Morlock 1

Marissa Morlock
Professor Leslie Wolcott
ENC 1101
19 September 2014
Writing Self-Study
Writing is an extremely difficult task for many people, including myself. I have recently
conducted a self-study to help me better understand my writing habits. While taking this course,
I have read about professional writers and the studies they have conducted on unskilled writers to
better understand the composing process. These writings have opened up my eyes about how
complex the writing process can be, and helped me develop an interest in studying my own
writing. After studying my own writing process I have come to learn just how easily I can get
distracted from composing an essay, and from that I can draw conclusions that will allow me to
improve my writing. I noticed that during the composing process I become frequently distracted
and confused. These findings will help me learn from my flaws, and strive to become the best
writer I can be.
Paul Prior, an English professor and professional writer, helps us understand the many
different aspects that are included in the composing process. Prior is the director of the
University of Illinoiss Center for Writing Studies. In his writing, he explains the various ways
that studies have been done on writers, and what has been concluded from the studies. Tracing
the writing process also means tracing the inner thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and motives of
the writer(s) as well as tracing exchanges (spoken or written) between people, exchanges in
which the content and purposes of a text may be imagined and planned, in which specific

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language may even be drafted out in talk (Prior, 494). There is more to the writing process
than just inscription itself. Prior explains that there are two different parts that make up the
writing process: inscription, and composing. Inscription is the physical act of writing, involving a
pen, pencil, keyboard, etc. Composing, however, can happen without inscription. Composing
includes every thought, action, and feeling that may occur to a writer throughout the day because
any of this can influence the actual inscription. This is why in order to conduct a deep and
accurate study on a writer, you must look at much more than just the writing itself. Prior writes
about different study techniques including intertextual analysis, think-aloud protocols, different
types of interviews, use of existing accounts, and observation. To conduct my self-study, I used
the think aloud protocol.
Sondra Perl, one of the most significant researchers in the writing field, conducted a
study of the composing processes of five unskilled college writers. Her study consisted of
collecting three kinds of data: the students written products, their composing tapes, and their
responses to an interview. Perl created a coding system to code each composing behavior, and
then charted each behavior on a continuum. The charts, or composing style sheets as they are
called, do not explain what students wrote but rather how they wrote (Perl, 622). This research
method allows the researcher to determine if there is a pattern in the composing behavior, and
draw conclusions about the writers composing style. At the end of Perls study she concluded
that these writers are not unskilled. They should be referred to as beginners, and those teaching
them should be able to interpret their personal composing processes and intervene in a way that
will better their writing.
There are copious amounts of researchers who have conducted research on the writing
process using the think-aloud protocol. However, I have not come across any research that has

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been done on ones self. Conducting a self-study has many benefits to the researcher. I have
learned much more about my own personal writing process than I expected while conducting this
study. As a result of this study, I will be able to apply my findings to future assignments. The
previous studies on the composing process have all been done by professional researchers and
writers. My study is unique because I consider myself to only be an average writer. This means
that I am looking at the study from a whole different perspective than the other researchers that
have done the same thing on other writers.
To conduct this study on myself, I used the think-aloud protocol while I read Perls
article on the composing process of unskilled writers, and wrote a summary and analysis on it. I
recorded myself thinking aloud on my laptop throughout the entire reading and writing process.
After I was finished, I replayed the recording and wrote down everything I said or did while
reading and writing. I broke up each thought into segments, and from this I created a list of all
the thoughts, actions, and behaviors that appeared in the recording. I then created a coding
system similar to Perls so that it was possible for me to organize all of the different behaviors
that appeared in the study. My coding system included codes such as distractions, confusions,
frustrations, questions, re-reading, editing, second guessing, and taking a break. The most
common ones that I found while researching my personal writing process were distractions,
confusions, and frustrations.
After I organized my thoughts from the recording, I came to a strong realization. It
appeared that every time after there was a distraction, there was either a confusion or frustration
following it. There were a surprisingly large number of distractions in my reading and writing.
These distractions were mainly coming from my phone in which I was either text messaging, or
wasting time on social media websites. Since the distractions were followed by confusions or

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frustrations, this leads me to come to the conclusion that once my focus is taken away from the
text it is hard for me to refocus my attention and get back into the reading or writing. I also
noticed that after I was able to refocus my attention, I had to re-read what I had just read. This
study has helped me understand that if I were to turn my cell phone off while writing, I would be
able to significantly reduce the amount of time spent on a passage.
The think-aloud protocol was extremely helpful to myself, and I strongly believe that it
has already helped by improving my writing. Now that I understand my flaws in writing I have
been able to make changes that help me read and write more efficiently, and in a time-efficient
manner. However, the most difficult part of this study was the think-aloud itself. I found that
while I am deeply focused in my reading or writing, it is hard for me to also focus on saying my
thoughts aloud. This resulted in most of my thoughts that were said aloud occurring during a
distraction rather than while I am focused in my writing. Although this study was very helpful to
me, there are many other studies mentioned by Perl and Prior that could have a greater benefit
such as the intertextual analysis, or observation. I have concluded in this study that I am
distracted too easily while writing and I will now use this information to my benefit. Reading or
writing with my phone by my side will no longer be an option. I will make sure to get rid of all
potential distractions before I start the composing process. I am thankful for all that this study
has showed me and I look forward to using this information to further improve my reading and
writing skills.

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Works Cited
Prior, Paul. "Tracing Process: How Texts come into Being." Writing about Writing: A College
Reader. Eds. Wardle and Downs. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 492-526.
Print.
Sondra, Perl. "The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers." Wardle, Elizabeth A.,
and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martins, 2011. 615-39. Print.