This series of blog posts (Phase One, Phase Two, and Phase Three) describe the writing process that I suggest and, to a small degree, require in ENGL 1102. Be sure that you’ve already closely read the descriptions of the major assignments for this class. Please read these Phase posts as a description of the best process to use in completing those assignments this semester.
It’s challenging for most people to begin a writing assignment, especially a longer one for an academic audience. I suggest that students break that process into three phases, each one focused on a different priority. We’ll start with Phase One.
A Phase One document is about ideas. When you’re composing an essay, it’s better for you to get the ideas out first, whether they are pretty or not. (Phase Two is about organization and Phase Three is about mechanics, but we’ll get to those later.)
Composing a Phase One draft entails blurting out of ideas and thoughts that are the product of lots of research. In Phase One writing, we don’t have to worry about paragraphs, punctuation, intro/conclusion, or even staying on the same topic. We concentrate on three things: composing a significant amount of words (usually around 1000), being sure to references sources often (citing them and quoting from them), and moving around to try out different ideas.
A key component of the Phase One is the sentence — write interesting, quirky, weird, controversial, challenging sentences whether they connect to the ones before them or after them.
A Phase One might seem chaotic if someone were to try to read it “like an essay.” It should, in many ways, be “all over the place.”
In a Phase One, you’re usually staying inside one topic (because your research should have some focus), but you may not be clearly identifying an argument or sticking with just one.
Phase One (and all academic writing) should derive from a significant amount of reading. Read widely and critically before starting your draft and takes lots of notes. Jot down notes on some subjects or events you’d like to learn more about and that abide by the six-part topic test for our class (available in the document linked above about the Major Assignments). Read widely from credible sources, both academic and journalistic, in order to answer a particular question or understand a particular event. Sometimes the best way to get a Phase One draft started is by listing and annotating your sources and building an approach from there.
You often have to keep finding new sources and continue to add to a particular Phase One document over several sittings before you find the best topic and thesis for your assignment. You know that you’re “finished” with Phase One writing when you start to feel like you know clearly what your thesis is.
Activity: Spend 90 minutes researching ideas related to your Pecha Kucha and Blog Cycle assignment. Keep notes on your reading that include as least the author, title, hyperlink, and valuable quotes for each source you find useful or interesting. After a significant amount of research, compose a Phase One document by writing 1000 words on topics and/or arguments you might consider for your upcoming Major Assignments. Follow the guidance above for Phase One writing, and be sure to include frequent references to, links to, and quotes from the sources that you’ve read.
