R/W post #1

    Writing and reading are a part of everyday life whether that is reading a novel, reading a menu, writing a to-do list, or formally writing an essay. It is something that at this point feels so natural that breaking it down into the specific steps was an interesting experience for me. Something new for me was seeing that writing and reading share many similar processes. For example, I had never thought of having a "drafting" phase when reading. After reading Tierney and Pearson it made me look at reading through a new lens. Drafting for writing and reading is the process of starting and getting some ideas out. Starting your reading or writing is a very important step in drafting because sometimes it can be very hard to just start. They show how similar this step is between reading and writing by stating that "a reader opens his or her textbook, magazine or novel; a writer reaches for his pen" (Tierney & Person, NEED YEAR, p. 571). When looking at formal writing specifically we a routinely considering the purpose, audience, and genre of what we are composing. Typically with a formal writing assignment there are specific outlines that you must follow, whether that be topic, layout, genre, etc. If you are assigned a writing assignment that has these outlines it makes the writing process a bit easier. It gives less room for interpretation so you completely understand what is expected of your writing. When the assignment gives room for some creativity and multiple interpretations you are left to decide what is the purpose, who is my audience, and what genre would be best which can be a difficult task. 

    Looking through the guidelines for the reading and writing blogs I will be making sure to implement some of these reading and writing strategies. First I will be sure to plan out my reading, making sure I am giving myself ample time to read and truly digest what I am reading. I know that I personally have the tendency of spacing out and completely missing what I read. I will also be making annotations along with my reading. I have found that if I have an ongoing document where I write down quotes and ideas that stick out to me I stay on task and have a better understanding of the text overall. For my writing for these assignments I will also be planning, making sure I have time to sit and write but also looking at the guiding questions for the week so that I have ideas about what I would like to write about. I will also be editing my writing to make sure that my ideas make logical sense and that my writing follows grammar rules. 

    Looking through the Genre Pieces Project I am brainstorming what topic would be best, something that I am truly interested in and can write in multiple ways. I know that I tend to be very one-sided when it comes to my beliefs so I need to widen my way of thinking so that I can write about a topic for multiple audiences, in different voices/perspectives, and for multiple purposes. Once I have officially decided on a topic I will then decide which genre I would like to write in first, deciding on an intended audience, purpose, and voice. After this prewriting, I will start to "pour out ideas" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 8) on to a page.