Chapter Three

Summary:
This chapter is a survey of the actual process which writers go through in order to produce their work. The author begins by describing many of her own processes in writing the textbook. She does this to explore the complex system the writer must traverse: "Clearly, writing is a messy business, rarely in real life as tidy as textbooks describe it."
However, for simplicity's sake, the author does divide the steps of writing into the classic three: prewriting, writing, and rewriting. Relying heavily on Linda Flower and John Haye's various articles and books by Janet Emig and James Britton, Lindeman begins her foray into the tentative world of writing.
The prewriting section focuses on taking what we know and developing it through our self and various other social frameworks.
The writing section discusses the act of "translating" our thoughts into drafts.
Finally, the rewriting portion delves into revision through two avenues: editing, which takes care of mechanical errors, and reviewing, which is more complex and concerns the writer vacillating between internal and external revision.


Response:
I actually found this chapter really interesting because of the topic. These writing techniques are something that I use all of the time, but I haven't ever really thought of other people having to travel the same well-worn paths as myself. Who knew that when I was just in the "percolating" stage of prewriting I was actually using Platonic invention? Of course, it is true that all of our molding of ideas is influenced by other people and even other sources around us.
What I most enjoyed about this chapter, however, was the attention to our future students. These writing techniques have become second nature by this stage for us, but our students may have little to no experience approaching critical writing such as this. I think it is important to be reminded that it is our job to help "students become conscious of what they do as they plan a writing project, by modeling or discussing with students the kinds of goal-based plans we might develop in responding to an assignment...".
The most important thing I think I gleaned from all of this information is that the teacher needs to be cognizant of all of the intricacies that are occurring when effective writing is happening, and help the students move through all of these phases. We must not forget what it feels like to be a fledgling medium of the written word.