go out of order and shape the way you write just like when you travel and decide how would reach your destination.  You are free to orchestrate it however you would like. If you prefer to take the train to a café and then bike out to the coast, do it. Or, if you prefer to take the train the whole way to the coast, you can make that choice. You can decide because it’s your trip. Similarly, if you want to free-write then create a draft, or if you want to create a draft, revise, and then brainstorm, it’s up to you to decide. It’s your paper. Navigate your thinking process like you navigate a trip, choose what is the easiest and most enjoyable for you.

End –The Product

The climax of the writing process is when the writer discovers what her thesis or the purpose statement will be and sees the subtopics that will further support and prove the thesis to be true. This revelation presents the ah-ha moment, for the writer now has solved the problem of what to write about regarding the topic at hand and knows the one main point, the overall stance she will take on her topic. This is the moment when the whole paper often comes together and falls into place – so to speak and the outline, the road map, the plan is realized. For example, I may conclude my tropical vacation presented island life as a series of marketing disappointments among a back drop of serene natural environments. In regards to my research topic, I may determine that the Midwestern climate presents four distinct seasons that parallel human states of being. In both cases I have reached a final main point based on my interpretation of my topic.

And it’s all downhill from here. When you engage in your writing process, you really can partake in a narrative trip to a new destination and discover your topic in a new and rejuvenating way.  I highly encourage you to do so! Throw yourself into new territory, and be a traveler in your own narrative writing process from the beginning all the way to the end.

Christina Lundburg is a writing instructor in the Walden University Writing Center and is driven by the desire to grow, shape, and develop a page to reach its highest potential. When she is not immersed in student papers, she enjoys dance classes, coffee shopes, and time with her husband and son. 

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