Dive deeply into your (writing) soul, one more time

Look into the reflection pond and find yourself. That's what it feels like for me anytime I am asked to write a reflection piece connected to an assignment.

"Tell me what you think about your process. Tell me, what have you learned? Tell me, how have you grown as a writer and student?" Ugh, do I have to? I am trying, but I have no feelings about my writing.

Reflection as a multi-stage, multi-faceted process

Reflection should not be limited to an end-of-the-road response by students. This critical process is not just a review of your writing after you have submitted the final draft (though it is also that). Instead, it is an inquiry-based process that gives writers a systematic method of reliving their writing experiences to reshape their current writing. (Taczak 78). Ideally, reflection should be completed throughout major assignments, and teachers must find ways to incorporate it through discussion posts, blogs, and brief paper assignments.

A highly personalized vehicle that develops your writing

I like the word reshape here because it gets to the underlying strategy of reflection: improving your writing. Improving your writing is not the only reason you should reflect, but it is certainly a primary reason. As writing teachers, we need to frame reflection as a developmental vehicle for students to enhance their writing. Reflection is not a random soul-searching task; it asks us to examine our writing and see how we can improve it. Kara Taczak correctly argues that students should see reflection as an: "... active and engaged part of their writing process [that can] benefit their development and success as writers" (79). Now, convincing students that this is true is a separate challenge altogether!

Leaving homebase: stretching your skills outside of your comfort zone

It is human nature to be more comfortable in certain situations than others. Likewise, writers generally find that they prefer writing in one genre over other options. I enjoy writing in applied genres over creative writing, though I am discovering I enjoy creative nonfiction. There is caution in this comfortableness though.

Beware of your habitual forms

Writing only in one genre or mostly for one audience can lead to what Chris Anson labels habituation, which occurs when writers are "subjected to repeated practice of the same genres, using the same processes for the same rhetorical purposes and addressing the same audiences" (77). Anson claims that this ultimately leads to writers becoming entrenched - stuck in one constant writing pattern and process. Writers and students need to challenge themselves to write across genres and subjects.

Build your FYC class as a mix of genres and subjects

I enrolled in a creative nonfiction class at Kennesaw State this semester to broaden my writing and expand my skills outside of technical and applied writing. Though it is stretching my mind in uncomfortable ways, I am growing as a writer each week - and seeing new ways to implement creative writing in applied settings. In similar ways, an FYC instructor should create assignments that complement a diverse range of genres. This serves two purposes: it expands students' writing skills and increases their interest in the class. Students prefer variety, so they will likely respond well to a fusion of writing genres and topics.

Works Cited

Anson, Chris M. “5.3: Habituated Practice Can Lead to Entrenchment.” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies - Classroom Edition, edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle, Utah State University Press, Boulder, CO, 2016, pp. 77-78.

Taczak, Kara. “5.4: Reflection is Critical for Writers' Development.” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies - Classroom Edition, edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle, Utah State University Press, Boulder, CO, 2016, pp. 78-79.