So far my writing process has been working out just fine. I usually start off thinking about whatever topic I’ll write on for a few hours total. Just constructing and putting everything together in my head. I start with how and what I want to write in my mind and work my way into the argument which fits it. It’s all very loose but this is when I try to get the real meat of the subject out of my thoughts and into a strong sentence or paragraph. This is so I have something which I can work my way towards while I begin writing my paper. Once I’ve started, I use the critical idea as a beacon I’m trying to steer my paper towards. I write fast and write one or two paragraphs at a time before stopping, doing another bit of writing, then cutting out the unnecessary fat and connecting the bits together. The writing process takes somewhere between two to six hours for around four pages. The time frame heavily depends on how complex an idea I’m trying to get across (for my philosophy final I cut at least two pages of content I didn’t use). Then I read over what I’ve written, making sure that there aren’t any lapses in continuity or big holes in the paper (this happens frequently enough where I think of an idea or paragraph and think that I typed it out when I actually didn’t). After that’s all said and done, I do another final read to make sure the tone, tense, and voice are all smooth and only make changes when I want them to.

This process has worked well for me from the time I started writing seriously in AP Lit in high school. I don’t see making any huge changes to it unless I end up hitting a considerable creative or logistical roadblock sometime using it. The process has only changed from my high school process in having to be more thorough during the revisionary phases. I have to really make sure that my thoughts are connected and can get through to a reader so I put myself in someone else’s shoes a lot more when rereading my work. Besides that intentional action, my writing fits my mindset almost without thinking so it’s a very fluid process.