The Process of Writing a Solid Paper or Story

It is easily understood that everyone has their own techniques to get through the events that every day life throws at them. The processes used differ among every individual, but in the end, the same result comes about. For example, there are different ways to complete a typical essay structured paper, and more times than not, the writer can complete a paper without using the basic principles that were preached to us while we were growing up. Also, note that a paper written at the elementary or middle school level was most likely written by those standards, but as we grow older, and time seems to move faster, simple writing processes such as revising and then editing began to be condensed into one big process. This is no exception to me, as I have changed my writing habits over the past several years as well.

In our education, year after year we became advanced in our writing by a different teacher telling us how to go about writing a paper. A typical lecture would go something like the following; first, before you even start writing, you must brainstorm. This means to plan ahead of time what you are intending to write about. Gather some of your thoughts down on a piece of notebook paper, or possibly make a categorized chart with the main points of the paper at the top and subtopics listed underneath. After gathering some thoughts, maybe plan a thesis statement, which is the overall main point that you are trying to get across to the reader of the paper. Without any shortcuts, the next step was to write a rough draft, skipping every other line in order for there to be room to fix any mistakes that were made. The rough draft is basically what it is called, rough and with room for error. Now, find a partner to switch papers with so that a different viewpoint can be reached and possibly any errors can be caught before it is too late to fix them. The more people that read the paper, the better off your final paper will be and that is a fact. When it seems that all errors have been caught, the next step would be to write the final copy, which is usually written in a permanent ink or typed on a computer. One final revision of the paper upon completion of the final draft and the paper is finished, but not before selecting a title.

As I stated earlier, this is not the way that I have written papers over the past several years and definitely since I have entered the college rankings. A condensed form of my writing process can be completed in three easy steps. Honestly, who has time to sit down and stare at a blank sheet of paper, trying to gather their thoughts? I found this to be impossible when I was younger and have since eliminated it from my process. Why, you may ask? Well, simply put, a blank sheet of paper tends to make me become side-tracked and to lose interest in what I was thinking. My first step is to write my rough draft, gathering my thoughts along the way. By doing this, I find that ideas tend to enter my head and allow me to flow through my rough draft of my paper. Before giving the paper to a friend who will read over it, I select a title and place the page numbers in the upper right corner of each page after the cover page. After receiving another viewpoint on my writing, I go back to my computer and simply fix any mistakes that were caught by my peer. Finally, I run a thorough check over the paper to catch any last minute, stupid mistakes that may have been missed earlier.

My opinions on why people change their writing habits over time are countless. One factor that I found is the atmosphere that beginning writers work in. Through elementary school and the middle school levels, writers were only permitted to work on papers in class. A typical classroom might consist of dimmed lights and silence, leaving the writer in an awkward
setting with nothing to inspire his or her imagination. Starting in high school, writers began to expand their horizons and learned that there is an "easy" button for every process, including the writing process. Being allowed to write papers from the comfort of their own homes assisted the writers by giving them an opportunity to take a shortcut. Typically, the paper would be written in a bedroom setting with the luxuries of television and music to comfort the writers and often times to stimulate their imagination. To this very day, this is the setting that I prefer to write my papers in, using my dorm room, complete with television and stereo for my listening pleasure.

It is a well-known fact that life is all about finding the shortcuts and taking the easy way out of a more complicated situation. The writing process is no exception to this rule, and humans will continue to use their "easy" button until the end of time. However, in the end as long as the same conclusion was reached, than the path traveled to get there is irrelevant. Though we appreciate those who taught us along the way, there is no way like our own way.