My Writing Process

Friedman, Lynn. "STOP procrastination" 4/20/2014 via Flickr. Attribution-Non Commercial License.

The process of writing isn't my problem; it is starting the writing process that unfortunately makes me a procrastinator. In this blog post I explain the root of my procrastination and how I've been able to craft some of my best writing pieces only hours before its deadline.

I am indeed a procrastinator when it comes to writing. I often find myself awake during the most quiet hours of the night writing that essay that I held off on starting for weeks. 

My procrastination does not come at the expense of revision, however. I'm always sure to make multiple edits to my draft and craft it until each sentence flows to the next ever so smoothly. That is why I also consider myself a heavy reviser.

Planning out my every thought before I write is simply not how my brain operates. I like to have a slight idea of my main arguments going into the process and then find the best way to weave them together as I go.

Often, my best ideas for the piece I am writing come to me mid-sentence, so I find that the pressure of time pushes these ideas out more urgently and frequently as I become more desperate for a path to take my words in the dwindling time remaining.

I would say that my writing process is not ideal but it is effective. The way my words flow is the biggest strength in my writing so taking more time to plan probably wouldn't do any good because I would be limited to how I can craft my sentences.

With respect to time, my writing process needs work. There have been times where I have drafted very poor pieces out of procrastination that have ended up taking four or five revisions to be acceptable. 

Through writing this blog I have realized that the best and most obvious way to improve my writing process would be to do less procrastinating while still maintaining my emphasis on revision, sentence flow and my "do it as I go" approach.

Reflection: First, I read Nick's blog post and I could immediately relate to his writing style. He is a heavy reviser and a sequential composer with a bit of procrastination in him. He discussed how he likes to carefully craft his words into a masterpiece even if he is lacking time due to procrastination which is exactly how I operate.

I then read Morgan's blog post where I encountered a writing style completely opposite of mine. She puts great amounts of time and effort into her planning which is something I truly wish I had the willpower to do.

Reading their blog posts let me realize that almost everyone falls victim to procrastination sometimes so I have nothing to be ashamed of, however it is something I should work on in the future. I also think that I need to spend more time planning out my writing before I start so that the process of actually writing doesn't take so long when coming up with ideas on the spot.