First off, I've been taking writing pretty seriously for a long time now,
which is one of the reasons I'm teaching this stuff (or, as I say
jokingly to my students, why I get the big desk). Just like any other
craft or art or practice, the more experienced you get, the easier it is
to cut corners, go faster, skip a few steps ahead. In other words, I
think pre-writing techniques as they are presented in comp classes assume
that our students are inexperienced writers who see it more as a chore
than a fulfilling act and who frequently get stuck at the very beginning
of the process. And I think those are pretty fair assuptions a lot of
the time.
Second, I always tell students that ultimately, you have to find what
works for you. Whenever I do some sort of pre-writing activity in a
class, I always point out "your actual mileage may vary" and for all
sorts of reasons-- personality I suppose, but also preferences about
activities and experience as a writer and God only knows what else--
different pre-writing strategies work for different people. I see our
job as comp teachers to suggest possibilities for students to explore for
themselves.
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Steve Krause * Department of English * Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH * 43403 * (419) 372-8934 *skrause@bgnet.bgsu.edu
*Soon to be at Southern Oregon State College in Ashland, OR*
*http://ernie.bgsu.edu/~skrause/Steve.html*
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