Journal #13
There’s an unfortunate truth about writing that very few people talk about, and it’s one that I think should be addressed: writing is overwhelming. And then the feeling of being overwhelmed by even the idea of the task of writing, ends up being this unspoken and awful thing. It’s also a feeling that, it seems, everyone is aware of in themselves- and yet simultaneously we all believe that everyone else is immune to it. But this conception couldn’t be farther from the truth. Who enjoys writing an essay at 2 AM the day before it’s due? Who enjoys dissecting themselves to have an ounce of interesting writing in a piece of creative fiction? Writing is something that is awful for nearly everyone at some point- and is thusly put off until it is unavoidable. Yet, it is necessary. Whether you’re writing an email or a research proposal, the act of placing your thoughts into written words is an inextricable part of the human experience.
That being said, writing can be made far more manageable using a variety of techniques and tools. The deployment of writing fellows into classes that engage in a copious amount of writing is one of these. But I don’t believe the act of being, or being present, is enough support for anyone. And it’s especially lacking when it comes to the formidable task of writing an essay. In this way, the addition of an assignment to converse with a writing fellow can be less helpful and, instead, adds mass to the overwhelming weight that writing already holds. After all, what’s wrong with writing an essay last minute if you get it turned in? What’s the issue with a writing process as inconsistent as our fingerprints? Well, as Gillespie and Lerner talk about in The Longman Guide to Tutoring, writing is part of the learning process. Essays, more often than not, are not assignments to be used as proof of retainment. No, they are acts of application. The essay is a place to enact that which is otherwise hypothetical; academic writing is a place to think, and more importantly, to question. In a rather clarified deduction of this: writing is learning.
So how does one face the task of being a writing fellow with this in mind? How do you help? I think a potential answer to these ever-prevailing questions is answered by Lev Vygotsky’s theory of scaffolding. Scaffolding is, essentially, the process of teaching through a series of steps that grow increasingly in degree of difficulty. The ultimate goal of this, in education, was to break the process of learning into smaller, more easily digested thoughts. Though the theory was originally introduced in the interest of children, I think it’s primary goal remains valuable. As a writing fellow, this might be employed by modeling the various processes of writing, or providing tools that make accomplishing the steps that go into good writing- easier. Ultimately, the writing fellow would break down their advice into easier to achieve, segmented, pieces. This would, ideally, be fostered by an incremental learning process (where practice makes perfect).
The benefit of this support would still be up to the students to utilize. Hopefully, the writing fellows use of scaffolding would empower the writing fellow and the student. It would make writing less overwhelming, and make the process of supporting the writer far more approachable. Conclusively, I think that scaffolding is so useful in being a writing fellow, that I’ve decided to do my final project on it.
