Who Are You Now? (As a Writer)

(This Is the End . . . of This Book)

Now that you’ve been through some writing experiences, are you a different writer?

What kind of writer are you now?

When do you write? How do you write? What are your attitudes toward writing?

AUDIENCE

You’re writing for the same audience as in the original “Who Are You Now?” experience. They remember your past, but they’d like to hear about your present.

They’re curious about how you view your writing abilities and attitudes now that you’ve had these experiences. They also want you to be fully honest about your experiences, even if they haven’t been positive.

PROCESS

1. Consider your writing experiences since you were last asked who you are.

Have your attitudes toward writing changed at all or have they basically stayed the same?

What about how you approach writing? Have you altered your writing process at all?

What do you feel like you can do now that you couldn’t do before? What do you know about writing that you didn’t know before?

What do you still hope to develop further? Where do you see yourself going with your writing?

2. Draft.

Similar to the original, you’re telling a story to help your audience understand how you perceive the journey you’ve been taking. Think about telling and showing.

3. Revise.

Do your best to make sure your piece says what you intend to say. You want to be honest with your audience while also being appropriately sensitive. You’ve shared experiences, but they only know their half of the equation.

What do you need to tell your audience in order to fill them in about what has been going on with you?

4. Edit and polish.

The audience will likely be comparing the degree of care and consideration brought to this manuscript with the original attempt. What changes can you demonstrate?

REFLECT

Same questions as the first time:

How diverse are your writing experiences? Have you done lots of different things, or do you feel like you’ve mostly done variations of the same thing?

Which sounds more true to you: “I am a good/bad writer,” or “I am good/bad at writing”?

How much (if any) of your attitudes about writing are linked to what happened in school and/or grades?

When have you most enjoyed writing? When have you least enjoyed it? What is the difference between those experiences?

REMIX

Choose any of the experiences you completed and revise the parameter or process to make it more useful to those engaging with the experience.

Make sure to support and explain your choices so the originator of the experience understands why you’re recommending these changes.