The Writing Process Dialogue Page

VK: The big thing about the writing process is the stress on "process."

Larry: Yawn...oh, excuse me, did you say something?

VK: Process! I said process! Not product! Process, damn you! Process!

Larry: Whoa! Go easy I just woke up. What's the fuss about ?

VK: I shall try a different approach: Writing is about process. What that means is you do writing by steps. One step at a time.

Larry: Oh, c'mon. Some teacher gives me homework, I write it, I turn it in. End of story!

VK: Thanks for the reality check. We've got different ideas, because we have different goals. You want to get your homework done.

Larry: You bet!

VK: I'm more interested in helping you get you writing better.

Larry: So I can get my homework done faster?

VK: Bigger, Better and higher grades! Soon the world will be at your feet. Women will beg for your attention. You will have permanently clean breath.

Larry: I sense sarcasm.

VK: I'll try to be good.

Larry: Thank you, now why is this process stuff such a big deal.

VK: Many people. Far too many people have the notion that if you know how to write well, and memorize enough punctuation rules as well as the dictionary, that you are then supposed to get the writing right the first time.

Larry: Isn't that what "real" writers do? Isn't that what Steven King does? Huh, isn't it?

VK: In a word, no. Why I go crazy over this process business is because so many of my students seem reluctant to approach writing as a series of steps. They still think writing is what you do in the first draft.

Larry: Oh, you mean doing the writing over to get the spelling and stuff correct. I do that.

VK: Another break down in communication. No! What you just described is the last step in the process. I call it "editing."

Larry: Oh. What else is there?

VK: What a wonderful question! There are three basic steps: prewriting, drafting and editing.

Larry: Why?

VK: "Why???" Well. . .um . . .because.

Larry: OK, just asking. What's prewriting?

VK: That's when you get yourself ready. When you struggle with deciding what you're going to write and how.

Larry: Nah. Mostly I'm told what I have to write.

VK: I understand, but you still need to figure out exactly what you will say about a topic given to you. That's what prewriting is all about.

Larry: Thinking? You talking about thinking?

VK: Sort of. Lots of people who write a lot have figured out lots of techniques to help themselves get started. For a lot of people getting started is the hardest part.

Larry: Me! I'm one of those.

VK: The prewriting stage is just for you.

Larry: Are you going to tell me what the prewriting is?

VK: Nah. You can use this program for that, I'm just trying to get the sense of the process across here.

Larry: OK, then. Prewriting is for getting started. What's drafting?

VK: Drafting is when you actually put words on paper.

Larry: Like in first draft and final draft?

VK: Yup. Only what I really want to get across here is that in the first draft, especially, you do not need to worry about anything but scratching out a few ideas. Many students worry about being "good" when they do a first draft. The first draft is where you should give yourself permission to write poorly. To not care about spelling or punctuation or grammar.

Larry: Seems too easy.

VK: The writing process is a lot easier than trying to do a perfect paper the first time.

Larry: OK, I scratch out some ideas.

VK: Then you revise. You polish your writing. You change, delete and add things.

Larry: How do I know it should be changed!? Man! If I wrote it that way the first time why should I change it?

VK: I like how you're getting into ownership here. Good for you. You should make changes that make sense to you, that help you get your message across better. That's why you make changes.

Larry: OK, I make some changes and now the final draft?

VK: Yuck. I hat the term "final draft!"

Larry: Oh, c'mon, you gotta be done sometime!

VK: Well, you do and you don't. You need to finish your work and turn it in to your teacher or your boss or your book publisher or whatever. But, if allowed, most writers would keep tinkering and tinkering with their writing forever.

Larry: Hey, like the "Director's Cuts" you see in the video places.

VK: Exactly! The movie is finished. It's out there. But the director wants to keep fiddling.

Larry: So, if not final draft, what do we call it?

VK: I like "deadline draft." Donald Murray, a writer who writes a lot about writing, uses that term, and it makes sense to me. You've got a deadline to meet, but the writing remains yours forever.

Larry: Yeah, real sweet.

VK: Anyway, that's why the fuss about "process." Understand?

Larry: I understand why the fuss, but I'd still like to get it right the first time.

VK: So would we all.