On Demand vs Extended Time Writing

I think it is important also consider the types of writing that we do in our everyday lives. The majority of the writing I do, and what I ask from my students is on demand: emails, essays, reflections. I think that this kind of writing requires a very different approach and thus process, because the time we have to respond is much shorter. I think that this type of writing privileges efficiency over creativity.

That being said, all of the writing processes I read or watched, in some way shape or formed were intertwined with other forms of media. Personally, when I’m writing and I have a bunch of tabs open ( including my social networks) plus music playing I get frustrated with how little I get accomplished. I liked Michelle’s observation that “Composing for [her]is a balance between chaos and composure”. I find that often when I write and am trying to multitask the chaos takes over and I get little done. In fact the whole notion of being able to multitask is a myth.

THE MYTH OF MULTITASKING

That’s not to say that there isn’t validity to their process. Many of the composers used music, and they talked about how it informed and influenced their writing by connecting them to their community or influencing their flow. Obviously this plays a big part in their creative process and is a needed component in creating original work. Yet these composers all seem to have extended time to write, reflect, dialogue, research, write, revise, dialouge, dance, write, edit, publish. This type of writing requires a lot of discipline and maturity that is difficult for high school students to do. It also requires students to be focused on one idea or essay for an extended time period, which can be exhausting depending on the developmental stage of the student.

In short, I found it very insightful to see how other composers viewed their own creative writing process from start to finish. I found many of their practices paralleled my own, but I also saw many that I would not include as part of the process, but rather part of their procrastination. From a teaching perspective, I see a need for students to develop and own their own process, but also see how having 40 different creative processes would be difficult to manage in a classroom setting and result in getting little accomplished. Finding a happy medium, that provides some structure and guidance, but also gives student some autonomy in how they write is a needed part of this discussion.