The Process of Good Writing James Guzman

Ive always had trouble writing essays in school and, well, now that Im in college it has
been brought to my attention that Im not as good as a writer as I thought I was. Since this
realization, its obvious that one should seek out help whether they want to or notand so the
main questions that have been brought up to topic are: What is it that makes up a good writer?
How can you be on your way to become a better writer? Lastly, what needs to be done in order
to achieve that goal? But just as there are tips and suggestions there are also some writing
problems and misconceptions that come along with it. Meaning not all suggestions work for
everyone. One major problem with the topic that I have chosen would have to be that people in
general have different ways of learning. With that being said, some of the helpful methods of
teaching students how they can improve their writing abilities can almost always be bias since
they are not universal methods. It is not like Mathematics to where there is only one way of
learning, this takes time and effort and involves a lot of patience to go with their practice. This
can also cause students to give up early, and may only be helpful to students who are passionate
about writing. As a side note, I feel as if most of the research that was acquired made their points
with great efficiency but I cannot help but to see those points more as tips and guidelines to
better your writing and with that being said, these suggestions, although they may be helpful,
cannot be forced upon the reader/writer.
In searching for the answers to my research, I came across an article entitled, A Model
Essay: One Way to Improve Students' Writing by Michael D. Sublett where he used his
students as his primary research to where he created a model essay for his students to use during
their journey throughout his class, which involved several writing assignments and no exams
whatsoever. At first the model essay was rough and did not work for everybody but over time,
the feedback that was given was used as constructive criticism only to make his sixth edition of
The Process of Good Writing James Guzman
the model essay and has apparently gotten successful feedback from students who say they still
use it for their essays today; Im sure there is always room for improvement but that is besides
the point. Now I can see why the author chose to set up the students with a model essay and I see
what his vision is and the point he was trying to make. If you have a model essay, depending on
the person, you would most likely never turn in a paper that is nothing more than just another
shitty first draft. With a model essay, there is a bar that has been set or a standard that has been
acknowledged so that that way, you can always remind yourself that there are always errors to be
revised and your paper can always be better. This is why he goes on to encourage the reader to
try it out and create a model essay of their own. One that has been revised to perfection and use
that as a reminder of what you are capable of achieving. After all, practice cannot hurt; it can
only bring you that much closer to perfection.
Barbara A. Bodes Dialogue Journal Writing gives an example that shows how simple
dialectical and reflective journal writing can start the writing process, to where she corresponds
with her students through journal writing to learn the functional use of language. Even with a
difference of age, a sixth grader and a first grader responded to their teachers verbal question on
how their school can be improved. Simple enough, she used dialectical journal writing to achieve
her main goal which was, the development of their ability to be more autonomous in managing
their academic and interpersonal life. Meaning, whether it was good or bad feedback, instead of
not voicing their opinion, for whatever reason, this exercise allowed them to give their feedback
on a more personal level rather than having a filter in your mind that doesnt allow you to say
what you really think or mean. I really like the idea of how she handled this research which also
connects or relates to an article by Ken Autrey called, Toward a Rhetoric of Journal Writing
where he gives an example of the use of the diary that I thought was pretty cool. He says that
The Process of Good Writing James Guzman
journal entries or the use of the diary dates back to at least the times of the Ancient Greeks and
was used for two different reasons, one to connect the self with the community, the other to
individualize the self. The connection being made between the two articles is that the
community can be the classroom and the individualization of the self being the student not
being afraid to voice their opinion. So it is very possible that the practice of keeping a journal
can improve confidence and kick-start the writing process and in addition to that, Bodes article
also explains how since the students and teachers are taking action when they write or more
simply interacting with each other when they write, the most common outcome is a positive
change in the classroom from day to day. Dialogue journal writing, which I see more as
reflective journal writing seeing as how you are giving your thoughts and reflecting on a topic,
can be very helpful on the scale that it is a more independent way of writing. To where there are
no outside opinions that influence your writing so that your idea is portrayed unflawed as an
individual. As a result, you then begin to write more freely and with the amount of time and
practice you put in, your ideas and flow of writing become clearer and respectable. I believe it is
safe to say that journal writing, reflective or dialectical, works out, in a sense, your creative
juice flow which in turn, improves your writing ability; only if you work at it.

