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| Commentary on Generating the Because-clauses |
| Okay, that's enough. Listing the potential reasons against a competency exam was an intense, exhausting activity, but doing it without stopping to judge these ideas, I felt my energy flowing into several of the because-clauses. I even got to the point of realizing that I have the basis for an alternative to a competency exam. I also took a look at the possible good points of a competency exam, but I'm not convinced, so those will become part of my own argument against one. I know already, as I prepare to look back over the list that I have more than enough good material and some of the actual language I'll use in my raw draft. I've discovered things I would not have thought of before. Even if I don't make use of some of them in the final product, I have learned plenty about myself and my attitude toward these questions by spontaneously listing more than enough because-clauses. For a longer paper, I might have used a directed freewriting exercise first, before committing myself to a thesis and listing reasons why I support (or oppose) it. But although a page of nonstop, uncensored writing on the subject would have helped me find what Peter Elbow, in Writing with Power, calls the "center of gravity" of the piece of writing, my list of clauses gives me a convenient way to analyze the various ideas and opposing views, and provides some of the language I will use later. As with all the stages of QUICK WRITING PROCESS, this listing is useful in itself and ignites the next activity: analysis of the because-clauses. Analysis produces an argument-outline, which leads to the raw draft. This continuous process is one advantage of using QUICK WRITING PROCESS instead of mapping strategies or brainstorming. It begins with meaning; and the provisional thesis, the because-clauses, the constant integration of inductive and deductive thinking create a sense of order. A psychologist has a hunch in a family therapy session; a biochemist has an inkling of where to look for something useful. Anyone who writes has a whole storehouse of ideas and feelings that will come into play in the writing process. QUICK WRITING PROCESS takes the energy of thinking and turns it into a system for writing. Of course, no process can assure that I will find the ultimate explanation or the basis of my instinct against a competency exam. Although I fully expect to discover ideas and evidence that I haven't thought of before, it is not always possible to find what Sheridan Baker, in The Practical Stylist, calls the "public reasons for . . . private convictions." The process of writing under pressure may or may not force them out into the open before the deadline. Perhaps I'll find them later on, as I think over what I've written and what I've left out, or as people respond to my paper. I may change my mind as I learn new things. But for now, within the deadline, I can approach, clarify, and represent my thoughts, and acknowledge, as part of the power of writing, the things I don't know, the things I'm not sure about. There will be more chances, more writing tasks. This particular one may lead to others, or it may be forgotten. All I can do is work with as much intensity and concentration as possible in the available time and get this job done. The more you use QUICK WRITING PROCESS and make it your own, the more you will be able to depend on having enough information, analysis, and ideas. There will be ample discovery for the writer and food for the reader's thoughts. It's not a foolproof process. The history of writing is a history of attempts. Think of Faulkner writing the second section of the The Sound and the Fury because he felt the first didn't work, and then the third and the fourth, and finally, putting them all together as a book although he still was not satisfied. There's tremendous effort and limited success in most writing. Incidentally, that's not the kind of truth a competency exam would allow--another thought to consider as I move toward integrating meaning and structure in my position paper. |
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