Mukati 1

Zain Mukati

Professor Pierson

ENC 1101 Commented [ZM1]: Fixed heading to be times new

roman 12 point
10/6/2017
Writing is Complex

When I joined debate in the sophomore year of high school I was taught all the basic

concepts which I had gotten by without such as indentation, the difference between theyre and

there, and a multitude of others. These contributions to my literacy (Brandt, 1998) helped me

greatly during my time in both debate and school. Even though at this point in my life I don't

consider myself to be an outstanding writer, debate club gave me some confidence that I could at

least get a decent paper out if I work hard enough. This tutoring from my debate team not only

improved my writing skills, but it also changed my writing process. Before I went into debate, I

simply wrote a paper and submitted it. But because of debate my process changed significantly.

Since I had to keep a certain level of quality within my debate speeches, there was quite a bit of

pressure to have a good speech. Thus, I started to care about writing.

I begin with researching the topic and trying to get more information to gauge what

information is present and what seems useable while still being relevant to the primary

objective. This research can come from a wide variety of sources, ranging from online

information to my notebooks from class. I follow up with the process of brainstorming ideas

(Bergendahl et. al, 2014) so I can get all my thoughts onto a piece of paper so I don't forget, then

I cancel out all ideas that don't have enough evidence behind them or would be difficult to write

about, I sometimes avoid this step because the smaller points can all be put into one paragraph

that can contain small arguments, all of which it would be difficult for the opponent to refute.

Then, I pick out ideas that I feel that I could write about without difficulty and with a relatively
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large number of credible sources to have strong backing. Typically, this picking of ideas lasts

throughout the course of a day and will occur when Im out with friends or playing a game and

this causes social coordination (Pigg, 2014) which can lead to more insight on what I can do for

the topic Im writing about (Sommers, 1993). These ideas are then organized into an outline, this

outline typically arranged in a manner so that each claim can smoothly transition to the next once

the actual paper is written. For example, talking about how GMOs create antibiotic resistant

bacteria, which would have to lead into how this bacterium is affecting the world. I arrange this

outline by paragraphs and put the main idea of each paragraph within the outline. Underneath

this topic sentence I list all potential sources I can incorporate into the paragraph, this

occasionally leads to me putting quotes in but often this does not occur. Once this outline has Commented [ZM2]: I removed a lot of extra redundant
words
been done, I write my paper based on this outline and sit and correct the papers grammatical

mistakes. Without the process of outlining, I feel as if I would get lost in all the work due to the

difficulty that I face when I try to incorporate ideas from the top of my head.

Getting into my actual paper, the hook is normally something unrelated to the topic but

rather interesting to catch the attention of the audience. While writing I typically scan my writing

every 2 to 3 sentences to ensure that its relatively sensible in terms of whats going on in the

paper. This is to avoid having too many mistakes after finishing the paper. While writing I try to

periodically use words that make the paper seem slightly better. Instead of increasing I would use

elevated for example. Then at the end of each paragraph I would scan what Ive written to see

how I can transition to the next paragraph. I sometimes already have a transition in my outline

but this transition gets overruled by a new one if the new one seems better suited. While writing I

try to periodically take a break whether I want to because my brain feels fried sometimes and

this takes a big toll on the quality of my papers if I ignore it. I use an app that times me for
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twenty-five minutes of work and five minutes of break so that I dont forget to take a break.

When it seems like I am completely exhausted of ideas, I walk around to find some sort of

inspiration while thinking about the paper to spur some insight on how I should progress with the

paper. This inspiration-finding occurs quite often which greatly extends the length of my

writing sessions but is essential to the completion of my papers. I normally write the paper

within 2-4 sittings lasting anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. Typically, I do this in the morning

because my day is typically full of things to do as it gets later in the day. I try my best to

minimize noise and I normally have a bottle of water next to me that I drink from when the

writing becomes stressful. I also try to write when I am in a calm state of mind simply for the Commented [ZM3]: Added this detail

fact that I tend to rush unintentionally when I am not relaxed. I always start writing as early as

possible simply because I hate being constrained on the amount of time I must express my ideas Commented [ZM4]: Have to> must

in relation to the topic. I have also found that the extra stress caused by writing close to a

deadline causes deterioration within my papers.

