In the passages, “Writer’s Histories, Processes, and Identities Vary” by Kathleen Blake Yancy and “Writing is Informed by Prior Experience” by Andrea A. Lunsford, writing is described as a process that is affected by a writer’s past experiences. Both authors refute that the way you learn how to write, and the experiences that occurred during that period, continue to influence a student well into their career as a writer. In the first piece, Blake discusses the formation of a writer’s identity. She contends that a writer’s history, relationships with friends and family, gender, sexual orientation, race, class, genres, and experiences all come together to shape a writer’s identity. Blake also admits that because a writer writes both as an individual and a social being, writing is inherently paradoxical in nature. In the second passage, Lunsford insists that writing is a response to the writer’s previous experiences with writing. It is their past memories that influence the way that they write in the present. No matter the intent of the writing, it is always shaped by the writer’s preceding interactions with writing and people.
From these two readings, I learned that the experiences that we acquired in the past can both help and hurt us in writing. They can help us in the way that you have more security in your identity as a writer, and you already are aware of the expectations and what kind of steps you must implement in your essays. They can hurt us by our assumption that one piece is similar to the next, and that our negative experiences can affect our outlook on writing in general. For example, Lunsford states that “when writers call on strategies they have used before when approaching a new writing task, those strategies may or may not work well in the current situation.” My interpretation of this is that basing our assumptions off of our past experiences in writing can hurt us because we aren’t analyzing the writing as it is. This leaves room for error, as our assumptions automatically lead us in one direction, without us actually analyzing the true meaning. As writers, we need to make sure we are fully analyzing the pieces that we read and write so that we aren’t just getting the “gist and list” and are able to properly recognize the complexity of each piece.
I think that writing teachers need to ensure that writers know all aspects of the writing process as early as possible. The more set in your ways you are, the harder it is to change. Because writers are influenced greatly by the method they were taught, teachers should make sure they know all they need to, to form their writing identity. I think writing students need to be conscious of their identity as a writer. They need to determine what alterations they need to make to build their confidence and grow. I think colleges should ease their students into the transition from high school level writing, to college level, and that they should expect students to be slightly uncomfortable as they adjust. I think K-12 should emphasize the importance of the writing process. In my experience, it wasn’t about the process, but achieving the grade needed. Some teachers didn’t even talk about writing as if it was a process. If it was emphasized in high school writing classes, it would make the transition from high school to college level writing much smoother for students.
