Synthesis Project

Becoming a writer is not something that is learned once and for always from a single

course, such as a language or a science (Rose, 2015). Becoming a successful writer involves

critical thinking and engaging in new concepts and ideas. Writing is an abstract

conceptualization, which causes an individual to recognize and engender new ideas as they

continue down their experiences and practices; a writer always has more to learn (Rose, 2015).

This synthesis integrates the idea that along their journey of furthering their writing abilities, a

writer will develop new ideas rather than always transcribing performed ideas, encounter new

tasks, genres, and concepts which calls for new kinds of writing, while they learn through

experience and practice over time (Rose, 2015).

Although some may believe that there are certain rules to writing that we must follow,

there is no such thing as writing in general (Rose, 2015). With this, a novice writer can create

ideas that may have seemed out of reach or totally foreign beforehand in response to context

(Yancey, 2015). Brooke and Carr (2015) add to this by denoting how in the classroom, when

assessment is too tied to the final product, students will avoid risking failure and always follow

the guidelines without trying new writing concepts. The authors highlight the problem in this, in

which it goes against the writing process by prohibiting students to branch out from their comfort

zone in writing. This emphasizes the fact that the writing process is not something set in stone,

and that new ideas will always be generated in a writer’s mind, causing them unexpectedly to

change directions or course in their writing pathway. Overall, writing can be associated with the

endeavors of language, wherein using language represents an individual’s existing ideas and

tends to generate additional language and ideas (Downs, 2015).

 Writers will undertake new types of writing as they come across new concepts and

assignments. Due to the fact that writing strategies used in one context may not work in all

writing situations, writers must struggle to write in new contexts and genres in order to adjust to

and learn from the present situation (Rose, 2015). In addition, Brooke and Carr (2015) highlight

the idea that as students’ expectations of writing evolve as they progress through their

educational careers, they must adapt to these changing conditions of writing. Learning to write

involves trying out new things and experimenting with styles of writing upon a variety of

concepts. Furthermore, in the practice of writing, writers approach and develop new writing

capacities, as well as the ability to adjust and adapt to different audiences, contexts, and purposes

(Yancey 2015). All in all, Singham (2008) ties this concept together by delineating that it is

important to have many different writing projects at different stages of completion. Doing so will

enable a writer to transfer strategies from one type of writing to another.

Moreover, a writer discovers new writing capabilities with practice and experience

overtime. Singham (2008) emphasizes that the first rule to becoming a successful writer is to

practice writing every day. It is important to write regularly in order to generate new ideas and

prevent these thoughts from evaporating from our minds. With experience, writers may find that

they use the same habits when converting from one context to another (Rose, 2015). Downs

(2015) examines the importance of practice in that it causes new workflows to be developed

which leads to discovering what methods of revision best suit a writer’s personal writing process.

This highlights the idea that individuals will come upon new methods in their writing process as

they get more experience. Yancey (2015) denotes that through practice, an individual becomes

familiar with writing, and it becomes a part of them. The author makes an adequate comparison

to sports, in which much like a swimmer becomes familiar with water, writers become familiar
with writing with the feel of a pen in the hand (Yancey, 2015). Thus, practice is an opportunity

for growth in which writers will become more successful through the application of describing

their thoughts and ideas onto paper over time with experience.

On the whole, every writer has more to learn, no matter how far they are into the writing

process. Writing abilities are imperfect, and the ability to write well does not come naturally

(Downs, 2015). The thinkers that are praised and admired always make mistakes, learn from

them, and keep writing until they get it right. It is true that writers write, rewrite, then write even

more, which allows them to discover their own writing capabilities, further leading them to

become the successful writer that they aspire to be (Singham, 2008). Understanding the different

concepts of writing will help a writer adapt to new experiences in the art of writing.
 References

Brooke, C., & Carr, A. (2015). Failure can be an important part of writing development.

In L. Alder-Kassner & E. A. Wardle (Eds.), Threshold concepts and student learning outcomes

(Classroom ed., pp. 62-64) [e-book]. Utah State University Press.

https://doi.org/10.7330/9780874219906.c006

Downs, D. (2016). Revision is central to developmental writing. In L. Adler-Kassner &

E. A. Wardle (Eds.), Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies (Classroom

ed., pp. 66-67) [e-book]. Utah State University Press.

https://doi.org/10.7330/9780874219906.c006

Rose, S. (2015). All writers have more to learn. In L. Adler-Kassner & E. A. Wardle

(Eds.), Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies (Classroom edition. ed.,

pp. 59-61). Utah State University Press. https://doi.org/10.7330/9780874219906

Singham, M. (2008). Seven suggestions for becoming a more productive writer. Change,

40(2), 40-42.

Yancey, K. B. (2015). Learning to write effectively requires different kinds of practice,

time, and effort. In L. Adler-Kassner & E. A. Wardle (Eds.), Naming what we know: Threshold

concepts of writing studies (Classroom ed., pp. 64-65) [e-book]. Utah State University Press.

https://doi.org/10.7330/9780874219906