[Englecturers] RE: Ben's Discussing Writing on Demand

[englecturers at lists.ucr.edu]

Hi Everyone,

First of all, I'm very gratified that we have a discussion on our discussion list.  We as a program have been under tremendous stress, such that I feared we had lost energy to think about what it is we do (and should do).

I have to admit that I'm confused about the definition of "writing on demand."  I had assumed that it meant writing by hand, in class, on paper, with a very short time limit.  This email might be a version of writing on demand in that I'll write one draft, fix the errors I find, and then perhaps change some wording, all within 30 minutes or so.  On the other hand, I'll also use the earthlink spell checking program to catch my common mistakes, and I have the option of opening a new window and researching the topic.

John's idea about corporate writing on demand is different.  He mentions proposal and report deadlines.  In that case, not only were my written PhD exams writing on demand, but so was my dissertation (except that I successfully ignored the demand for about six years).  It is likely that my slow progress has hurt my academic career, but I had access to spell checking programs, helpful readers, and the ability to write about 10 drafts (in various forms).  

I never considered a one-week take-home project, whether it is a paper, a take-home final, or a research proposal, to be on-demand writing.   Assuming that employees have two to three days to write up proposals, any of our papers is likely to mimic that demand.  Perhaps one of my students will actually follow a several-week process of researching and writing, but the actual writing is likely to take place over a period of 24 hours--the 12 hours before the rough draft is due and the 12 hours before the final draft is due.  That is on-demand writing, but of a different kind than the in-class final my students will write.

This next paragraph is informed by a one-hour conversation I just had (interrupting my writing) with Dean:
I think now that if we teach students to write through a process, they will be able to adapt that process to the types of writing they actually do, even to timed writing situations.  On the other hand, if we only teach them to write in timed situations, they will be unlikely to learn how to write through a complete process.  In that case, process trumps on-demand tests.  However, timed writings might be like weight training in athletics (to go with the sports metaphors)--no one really uses weights in competition, but lifting weights helps in the actual task.

I propose we treat in-class, timed writings that include no revision as weight training--as a secondary training method, not as an intrinsically important skill.  Oh, and with interruptions and further discussion with others, this email took me two and a half hours to finish.





Benjamin Harder