Journal 7

I define the term writing as the process of articulating ideas and concepts brought together in the mind or in collaboration with other forces. Editing is the process of revising one’s own work or the work of others. Editing requires work that has already previously been written. Composing is the most complicated of the three words to define. Composing is the process of writing and editing as well as other factors. Composing is composed of articulation, experience, exigency, circulation, design and execution, as well as remediation or remix. My key terms help gain a fuller definition of the three concepts by providing a larger view as to how they are all connected and the larger process beyond what first comes to mind when one hears broad concepts such as “writing”.

My experiences with project two have helped me realize that basically every form of composition or creation borrows from another outside source. Originality is no longer truly a legitimate concept. Everything is borrowed or is an assemblage created from pieces of its circumstances, the culture around it, the experiences of the author, etc. Project two has helped me come to terms with the fact that creativity isn’t truly spontaneous, but is rather influenced by a variety of factors surrounding the media, environment, topic, culture, popularity, and many more stimuli of the composition itself.

My experiences with writing outside of this course has influenced my understanding of writing, editing, and composition in a way that made my view simplistic and basic. This course has forced me to critically evaluate these concepts that previously, I had not given much thought to. Before taking this class my definitions of these concepts would have been very basic and not in-depth or evaluative of the larger context in which they exist.  My experiences of writing, editing, and composition outside of this class was very uniform and plan and thus my definitions were very uniform and plain. This course has challenged me to think about the multitude of ways in which editing, writing, and compositions can exist within today’s society with all of today’s modern technology.

My theory of composing from the second week of classes did not include circulation or any means of distribution. At the time I thought that the circulation and movement of a text were independent of the creation of a text, but since I have realized that the purpose of a text is to reach people and if it is not designed or capable of doing so, the text will not be able to achieve its purpose. After realizing this, circulation has become a central part of my theory of composing, as a text must be circulated in order to serve any purpose.