Bedford Guide Chapter 2: "The Writing Process"

Main Points:

Writing is not linear; writers go through a process of writing that includes the steps listed in the Longman guide. The big difference between this text and Longman is the description of the revising process, which is split into two stages in the Bedford Guide, global revision and sentence-level revision. When a writer is doing global revisions, they are making major changes to the overall structure of the piece. This is where writers move paragraphs and cut out or expand parts of a draft in order to clarify points or alter the flow of the entire draft. Sentence level revision is when a writer makes changes in word choice and the structure of sentences in order to clarify that individual sentence or paragraph. Like Longman, the Bedford guide stresses that writing coaches must be able and prepared to assist writers no matter what stage of the writing process they are in at that moment. They must also be able to identify the stage that the writer is in so that they can be effective.

What I Got:

“Please edit my paper” may mean, “help me make global or sentence-level revisions” to a writer who does not have the vocabulary to talk about writing, which many writers coming into a center will not have.

Questions:

What are some ways of figuring out what stage the writer needs help in?

How do you direct a writer away from editing if they are trying to fix grammar and really need global revisions or more work drafting?

What a beginning coach needs:

The information in this is essentially the Cliffnotes version of the information in Chapter 2 of the Longman Guide. The exercises, however, seem to be useful for a beginning coach, especially the exercise that suggests that a beginning coach go to the writing center as a student writer and be on the other side of at least two sessions. This can give the new coach an idea of what it feels like and what may or may not work in certain situations.

Best For:

Like the last chapter of this guide, I don’t know if there’s a lot of information in this that a more experienced tutor would be interested in, because the subject is covered in a much more in-depth way in the Longman guide. The more practical approach of this book does, however, give a beginning tutor a better idea of the kinds of problems that occur with the different stages of the writing process.

Longman Guide Chapter 2: "The Writing Process"

Main Points:

Contrary to what was once believed, writing is not linear. Writing is made up of four stages, planning, drafting, revising and editing or proofreading. Planning is when the writer begins to gather information and generate ideas for their writing project. Drafting is when the writer begins to develop the intention behind their text and writes a draft. Revising is when the writer makes changes to the organization or structure of the text in order to clarify his/her points. Proofreading or editing is where the writer fixes the mechanics of the essay and focuses on grammar and spelling. These stages are recursive, meaning that writers do work in each phase multiple times while writing a piece and do not work in these stages all at once or in order.

Another point that is emphasized in the chapter is that writing tutors must develop an understanding of the writing process and what goes on in each stage. They must then be able to help writers in these different stages while not creating clones of themselves, as what has worked for them may not work for another student. The chapter also talks about the concept of ownership and states that students must develop a sense of their text belonging to them. This is hindered by the fact that they may not care about academic writing.

What I got:

The main thing that I pulled from this chapter is that writing is a way to learn. You don’t just learn to write when you’re writing, you learn to think about ideas and not simply memorize them to report back on a simple test. This makes writing part of the learning process rather than just an end. Another thing that I found interesting was the techniques listed to help people in the different stages of the writing process.

Questions:

How do I know when a technique will work for a specific student? What types of learners work with the different methods?

How do I recognize what stage of the writing process a student is in? Sometimes they come in with drafts but talk like they are still prewriting. Usually they want editing when it’s obvious they need some work revising or drafting, so how do I recognize these things and then bring them to the writer’s attention?

What a beginning tutor might need:

This chapter provides a beginning tutor with an understanding of the writing process and introduces the concept of ownership.

Good For:

This chapter provides a lot of information that is useful for a beginning tutor, but does not provide examples or ways to use different techniques. The history related to teaching composition may not interest those who are just starting to tutor, as we have mostly been taught using process-oriented methods, and probably won’t need to be convinced that it is the best way.