Where does good writing start?

For experienced writers, the intention to do good writing is the driving force behind drafting and revision, not behind topic selection" (Ray, 1999, p. 94).

After reading this chapter on "Studying Writers' Office Work," it is clear that I have not given enough attention to the importance of topic selection in the writing process. Ray makes an important distinction between how experienced and inexperienced writers select topics  highlighting how experienced writers realize that the writing is what makes the reading engaging, not the topic.

This passage helped me to see blindspots in my own writing instruction. In the past, I've focused my efforts on teaching the writing process to redefine what it means to engage in active and ongoing revision, as many of my students still struggle to differentiate revision from editing. But in doing so, I think it's pretty clear I've been shortchanging what it means to actively engage in prewriting. With limited time to delve deep into writing instruction, I also find myself wondering if this perspective could be addressed more strategically within a student writing project as opposed to a separate topic within understanding the writing process?

​In particular, Ray's writing has shifted my perspective for drafting digital texts within my larger-scale multiliteracies book response project. While I position topic selection as based on a writer's individual purpose (emerging from their reading(s), knowledge of technologies, experience with genres, personal interests, etc), I have not been as intentional about (a) how to help them discover that purpose; (b) how to develop that purpose prior to beginning the drafting process; (c) or how to transfer this experience to the classroom for their own students. Moving forward, I can envision how a more intentional entrance into these projects could greatly enhance the outcomes and the likelihood of impacting future practice.

Inspiration from Wondrous Words by Katie Wood Ray.