I follow a general flow when it comes to my writing process: idea, writer’s block, idea, draft, unhappiness, final draft. If it seems a bit messy and uncoordinated, that’s because it is. As my career as a student has grown in experience and knowledge, one would assume that with it would come a certain sense of creativity and ease of writing. The reality, however, is that as I get older and more picky with my writing, writer’s block seems to seep in more deeply and affect my mind with a void-like emptiness which leaves me stranded on the island of unoriginality desperately waiting for creativity to sail my way and save me.
Although I work best in complete silence or white noise, I generally listen to music when I write. I find that the subtle trance of low fidelity hip-hop is both relaxing and inspiring. Up until I joined band in 6th grade, I had no trouble listening to classical music when I wrote. Now, however, my mind naturally ventures into performance mode when I hear it, preventing me from focusing and controlling me with distractions. Mild trance music accompanied by dark rooms and blacked out computer interfaces put me in a sort of my own sensory deprivation tank where I think the clearest and find most peace, allowing for my highest performance when writing.
After I pass through the difficult writer’s block phase and emerge with a relatively clear idea of how I want to structure my writing, I get to work typing it out. I am not the kind of person who can fully type a draft and be ok with not making any edits or changes. I don’t agree with the whole “one draft at a time” mentality. To me, making subtle changes over the course of various short editing sessions is much more productive than moving from unfinished draft to unfinished draft. Why create a new draft for each large editing session when you can work through the entire essay, polishing various rough areas little by little as time and ideas come to you? In my opinion, writing is much more about the long-term vision than each step in the process along the way.
Once I finish the final touches on my piece of writing, I re-read it, looking for any errors. Upon deciding that the piece is ready, I send it to the printer and print it. Although my process is messy and complicated, I’ve found through trial and error of various other workflows that it’s the best option for me in terms of efficiency and productivity.
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I really liked how you wrote about your writing process. I quickly learned the crippling effects of writer’s block while writing my college essay. It took me at least 5 rounds of revisions and starting over. It is interesting how you have trouble focusing while listening to classical music. I usually listen to music, sometimes classical, that I have never heard before and rarely with words. Thanks for sharing your process! I will have to consider adding a few pieces of yours to mine!
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I like the creativity, and relatability with this piece. First of all, I liked that you wrote about writing, because as of now, I have not read anybody else’s that was about that, and also that you included so much detail. Also, I liked how much I found I could relate to in this piece, as I haven’t gotten any better at writing it seems like over the years, and how I struggle with writing sometimes too. Great job!
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Your piece is very relatable! I also have to have music or white noise playing while I write to get me into the zone and it is nice to know that I am not alone in that aspect! I found your piece to not only relatable but also a great insight into your writing process. Good job!
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I love that you chose to write about something so relatable. You gave great detail on the development of your writing in which we all go through but never really talk about. Overall great piece!
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Hey Daniel great piece of work. The part of writer’s block is very interesting and very similar to mine but instead of being able to exit I usually am stuck in it and just go with the flow not knowing how it will end. Also I like how you added in the part about how some types of music now affects you differently, which is very interesting as i have never experience that before. Keep up the great work.
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Hi Daniel! This was a really enticing piece of writing. I love how you describe the hardships of studying for some people and also the way you enveloped your performing habits to affect the rest of your schooling.Writers block is a very real thing and I think you depicted it well throughout the story.
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Danial my guy, this piece was great. I love the idea that you sat there writing about how you write. This piece was definitely different than the rest. The use of imagery and the description was good. I can relate to listening to music while I write. Keep up the great work!
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Dude I completely agree on listening to some form of noise or music when I write! I also like listening to a low key hip hop (preferably the playlist “Butter” by Spotify on Spotify). I also feel you stress from writer’s block and not being satisfied with a final edit. Keep up the good work and improving this writing process!
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I think it’s cool that you said, “making subtle changes over the course of various short editing sessions is much more productive than moving from unfinished draft to unfinished draft.” I agree with this because I have noticed while writing my SRP, that this applies to me as well. As you write more in one session, the writing tends to get worse.
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Daniel, I found this interesting. I have never thought of writing about my writing process. I liked how you described your trance as a sensory deprivation tank. I may use this process next time I write.
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Hi Daniel! I really liked how vulnerable you were about your writing process. I too struggle with writers block a lot and find it hard to know where to start and often find myself staring at a blank screen for awhile, but once I start writing it is hard to stop. I loved how how shared your experience with how you edit your drafts because I could use some work on editing my writing more carefully before I turn it in. Great job!!
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