NAME : RONALDIN

SURNAME : MPOZORI

REG NUMBER: R2214916R

LEVEL: 1.1

YEAR 2022

MODULE : COMMUNICTION SKILLS

Although there are basic steps to follow in essay writing, essay writing is not a linear process but
a recursive one .Discuss(50marks)

An essay is apiece of writing usually has five or more paragraphs. An essay is written about one
topic that has several points. The main points are introduced in an introductory paragraph and
supported in body paragraphs. The conclusion is the last paragraph. Hence in essay writing
students may use a recursive process this is when each step you take simple leads into other
steps, recursive allows writers to jump between steps then combine all the information at the
end whilst other students may opt to use linear process meaning that the writer moves
systematically through the steps of gathering ideas, starting to put words on paper or on screen in
an organized way. The generation, formulation an development of ideas seem to be ignored
throughout the whole writing process.
According to Murray (1972) writing is a complex process which involves a lot of cognitive
activities, writing as a recursive process encompasses the writing process itself pre writing,
drafting, revising, and editing and it is a process that allows you to revisit older steps, recursive
approach to academic writing processes all flow into one another so there is a fluidity between
stages. For example, you may have to come back and dress up your introduction with a bit more
language even though you are in the revising stages, so, you jump back to your drafting stage.
When we talk about writing as recursive, we are talking about the repetition of the writing
process, which often times stick us somewhere between the editing and revising stage, endlessly
moving sentences around, fixing grammatical issues, and adding new ideas. Over and over, and
there is no end in sight, because that’s what we do as writers and that’s what writers do to create
good, clean copy, the writing process is recursive where by revision and writing are integrated
together and initial ideas get extended and refined. To a larger extend a written product is the
outcome of a set of complicated cognitive operations that involve planning, drafting, revising
and editing (Hedge,2011:303)
Recursive writing simply means that each step you take in your writing process will feed into
other steps after you have drafted an essay for instance, you will go do a bit of verification of
some of your facts and if you discover that you have written something wrong, you will go back
to the draft and fix it. In recursive writing we have to remember that we are always going to
jump between stages, just because you get the draft done does not mean that you are done
drafting, if you are done with rewriting, does not mean everything is where it needs to be exactly.
This is much just a long way to say writing is work therefore we may always need the constant
reminder that it’s okay to go back to old steps to check and correct, in the processes from
prewriting to drafting to revision. And even when it’s all said and done, it’s okay to throw up
your essay, or article, or story, and just start again. According to Andersen (2005;17) then it does
not matter how she travelled though the writing process to arrive at her final piece. Good
academic writing it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and there are many steps to writing well.
Non-linear writing is a slave to inspiration.  This is when the writer gets a brilliant idea for a
scene and writes it and then has to build a story around it. According to Taylor(1981) their
findings have shawn that writing is not straightforward process and should be viewed as “non
linear ’’ exploratory and generative. Writing when fueled with inspiration lends itself to
awesome prose and satisfying creative experiences.  However, a recursive writer will shy away
from scenes that they don’t feel the inspiration to write and stick to the ones they are passionate
about. When it comes time to assemble these scenes into a story there tends to be a disconnect
between them and it takes lots of hard work to bring the story to completion.
Recursive is more than just academic writing, of course, this is very much a good mindset for
fiction writing, content writing, e.t.c . No matter what you are doing you are not running as fast
as you can to get done quickly. We are all guilty of submitting bad assignments because we did
not take the time to revise again and a good way to keep from doing that in the future is to
remember your writing steps, remember to take a break, and to remember that it’s okay to revisit
your process.
In modern English, recursion is used to describe a process that runs over and over again until a
task is complete. It’s a term often used in computer science to indicate a program or piece of
code that continues to run until certain conditions are met, such as a variable determined by the
user of the program. The program would continue counting upwards running until it came to that
variable. the process that leads to that product determines how effective the writing will be. It’s
why a carefully thought-out essay tends to be better than one that’s written the night before the
due date
However Hyland, K ( 2015; 153) says that "essay writing should be done following the steps in
their order that is prewriting, organising, ideas, drafting, proof reading and submission". For
example, editing and proof reading can not be done before preparing the rough and the final draft
or brain storming before prewriting in essay writing, therefore others may use the linear process,
a linear structure goes from one point to the next in a chosen sequence you could group ideas in
order of importance of topic or chronologically.
Linear writing tends to be the more standard approach to essay writing.  It tends to be more
organized than non-linear writing and will create a finished product in less time.  Because it
forces the writer to figure out all the ins and outs of their story as they go, there tends to be less
massive revision and changes.  However, since the writer needs to work where they are and not
skip ahead, when inspiration strikes for a different scene they tend to wait until they get there to
write it.

In conclusion, if we want to be successful in writing essays, then it is important we view that the
writing process is a set of practices since the skill or strategy approach solely depends on the
capabilities of the writer but sometimes on the needs of a question. Students must be aware of
what they are capable to do with writing, the array of practices they can bring to their writing
process, and that many variables are involved during the process, such as formalities, genres,
audience, feelings, different processes, demands, and so on, for which the understanding of how
and why we draw upon practices may help us do better and become successful essay writers.
References
Anderson, C. (2005) Assessing Writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Hayland, K. (2015). Bundles in academic discourse. Annual review of applied linguistics,
pp150-167
Hedge, T. (2011) “Teaching and learning in the Language classroom”. Oxford . Oxford
University Press
Murray, D (1975)(ed) “Teach writing as a process not writing” . A source for teachers and
writers. pg 89-92
Tylor, B (1981) “Teaching composition to low level ESL students". TESOL Quarterly, 16, pp.5-
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