In addition, I myself have always wondered whether or not reflective journal writing
does, in fact, improve course performance. Luckily I came across Cheryl A. Ciseros article
Does Reflective Journal Writing Improve Course Performance? where her research shows that
it does help improve course work. Her results that there was a drastic change in improvement
with the students who had Cs and Ds and a slight change, but a change nevertheless, in the
students with Bs and As. So then I begin to question why it is that, journal writing may benefit
The Process of Good Writing James Guzman
the average student but may not substantially help the good students or the struggling
students...? The answer is rather elementary and redundant if you ask me, which she explains by
stating that the problem might not be with the journal assignments themselves but rather in the
individual doing the assignment. There is a plethora of truth behind her words when she says,
Journal writing can only be effective in improving course performance if students make the
effort to engage in reflective thinking, thereby making learning more meaningful. In other
words, this means that the student has to want to make the effort to participate in the study. It
is a concept of, what you get is what you deserve. Just as a students final grade is dependent
on how much effort is put towards the class. So in this case, it would be how much effort was put
into utilizing the reflective journal writing exercises for what they werePRACTICE!


Now, hopefully we are at that point where the reader should understand a hint when they
see one, but if not, the hint would be that it is more up to the reader/writer or student to put the
effort in towards the learning. So with that being taken into account, I found a great article by
Ken Lertzman called Notes on Writing Papers and Theses that literally gives about twenty-one
suggestions that, should be relevant to both undergraduate and graduate students. In simpler
terms, tips on how you can, level-up, your ability to write. The suggestions he makes about
how to write more effectively are based primarily on the comments he leaves to his students
papers and theses. With doing so, he sees that most of his students share common problems in
the papers he receives for review. What is trying to be said here is that his research comes from a
primary source which in his case, the primary source being his very own students. What I find so
fascinating about primary source research is that there is definitely a more personal interaction
The Process of Good Writing James Guzman
with the research rather than interacting by just reading multiple articles and citing the sources
for your research, no, its more than that. Its research being done in real time based off feedback
and the progression of that feedback. These suggestions were built solely for the betterment of
your writing and are quite simple. For example, one suggestion stated was simply to not turn in
your first draft as your final draft. As simple as this is or may sound, most students do not draft
before turning in a final paper and believe it or not, it shows. Another example would be to use
or create an outline before you start writing which would also go hand in hand with another one
of his tips that says to think about the structure of your paragraphs. That way you already have
an idea of what you want to say in your writing and how you want it all laid out so that there are
no unclear thoughts and/or misguidance. If simple suggestions like these were to be practiced
and followed, it leads me to believe that the essays that are being turned in afterwards will look
close to flawless. We are all just lazy.

In conclusion, Ive come to realize that all of my research on How to be a better writer?
or What makes up a good writer/writing? was very helpful and informative but, they all kind
of linked together to make up what is the bigger picture: It literally all depends on how bad the
student or person for that matter really wanted to be a better writer. It is up to that person actually
wants to meet their goal; the amount of effort you put in, is how much you get in return with the
knowledge youve attained. In addition to that point, there are many ways to improve your
writing abilities but they are all basically just tips and pieces of advice. It is up to you to seek out
improvement and use that knowledge. It is then up to you, the individual, to hone in on ones
newly acquired skill in order to apply it to what you already know. Then and only then will you
be on your way to producing a masterpiece of an essay. So I now challenge the reader by saying,
The Process of Good Writing James Guzman
if you think youve got what it takes to apply yourself towards actually learning something, I
say take your feedback and use it towards improvement. Take criticism constructively and grow
from it and learn from those mistakes to produce good writing. Practice! Practice! Practice!
Achieve Greatness. Dont just talk about it, be about it. Boom. It is hard practice and dedication
that push you towards the improvement of anything and everything. Do you accept?














The Process of Good Writing James Guzman
1.
A Model Essay: One Way to Improve Students' Writing
Michael D. Sublett
College Teaching
Vol. 41, No. 1 (Winter, 1993) (pp. 11-14)
Page Count: 4

2.
Notes on Writing Papers and Theses
Ken Lertzman
Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America
Vol. 76, No. 2 (Jun., 1995) (pp. 86-90)
Page Count: 5

3. Dialogue Journal Writing
Author(s): Barbara A. Bode
Source: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 42, No. 8, Empowerment through Literacy (Apr., 1989),
pp.568-571
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20200235


4. Toward a Rhetoric of Journal Writing
Author(s): Ken Autrey
Source: Rhetoric Review, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Autumn, 1991), pp. 74-90
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.Stable
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/465516


5. Does Reflective Journal Writing Improve Course Performance?
Author(s): Cheryl A. Cisero
Source: College Teaching, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Spring, 2006), pp. 231-236
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.Stable
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27559272