Journal 7

I define the term writing and composing as a smaller piece of a larger picture. Composing is the idea of creating meaning in many mediums and modes. Writing is a certain style of composing that deals with words. Editing can be defined as making changes that better the purpose of a composition.

To better define writing, editing, and composing, it is helpful to look at key terms such as, mode, medium, immediacy, exigence, audience, social, circulation, organization, originality and remediation. These key terms provide a deeper understanding to writing, editing, and composing because they explain the process of composing, as well as the perception and changes it will make along the way when it encounters an audience for editing.

My experiences with project two have shaped my definition of writing and editing and composing because I had to deal with originality, audience, and remediation in ways I had never had to before. When composing my project, I was creating a remediation, which was a new concept to me. To understand this concept, I had to first understand the idea of originality, which I found to be hard because the more I learned about the term the less I believed in its existence at all. I decided that my remediation should not be judged for its originality, but more for its function.

Outside of this course I have been taking other writing courses, and learning how to compose rhetoric for this generation. It has made me pay more attention to the way certain genres function within society and the shift in writing from print to online and through social media.

The most specific change I have made to my theory of composing is the very beginning of what I consider composing. I had to change my idea of starting with an original thought, to starting with a purpose to fit an exigence. This idea is in stark contrast to my original idea because it puts the emphasis on the function of composing, and the audience, rather than the composer and their ideas. This change came when I completed the second project, and realized all ideas have basis in something.