Hannah Simon

September 18,2014
Enc1101
Wolcott
Knowledge of the writing process has been of great importance to many
writers. Through multiple studies their goal was to figure out how texts were
composed and the cognitive process behind producing a text. Paul Prior is a
Professor of English and the Center for Writing Studies at the University of Illinois.
Sondra Pearl is a professor of English at Herbert Lehmann College and founder of
the New York City Writing Project. All established professionals have completed
studies where they were able to grasp the production of a text.
Paul Prior studied the writing process by examining writers inner thoughts,
perceptions, feelings, and motives for writing and the external influences that affect
the writing process. Prior used the Think aloud Protocol that allows the writers to
have access to their stream of consciousness by listening to their own thoughts
through a recording during the process of writing (Prior, 505) It is also important
to recognize that concurrent protocols for the first time begin to crack open the
notion of writing to reveal the complex fine grained, and diverse nature of the acts
that are combined under that label (Prior, 505).
Sondra Pearl studied a group of writers that were usually ignored in studies,
the basic writers. Pearl wanted to have a better understanding of how basic
writers write, how their writing processes are able to be analyzed, and how a better
understanding of their writing process can show how writing was taught in school.
During Pearls study she aimed at observing the students written products, their
composing tapes, and their responses to the interview (Pearl, 618). From all the

Hannah Simon
September 18,2014
Enc1101
Wolcott
information on the composing style sheets Pearl was able to interpret not what they
wrote, but how they wrote.
These existing studies have established that a writers process is capable of
being dissected, however; no one has executed a self-study of their own writing
process. By completing a self-study using the think-aloud protocol it allowed me to
be more honest with my own thoughts because having someone listen to my
thoughts would of stopped me from saying them and it aloud me to understand my
own writing process.
This study has shown me how to write a paper successfully; I should have a
specific plan of what I want to write, then I should write everything down so later, I
can go back and fix anything that is not up to my standards. In my self-study of my
writing process I used a computer to record myself while I read an article and wrote
a response to it. I would press record and begin reading; any thoughts that came
into my mind were stated aloud. Once I started writing I continued to say my
thoughts out loud. Once the assignment was done, I watched the video and recorded
all of my thoughts. I came up with categories depicting what each thought
represented, for example if it was an opinion, distraction , question, comprehension,
planning, doubt, just recalling information. I went through the list of all my thoughts
in order to find common sequences that occurred during my reading and writing
process. When I examined my thoughts from reading the article, I discovered that an
opinion was followed by either a question or by recalling information that was

Hannah Simon
September 18,2014
Enc1101
Wolcott
previously stated. I can conclude that I stated my opinion a lot because I felt
differently from what the article was saying. After an opinion was stated I would ask
a question based off the information that I read or I would go back in the text to
recall previous information. These basic skills were taught to me throughout earlier
education and I continue to use them today. They are important skills for me that
help me comprehend what I am reading and I should continue to use them during
my reading process. After examining the results from writing about the article I
noticed that I would plan then write then criticize what I had just written. This
would put a stop in my writing process; I should just continue to write all my ideas
down. When the text is done, that is when I should go back and criticize what I
wrote. Maybe it makes sense or it could lead me to a better idea. All of my ideas
should be considered when producing a text. Other times I would recall
information, plan, and then write. I feel like this sequence is helpful to me because
recalling information from the article will help me figure out what to write and how
I want it written.

Hannah Simon
September 18,2014
Enc1101
Wolcott

Works Cited
"The Focusing Institute." The Focusing Institute. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.
"Mike Rose Biography | Writer - Literacy - Education." Mikerosebooks. Web. 17 Sept.
2014.
"People." Faculty The Center for Writing Studies, Illinois. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.
Paul Prior, Tracing Process: How Texts Come into Being, Writing About
Writing, Wardle & Downs, (489-526)
Sondra Pearl, The Composing Process of Unskilled College Writers, Writing
About Writing, Wardle & Downs, (615-639)