After finishing my paper, I start to correct local (Perl, 1979) mistakes within my Commented [ZM5]: New Paragraph

writing. I typically utilize multiple websites along with my own basic knowledge to correct

grammar for online assignments. But these websites are unable to correct logical errors that I

may have made which is why it is essential that I go through the paper myself, as well as utilize

the function of the website. This leads into me giving my paper to a trusted teacher, or friend

who then reviews the structure and clarity of the papers message and tells me if the paper

becomes obscure or clouded at any point which then leads me into correcting the paper one more

time and submitting it. I find it is inefficient to give my paper to multiple people because then the

many conflicting writing styles clash with each other when I try to make edits. This information

became known to me when I was writing my college essay and having my English teacher and
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debate coach revise my papers and both would end up eliminating each other's corrections.

Because of this experience, I decided that only the opinion of one trusted person along with my Commented [ZM6]: Changed As a result to because

own composes the entirety of the paper, the weakness in this method is if the person you give it

to has poor knowledge of the subject area, thus you must either give them some background

information on the topic, or find someone else who already understands the topic well. The only

reason to work with more than one person is if the assignment is assigned to a group, because

there are times when multiple people are more efficient than one person (Gallagher, J et. al, Commented [ZM7]: Incorrect spelling of Name

1994). Overtime, I've realized which people give good and objective criticism, and those are the

people I utilize the most for my revisions (Perl, 1979).

The whole of my writing skills at present time were influenced due to my

apprenticeship (Gee, 1989) with debate. I use this long and redundant method of writing to

compensate for my poor writing skill, and it works most of the time. This process is still what I

use today so I can maximize the quality of my essays. This process can be improved in the way

of using topics that I am unfamiliar with and thus I fear. This would expand my manner of

thought and allow me to more successfully right papers because I will know more than just what

I am comfortable with. I could also write down my ideas as they come to me instead of relying

on them with memory which is what I normally do when I am trying to inspiration. I believe that

my process of finding inspiration and taking breaks are both effective strategies and greatly

increase the overall quality of my writing. I also believe that my outlining and brainstorming

allow for my writing to be more composed overall and increase the clarity of the message being

portrayed. The fact of the matter is that even though I have effective parts of my writing strategy,

the constantly correcting nature of my writing along with sticking to easy topics greatly impairs

my ability to learn and progress in terms of my writing skills. Revising is a good idea but it does
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not need to be done by running it through three different grammar checkers. The post-writing

evaluation process (revising and editing) do not need as much time as I give them, so I will from Commented [ZM8]: Added comma

now on be wiser with my time and focus more into writing the paper than correcting it.

Throughout the course of unit 2, my exposure to these new writers allowed me to realize

that this process is not the most efficient process, nor is it the best process, it is simply done due

to the fear of trying anything new. I rely on the safety that I feel when Im using this strategy so Commented [ZM9]: New Paragraph

that I don't have to worry about learning new things or making progress on my writing. I know

from these readings that writing is not perfectible and even if I know how to fix every error in

existence, that will not make me a perfect writer (Williams, 1981). As a result, I am now willing

to switch my style and focus less on small grammatical errors and more on the pure flow and

content of my essays, thus I will continue writing my papers ahead of time, so I can maximize

the value of my papers and I will have permanent improvement in my writing as a result.
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Works Cited

Brandt, D. (1998), Sponsors of literacy Sullivan, J.E. III, (Ed). (2017) Writing about Writing,
Third Edition. Boston: Bedfords/St. Martins

Williams, J M. (1981), The phenomenology of error., Sullivan, J.E. III, (Ed). (2017) Writing Commented [ZM10]: Works cited edits:
about Writing, Third Edition. Boston: Bedfords/St. Martins Added a hanging indent
Removed Hyper links
Lower cased all titles besides the first letter
Perl, S. (1979), The composing processes of unskilled college writers, Sullivan, J.E. III, (Ed). Removed bullet points
(2017) Writing about Writing, Third Edition. Boston: Bedfords/St. Martins

Gee, J. P. (1989), Literacy, discourse, and linguistics, Sullivan, J.E. III, (Ed). (2017) Writing
about Writing, Third Edition. Boston: Bedfords/St. Martins

Sommers, N. (1993), I stand here writing, Sullivan, J.E. III, (Ed). (2017) Writing about
Writing, Third Edition. Boston: Bedfords/St. Martins

Gallagher, J., & Kraut, R. E. (1994, June & July). Article Tools. Retrieved October 11, 2017,
from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/isre.5.2.110

Pigg, S. (2014). Coordinating constant invention: social medias role in distributed work,
Sullivan, J.E. III, (Ed). (2017) Writing about Writing, Third Edition. Boston:
Bedfords/St. Martins

Bergendahl, M., & Magnusson, M. (2014). Creating ideas for innovation: effects of
organizational distance on knowledge creation processes. Retrieved October 11, 2017,
from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/caim.12097/full