Journal 7

Although I consider the terms: writing, composing and editing all part of the creative process, I believe that there are certain defining aspects that differentiate them from one another. When I consider the term “writing” I would define it as using a utensil to record information. I would define the term “composing” as actually creating a physical or digital work that involves more than just writing. I would define the term “editing” as fixing either written or composed works.

Because I define all three terms as a part of the creative process, I would connect all three to the same key terms: rhetoric, audience, exigence, history, etc. These key terms connect to provide the message that these key terms work to create a message for an intended audience. All three of the terms are means by which authors try to express their messages as best as possible to their audiences.

My experiences with project 2 were heavily focused on the composing and editing aspect of the creative process. I have been writing my whole life, but it is not very common that I am able to compose a webpage and a YouTube video. In order for the contents of my project to deliver the intended message, a fair amount of editing was required. Through editing, I was able to make my webpage and my video more aesthetically pleasing for my audience. 

By writing my entire life, the key terms have always applied to me and I have pretty much always understood how important writing is to the creative process. Growing up, we are also taught to correct our mistakes; this has helped shape my definition of editing.

If I had to select one specific thing from this course that has changed my theory of composing, I would definitely say the two projects that we have had. In both instances, I have been required to compose something from scratch, including writing and editing. However being able to compose something physically and then digitally was an interesting experience. Composing a physical work made me appreciate the digital age that we are living in now, I found the second project to be much less time consuming and have more range of capabilities.