Running head: AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 1

Abstract
This paper allows the reader to gain insight into my writing process. It explores my
composing process from the research I conducted, using recordings that I took while
writing an essay. It also discusses scholars who inspired me to research my own
composing process. Their relationship to this paper contributes by giving me ideas
about focusing on rules, attitudes, and habits that I follow when writing. Using notes
that I took on my recordings, allows the reader to view my method during this research.
This paper examines my overall conclusions of my writing process.

















AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 2

Autoethnography
My ideas of writing were based on rules I had learned in high school. Going into college
I wanted to see if the rules I was taught would work for me now. Within only two semesters in
college I have been challenged to think about my writing process, to understand what makes me
compose papers the way I do. The force and energy of this paper came from the curiosity of
wanting to evaluate myself as a writer. I began conducting my study with the goal of figuring
out what my strengths and flaws were when writing. With that goal in mind, came questions
such as, do I have certain habits or structures that I follow? Do I have a set of rules that I go by?
I wanted a better look into these things. I felt that maybe I can benefit from studying this and
perhaps gain insight in areas of my writing I was unaware of. This study has given me an
understanding of what rules and structures govern my writing process and how they affect my
writing. I will discuss how I went about my composing process, how I analyzed it, and what
final conclusions I came to in this study.
After reading many articles from different scholars who did their own studies in this area
of composing as well, I realized that composing a paper consist of so much detail and stages.
The articles I read went into depth about writing processes and I found that many of these
articles were true to my own study. What has really influenced me to examine my own writing
process, are scholars who did their own studies in this area of composing as well. The argument
of there being a standard English was made by scholar Linda M. Christensen (1990). Her
argument was about how students who dont speak standard English learn to speak it, and how
that effects their attitudes and ways of writing. She believes there are many ways of writing, and
the standard English we are all taught is not the only one to follow. This opened my eyes to new
perspectives of writing. I was on the lookout during my study for this standard English and

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 3

whether or not I followed that in my own writing process. Realizing that many of us students
follow standard English can lead us to writers block, which brings me to my other inspiring
scholar. Mike Rose (1980) had an amazing point in his argument about rules that can create
writers block. Rose discussed how some writers tend to stick to a set of rules they once learned,
and in the process they get themselves stuck. They find themselves in a position where they do
not know what to write next. Roses (1980) article helped me see where I was struggling and
what habits or set of rules caused me to run into writers block. These scholars along with
others, helped me study my writing process and showed me how to question the way I write. I
tried to conduct my study based on what I learned from them. Analyzing my writing process and
being on the look out for anything Rose (1980) and Christensen (1990) discussed in their articles,
is how I conducted myself throughout this study.
My method throughout this study was simple. I decided to write a three page essay
focused on my writing process and record myself thinking out loud throughout the whole essay.
With the same goals in mind similar to this paper, I focused on my writing habits, attitudes, and
structures that I follow. I recorded myself with purpose of analyzing each recording to really see
and hear for myself, what my writing process was. In total, I collected a little over 3 ours of
recordings in the time span of two days. I began by dividing up my recordings into five minute
segments each and taking note of everything that happened in those recordings. The reason
being was to help me keep track of how much time I spent writing, thinking, and planning. I was
able to see if I was very distracted or more focused when I was writing. Each five minutes gave
me new bits of information about myself such as, how long I spent writing my thesis, or how
often I stopped to reread what I had. Thinking out loud was not easy, and I had several
recordings where I stuttered and I did not make sense. I ran into this problem several times.

