How to Balance Recursive Processing

Introduction
All writers each have a very specific and comfortable style in which they relay their thoughts and ideas from their mind to paper. While studying my own writing habits, I found a recursive nature to my processing while composing a paper, in addition to the use of a process called incubation. I was able to link these two processes back to a couple of essays written by Sondra Perl and Carol Berkenkotter. In Perls Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers, she mentions a specific writer named Tony, who is transfixed to the recursive writing process that proves to hinder his ability to write well. Berkenkotters Divisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Publishing Writer studies a more experienced writer in Donald Murray, who uses incubation as a cornerstone to writing a successful piece. The main question is, can a potentially detrimental recursive process actually be balanced for positive gain? I believe that with the right amount of recursiveness and incubation, the recursive process can actual be used as a positive tool.

Background
In order for me to investigate my own writing processes, I had to inscribe my thoughts while writing. I used a recording device on my tablet to record thoughts that I would vocalize whilst writing the paper. I made sure to say whatever would come to mind, even talking about a potential break, or the actual action of writing I was partaking in. After finishing this, I transcribed the entire tape, and analyzed what was said throughout the process. I noticed that on multiple occasions I would stop writing and proofread or read back the two or three sentences

that I had just written down. When a writer pauses and proofreads their work frequently, it is called the recursive process. Being a recursive writer can prove to potentially block some thoughts and ideas from leaving the pen and being inscribed on the paper. The constant worry of checking and rechecking what has previously been written prevents the flow of new and creative ideas. As said previously, Sondra Perl studies the recursive process found in an unskilled college writer. Tony, a former Marine, age 20, and one of the writers Perl analyzed, struggled mightily with the recursive process. His constant proofreading ended with him filling in words with his mind as he read that were not written in. Perl mentions even with his concern for revision and correctness, even with his enormous amount of time he invested in rereading and repetition, Tony concluded the composing process with unresolved stylistic and syntactic problems (Perl, 204). In addition to diagnosing myself as a recursive writer, I also found a very interesting process in my style of writing: incubation. Incubation is the process of abandoning ones work momentarily, to allow for unconscious ideas to emerge. In Berkenkotters study of Donald Murray, she pulls a quote from Michael Polanyi who describes incubation as that persistence of heuristic tension throughperiods of time in which problems are not consciously entertained (Berkenkotter, 225). Her subject, Murray, would stop writing for a period of time after reaching a point where different or more creative ideas were necessary. He would abandon his work, and clear his mind and not consciously entertain the issues in his work. In reading my transcript, I found that when I would hit the proverbial writers block wall, take a break from writing, and then return with more determination to write.

What I discovered
While I did not encounter any syntax issues due to my recursive processing, it did occasionally hinder my ability to get ideas down on the paper. Although some may believe that one could just rid themselves from being a recursive writer by simply eliminating the step of proofreading when writing, this is a very difficult habit to break. I believe that it is possible to have traces of the recursive process in a writing style while writing successfully. Personally, I found that if I was able to block off my proofreading into paragraph, and only read back after either the end of a paragraph or hitting the wall in regards to new thoughts or ideas. This is where incubation comes in. At one point in the transcript, I end up saying Im going to read this back over, and right after that, I end up taking a break. I ended up using my recursive process as a break (incubation) to allow myself to gather my thoughts, and create new ideas. The problem with this process was that I would catch myself taking too many breaks, and that my bad habit would take back over. The key, simply, is balancing the urge of proofreading with copying down all the ideas in mind, and then once you have all of the creative ideas are copied down, taking a short break proves to be very beneficial to the overall product. Students today often struggle with procrastination when facing an essay or some sort of assignment involving writing. Most of us have had the difficulty of having a writers block, and when we get a sentence or two down, we will often get hung up on making that sentence or two perfect. Writers that struggle with the recursive process, like me, need to infuse the process of incubation into our writing. We need to start writing early (well in advance to the due date), break frequently, and copy down anything and everything that comes to mind. This style of writing provides a more serene and creative atmosphere for the writer to write. From personal experience, as well as background knowledge of high school and college writing assignments, a paper is rarely started as soon as it is assigned.

Normally a couple of days before the due date arrives is when the writing process will start for a high school or college students. Using the tools of starting to conceptualize, think, and copy ideas down onto paper immediately, while spreading out writing time by taking mind-cleansing breaks will allow a perfect storm for success.

Coding
In addition to the recursive and incubation processes I used, I was able to code how I write based on the meaning of each comment I made during my transcript by categorizing them. I broke down my transcript into seven categories: LP (Local Planning, talking out what idea will come next), FI (Fill-Ins, such as Um or Hmm), INC (Incubation, taking breaks and clearing the mind), A (Assessing, judging the writing), Q (Questions), TW (talking that leads to writing), and S (writing silently). Here is the breakdown: Category LP FI INC A Q TW S Frequency 10 16 2 3 2 14 10 Percentage 17.54% 28.07% 3.5% 5.3% 3.5% 24.56% 17.54%

Most of my time speaking, specifically 28 percent, is while using filler words, such as Um, Okay, Hmm, or Alright. After the frequency of filler words, 24.5% of the time was spent talking that eventually led to writing. I spent 17.5 percent of the time using local planning, and

17.5 percent of the time in silence typing. 5.3 percent was spent assessing and judging my writing (proofreading). Finally, 3.5 percent was spent using incubation, or on break, and the final 3.5 percent involved asking questions. Although the two processes that I have explained to be the main processes of my writing were not frequently vocalized, they prove to be the most important.

Conclusion
Balancing the recursive process is not an easy task, but if one struggles with being a recursive writer, it is a possible outlet to help restructure the habit. If the writer can control the urge to reread every other sentence that he or she writes, and makes it only any incremental task, while ensuring to spill all potential ideas on to paper immediately. Incubation and using breaks during writing help with the recursive process, allowing the writer to gather their thoughts and create new ideas. If a recursive writer can learn to use the process of incubation to their advantage, they can turn the negativity of recursiveness on its head, and use it for success.

WORKS CITED
Berkenkotter, Carol. Divisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Publishing Writer. Wardle and Downs 218-228 Perl, Sondra. The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers. Wardle and Downs 200-205 Wardle, Elizabeth, and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print.