Writing is a process.

The writing process has always been a stressful thing for me. Whenever papers have been assigned, I make a big production out of the whole thing. A plan. I need to have a plan. And I need to stick to said plan. Otherwise everything goes off course and then I freak out and my anxiety rises and I cannot focus and and and...

To start, my writing process has always started with a notebook. I must write everything down, and I must see my plan. In my notebook, I write down the title of what I'm writing about ("Shakespeare Paper", for example), and beneath that I write down my main idea of my paper, or my thesis. I then try to develop three main ideas that would support my thesis. These developing ideas include the idea itself, quotes from the text that would support it, and things that I potentially want to say in the paragraph. The pages that my ideas are written on become very important to me, like my baby.

The long-term memory model that Flower and Hayes mention in their essay becomes the main crutch of my writing process. Flower and Hayes say that "sometimes a single cue in an assignment, such as 'write a persuasive...' can let a writer tap a stored representation of a problem and bring a whole raft of writing plans into play" (371). I like to think that I was a good English student. I like to think that I have retained a fair amount of writing knowledge from those days (including my current college days). I like to think that (mostly) I am a good writer. With that being said, it is safe to say that subconsciously I am tapping into my long-term memory to retrieve information about writing and how to write a certain genre. This is part of my oh-so-important notebook plan. As much as I rely on my long-term memory, my mind does not remember everything, and sometimes resources are necessary. I love Purdue Owl as a writing resource for when I am writing MLA papers. Sadly, I have not memorized how to cite every type of source (shame on me!).

It is weird to think that there is a process that goes on in one's mind as they are writing because the process is never apparent as it is happening. But it is interesting to think about. I feel like a writer who is just starting out would hit the paper right away. I remember my middle school teachers telling me that rough drafts were so important, that planning was so important. They were right. Planning allows me to see and organize my thoughts on paper. Honestly, I do not plan out my papers every time I write, but when I do, I can see a difference.