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 4

This made it difficult to analyze at times, but I found that as I read along with my recording I
was able to figure out what I was thinking in the minutes where I would stutter. Analyzing my
recordings and taking notes each segment, served as the basis of my study and is what showed
me what my writing process was.
After listening to all these recordings, I then read all of the notes I had taken from them.
My notes are what made me understand my writing process because they described to me what I
was thinking. For example, from hearing a recording segment I was able to listen to what I was
thinking, but from reading my notes I was able to see how long I took to think about something.
My notes also show many times I would change my mind about a sentence, or how often I would
stop to reread. From beginning to end I was able to see how I planned my essay and how my
ideas changed throughout composing it. I saw how I went about my paragraphs, and my revising
stage. Everything that I was thinking throughout my recordings was all laid out for me. I
learned that my writing process was based on what I learned in high school. I believe that this
study has given me enough insight of my composing process to enhance areas I am good at and
to fix areas where I struggle.
The significant thing that I learned from my study, was how I get engrossed in my
writings. What makes this so significant to me, is that I never realized all the effort I put into
planning, composing, and revising my papers. My effort causes me to spend countless amount
of hours in a paper, I immediately saw this play out in my recording segments during my
planning. In the first two to three recordings I spent most of the time planning out what I was
going to discuss. The next four segments of recordings were spent on trying to come up with a
good opening sentence and thesis statement. From those segments alone, I realized how much
time I took planning. In fact, I learned that my planning strategies were successful. I found

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 5

myself meeting all the plans I was thinking about in the first few segments of my recordings. As
for my planning strategies, I thought of all the things I wanted to discuss in my essay and then I
would begin writing, which brings me to my next several recording segments.
Composing was the area I saw myself most freely writing without spending as much time
thinking or planning. This area is where I realized how I would just write until I did not know
what else to say. I began composing by segment 14. At this time I was deeply concentrated in
what I was saying. I saw this because as I would write, I was not distracted easily. There were
moments where I would receive a text message and completely ignore it. After I ran out of
words to say, I began to reread what I had written. I noted that this seemed to be a habit I had
throughout the paper. I would take the moments where I did not know what else to say as break
to pause and reread what I had. In a way this served as a strategy to give me a new direction in
what to talk about next. This was a constant habit that was reoccurring throughout the essay. I
also learned that during the time that I would pause to reread my sentences was also a time I
would begin editing them. I would try to reword sentences or correct areas that did not fit
correctly. This fits in to my revising process.
At the end of my essay I took the time to revise it, but as I mentioned earlier, my revising
would also take place after I would reread. My last recording segments were based on my
ending of the essay and my revising. I was not very surprised to find that my closing paragraph
was much like my opening paragraph. They were similar because like my opening paragraph, I
wanted a good conclusion paragraph. I saw myself using the same strategies I used for my
opening paragraph, such as, spending a large amount of time planning. However, in this case I
struggled trying to make my closing paragraph at least eight sentences long. I found that I was
beginning to repeat a lot of things I had mentioned throughout the paper. I ran into a writers

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 6

block. In my third to last segment, I decided to stop there and continue it another day. This is
what brings me to my final conclusion. After taking that break I was able to finish my closing
paragraph and revise my paper. Revising only took one of my recording segments because I
spent most of my revising time when I would pause to reread during my composing process.
The last thing I did was have my older brother read my paper. After he read it, I revised the
areas he thought needed correction.
In response to my results, I would like to continue to change and mold my writing
process to enhance it. I found out how much I really over think things. There were sessions
where I did not accomplish anything simply because I was trying to reword a sentence or make it
sound better. I learned where my strengths were such as planning, but I also learned that I spent
too much time planning and I would get myself stuck. I plan to take into consideration my study
as well as the information I have read from previous scholars, and apply it to my future essays.
These results can be used to help me form a better writing process and to give me a new fresh
perspective of my own writing. It is the start of new composing process for me. I believe my
process will constantly be improving throughout my future years in writing. It is only for my
benefit that I continue to mold it. The purpose of my study was to see where I am as a writer and
to enhance my writing process. I have completed my study and now aim to strengthen my
composing process as much as possible.






AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 7

References
Christensen, L. M. (1990). Teaching Standard English: Whose Standard?. The English
Journal, 79, 36-40. http://www.jstore.org/stable/819097.
Rose, M. (1980). Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plan, and the Stifling of Language: A
Cognitivist Analysis of Writers block. College Composition and Communication, 31,
389-401. http://www.jstore.org/stable/356589.


















AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 8

Appendix A
Portrait of a Writer
What is a portrait of a writer? The title itself is describing something about a writer. The
definition of a portrait is a photograph, drawing, or an engraving of a person. If we take those
meanings and put it together with the word writer, we can come to a conclusion that we are
going to read about a picture or an engraving of a writer. I would like to give you, the reader, a
full portrait of my writing. This will include reflecting on how I have developed as a writer,
how I see myself as a writer, what my attitudes toward writing are, and what common writing
practices I use. These things will give you an image, a study, or simply a portrait of my writing.
My writing developed throughout my years of schooling. Unlike most kids, I was home
schooled from first grade through high school. You can say my schooling was a bit different
from someone who went to public school, because I had the same teacher for every subject every
school year. My mother was my Math, History, Science, and of course my English teacher. My
writing developed from what she taught me about writing and from my English books. Since
fourth grade when I started writing book reports to now being a freshman in college, my writing
has greatly developed. I now have a writing process that I tend to follow for every paper I
compose. I see that I have a better sense of direction when I write as well. I like to think about
what I am going to write in an essay long before I begin the process. I find myself writing
sentences in my mind and thinking about topics that I will discuss. These things are
developments I have had in writing since fourth grade.
To put an image to my portrait, I would like to move into how I see myself as a writer.
As a writer I consider myself as an engaged person. I begin to get involved and consumed in the
topic I am writing about. For example, I love to talk! I can talk all day long, and with the right

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 9

people I can hold conversations for very long periods of time. This is not because I try to see
how long I can last talking to someone, but because I get absorbed in what I am saying. If you
can imagine that, then you can moderately get a glimpse of how I write. It is as if I write all my
ideas down until I cannot think anymore, and I easily get engrossed in a paper.
To enhance this portrait I am laying out for you, I would like to discuss another
perspective of my attitudes towards writing. I would compare my current attitudes towards
writing, to a chore I actually enjoy doing. Although I enjoy writing for the most part, there are
times where I treat it with the attitude of it being a chore. I have a negative attitude when I am
forced to write about a topic I am unsure about. A subject that I do not fully understand is hard
to write about. My attitudes come from my inspiration on the subject. If I feel that I know
enough about my topic or subject my attitude towards writing is an excited one. There have been
a few key moments that have shaped my attitude towards writing and towards myself as a writer.
A moment I remember that was key shape to my attitude was when I was in 6th grade writing a
book report. I remember being so mad and frustrated because I wrote my book report and I was
sure it was great, only for my mom to correct it and make me do it all over again. I remember
her saying, If you dont have time to do it right, you must have time to do it over again and
that was when I realized that my attitude was wrong. My attitude was just trying to get it done.
I tried so hard to write as many words as I could and finish it quick that I ended up making no
sense and having to do it over again. When she told me that, of course I did not receive it well. I
was furious at the fact that I was going to have to start over. It was after that, that my attitude
changed and I desired to do so well on my book reports, that I would not need to start all over
like I did that time. I always try to go all out on my papers and have an attitude to do it right and
beyond anyones expectations. This moment helped me see what kind of a writer I was. At the

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY 10

time my writings showed that I was just trying to get it done and that I was not putting my effort
into it. This experience was when I changed my attitude and now I see myself as a writer who
takes pride in her work.
My final point to finish my portrait are common writing practices that I use. My writing
process is simple. I begin thinking about what my topic is days before writing and what I am
going to write about. After that, I begin putting everything on my mind onto paper. I choose in
the order of what I want to discuss first, and continue from there. For long papers, I try to start
them within enough time so that I can brainstorm and write it in pieces. The rules I try to follow
when writing are the basic ones such as brainstorming, writing a thesis, writing rough drafts,
using synonyms and other rules like that. I use them as a guide and to help give me better
formation. Revising my paper is never fun because I always find things I do not like in my
papers and I end up getting frustrated. I try to focus on checking to see if my main idea is
apparent and understandable. I will change or manipulate sentences that I feel are key to my
paper just to be sure they are modifying what they need to.
Throughout this paper I have described how I have developed as a writer, how I see
myself as a writer, my attitudes towards writing, and my common writing practices. All of these
things shared a great key pieces in my portrait. I went over examples and stories to help give an
image to this portrait. From being a little home schooled girl to a college student, we have seen
that my attitude changed and developed.