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Writing Process Task 2

John Ashley wrote a paper discussing writer's block and the importance of flexible outlining over rigid rules. He summarizes an article by Mike Rose where Rose studied students' writing processes. Rose found that students who struggled used rigid rules like strict grammar guidelines or requiring themselves to have a perfect first paragraph. In contrast, successful student writers used more flexible outlines and were willing to change ideas as they wrote. Ashley reflects on how he had the same problems with rigid rules as students in Rose's study. He was able to draft more successfully by avoiding strict rules and allowing himself to freely develop and change ideas during the writing process.

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38 views3 pages

Writing Process Task 2

John Ashley wrote a paper discussing writer's block and the importance of flexible outlining over rigid rules. He summarizes an article by Mike Rose where Rose studied students' writing processes. Rose found that students who struggled used rigid rules like strict grammar guidelines or requiring themselves to have a perfect first paragraph. In contrast, successful student writers used more flexible outlines and were willing to change ideas as they wrote. Ashley reflects on how he had the same problems with rigid rules as students in Rose's study. He was able to draft more successfully by avoiding strict rules and allowing himself to freely develop and change ideas during the writing process.

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Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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John Ashley

Prof. Vazquez

ENC 1101

27 October 2020

Writing Process Task 2 – Part 1

Many students struggle to write a good essay and can sit around for hours with no idea

in mind. This is what is known as a writer’s block. Mike Rose covers this topic in “Rigid Rules,

Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language” where he discusses the problems and roots that

lead to many students dealing with this.

When discussing the main problems, he uses a study of 10 students where 5 were

capable of writing, while the other 5 struggled with blocks. The main difference relating to

these were the rigid rules that the struggling students had compared to the more flexible rules

successful students used for problem solving. The rigid rules generally related to strict ones

students were taught in the past, such as grammar rules, or using 3 points. Others also tried to

perfect their first paragraph, or each paragraph before moving to the next. This was the

problem that many students faced and with longer essays, it resulted in many late or

dysfunctional assignments and results.


Rose would also compare this to the rules and plans that the successful students had,

which were generally less restrictive and existent. These students typically ditched the rules

they learned in the past if it clashed or didn’t fit into their essay. Instead, they continued to

write and expand on ideas from the beginning. This is what separated these students from the

ones who struggled. Rose related the rigid rules to algorithms, or heuristics and mentioned how

this view of a highly fluid process being mechanic was incorrect. (Rose, 798). His study

showcases the importance of having a fluid and flexible plan over a rigid one to be more

successful in your drafts and essays.

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Writing Process Task 2 – Part 2

After reading this selection, my attitude towards writing and rules changed a bit and I’m

more aware of what to avoid when writing an essay. One of my main problems with writing was

very similar to the problem Rose mentioned about Ruth, which was being grammatically correct

and my first paragraph having to set the tone (Rose, 794). There are a lot of rules we use from

previous classes that people force themselves to use, such as being linear, perfecting a single

paragraph, or having perfect grammar. I’ve encountered most of these problems before but

reading this has showed me how to avoid that and have more flexible rules to follow.

Making a more flexible ruleset helped me when writing my draft for the project. I didn’t

try to create one idea and stick to it when I couldn’t, or focus so much on one paragraph to try

and perfect it. I was able to think about and throw around some ideas while writing to make it
work. However, there are still problems I can fix that still come up. One of the main changes I

could make would be related to how much doubt I have in some ideas and completely

scrapping them before I think about it. That’s still a major time waster that can occur that can

be improved in future drafting processes. Rose has showed me concepts and rules to avoid and

how I should allow myself to get my ideas down when they aren’t perfect, and the next step for

me is to consider and expand on the ideas I have during the drafting process.

WORKS CITED
Rose, Mike. “Shitty First Drafts.” Writing About Writing: A College Reader. 3rd edition, edited by

Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, Benford St. Martin’s, 2016, 787-802

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