I enjoyed the essay by Sondra Pearl. While she may have some new strategies for composing, I do not feel that the traditional way “plan-write-revise” should be forgotten or not put to use. I’ve used this traditional process for several years and it has worked wonderfully for me. This doesn’t mean that I am not open to new composing ideas and strategies. People have different composing styles which may or may not work for them. If the traditional way does not work, one must recognize that they have a problem. They either have to decide to try a new strategy, or continue to be unsuccessful in their writing. I enjoyed and agreed with Sondra’s concept of the “felt sense”. I always knew a lot of my writings were based off inner feelings. Sondra explains the “felt sense” as your inner bodily awareness of an idea. It is a combination of what you feel about an idea and the meaning. It also includes the images and words that flashes before you. Sondra reminds us that there is always something “in mind” before we even have words for it. For me, when I am given a topic to write about, I sit and brainstorm for a little and many feelings and emotions arise. I too constantly revise before a due date just to make sure that I feel like my ideas, views, and opinions have been clearly stated and can be understood by the reader. Sondra’s guidelines are definitely helpful and can improve ones writing if certain of her concepts were put into practice. Personally, I will definitely try to use several of her guidelines to improve my composure of writing. Discovering what is on your mind is crucial to writing a good paper and this is just as important as listening to your inner speech.
I would like to add to your good definitions on Sondra Perl. Although composing new ideas and strategies may be different for everyone, and that their composing styles may or may not work, they should use the Retrospective structuring process to look back on the words written, spend some time to focus on the meaning and if the writer is going the right way. The Projective structuring process can also allow you to improve writing by bringing forward your voice. You then become the reader of your work allowing you to focus on the piece written and to see if this is really what you want to heard or if this is really what you mean to say.
ReplyDeleteI like how you reminded yourself and your readers about plan-write-revise. I also think this a very important concept of writing that should not be forgotten. When I am writing, I also use my inner feelings, I just never knew there was a name for it, "felt sense".
ReplyDeleteThanks! I never knew there was a name for it either until I began reading about it. Now, the "felt-sense" is an idea that I will never forget, instead I will remember it everytime I compose a paper going forward.
ReplyDeleteBesed on your reflection I could see that you really understood what Pearl discussed in the reading. I totally agree with what you are saying about "felt sense". I think that it would really help us a lot in terms of writing a paper if we are going to pay close attention to it. However, sometimes because we are too drawn to our feelings we slowly move away from the topic we are writing about. So it is also very important to consider what Pear is saying about the “recursive process”, we should go back to what we already wrote down and see if what we are saying is coherent with the whole topic and paper.
ReplyDeleteThanks Denise. I like the emphasis on the projective structuring process simply because like you said, it brings forward your voice and then you become the reader of your work. In a way, it is all still a part of the "inner speech".
ReplyDeleteThanks Zion! You make a good point about being drawn to our feelings which may cause us to move away from the topic we are writing about. The Pearl reading is great and I feel it could be helpful to all writers and tutors.
ReplyDelete