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Process writing is based on the idea that writing is a continuing course of action, a method of development. On the other hand, manufacturing is not a continuing course of action. A car goes through the manufacturing process once. Then it is completely finished. If not finished, it is defective and needs repairs. Process writing requires that writing be done over and over again to make the writing better.
One example of process writing is Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms." Hemingway rewrote the ending 39 times before he felt the novel finished. When he was asked why, he responded that he wanted to get the words right.
Process writing is not new, and writers such as Hemingway have been using process writing for a long time. However, only since the 1960s have English teachers in the United States started to consciously understand and teach process writing. Some years after English teachers in the United States began using process writing in their classes, process writing became a part of ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching.
This issue of Aaron Writes describes an example of process writing, the writing of one issue of Aaron Says, the issue of the newsletter on proofreading and rewriting English, Japanese to English translation, and American and Western culture. The issue discussed here was Volume 14, published March 15, 2005. That publication date was before this newsletter was published as you can see from the date at the top of this newsletter.
The process for writing Volume 14 started on December 7, 2004, some months before its actual publication.
The ALS director wrote Volume 14 in December. She then reread it three times. Each time, she changed some words, adding a couple of words, taking away a couple, using different adjectives, and checking punctuation. The ALS director sent her 4th version to the ALS Japan representative.
The Japan representative read Volume 14 twice. He changed several words, added several sentences, and sent the 6th version back to the director. She then reviewed the same volume twice more. After her review, she sent Volume 14 back to the Japan representative. The representative read the volume once more. He then sent it to a Japanese friend to read. The representative wanted a native Japanese speaker to read Volume 14 to make certain that it would be understandable. The Japanese speaker confirmed that it was. The representative read the issue one last time and filed it away. Volume 14 was written once, edited nine times, and read once by someone in the target audience. The Japan representative filed Volume 14 away on January 15. Volume 14 was almost ready to be published.
Toward the end of February, the Japan Representative took Volume 14 out of his file and read it twice. He made a few word changes, and sent it to the director. She read it twice and made three punctuation and word changes. The director sent Volume 14 to the representative. He received it, read it twice, and changed one adjective. Then the representative sent it back to the director asking for confirmation that Volume 14 was ready to publish. The representative asked the director to read it, making sure there were not any mistakes, but to stop editing. The word he used was nitpicking. He wrote, "I think we've nitpicked enough. Let's publish."
Process writing could continue forever, but the Volume 14 was scheduled for publication. In the next few days the representative programmed the issue to be published with the newsletter software of the newsletter company, checked the text on the screen, received the sample by email from the newsletter, checked the text for mistakes, and then sent it to the director for confirmation that it was fine. Style mistakes and editing had been finished. The point of the final reading was to check for errors.
Quite a process, isn’t it? Unfortunately, in spite of the lengthy process, the quality will not be the same as that of Hemingway. However, the process is the same. Writing is read and read again, read by someone else, read again, and read by a third person. As you can see from the process explained here, writing is not always done by one person. There is and should be teamwork and feedback. The next issue of Aaron Writes will examine feedback in writing.
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