| This study examines the development of the creative writing process in individuals who have not been previously exposed in classes to the creative writing process. The focus of the study will be to explore what happens during that period in which students achieve what they and others describe as "power." This point seems to mark a rapid growth in the writer's confidence and skill, and thus is an important moment in the writer's development. Guiding questions for the study will include: (1) What is "power" in writing? (2) How do students achieve power in writing? (3) When do they know that they have achieved it? (4) What effect does group processing have on the writing progress towards power for individual students? (5) What would student responses be for Janet Emig's questions about the writing process that deal with writing history, stages, prewriting, planning, physical and psychic conditions for writing, psychological factors and writer's block, stopping points, and the affect of the group.;Methods. The site chosen was a small proprietary college in the Atlanta area that offers degrees in electronics technology, electronics engineering technology, accounting, business operations, and computer information sciences. Subjects were twelve technically oriented participants in an honors English class, chosen for the class on the basis of acceptable standard English in grammar and mechanics. Ethnographic techniques were used.;Results. Three factors were apparent in the development of student writing: the student environment, the instruction, and the recognition of the characteristics of power writing. The most important physical element of the environment was a quiet place to write. The group enabled the writer to receive both ideas and encouragement. The characteristics of writing that has power include description, voice, action, audience involvement, literary devices, and revision. The combination of helping others while sharpening their detecting and brainstorming skills through listening, hearing new possibilities, getting feedback, and having the support of the group led to an accelerated development of their own writing and a respect for the value of the group. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.);Objectives of the study were to interpret and analyze the beliefs about the writing process, power in writing, and factors that influence the achievement of power from the perspective of the students of a sophomore creative writing course in a technological college; to examine the relations of those beliefs to the theory of writing process in the review of literature; and to implement suggestions from the writing research to the classroom instruction to see what, if any, effect they have on the writers' process. |
