June 2021 - The Writing Post

I used to think that the writing process was as simple as sitting down, typing out a short story or essay on my laptop, giving it a quick review, and then sending it off to a magazine. I did not acknowledge that writing is a recursive process. In my imagination, I pictured editors responding with messages like, “You’re a genius! Here’s $3 billion dollars! You’ve revolutionized the world of writing!” In reality, all I managed to do was irritate a slew of editors at literary magazines with my nonsense.

One of my early mistakes was failing to grasp a concrete, recursive writing process beneficial to me. Yes, “recursive” might sound like an expensive word, but it carries significant weight. This is especially clear when you are striving to establish an effective approach to writing. It’s about comprehending the steps a writer must take to be both productive and proficient.

What does Recursive Mean?

In simple terms, recursive means “repeating” a process. Though, in more academic lingo, recursive means to do something “several times in order to produces a particular result or effect” (Cambridge). That is to say, working through a particular project and then repeating stages of the project to perfect your end goal is an example of recursion.

Another way to look at this is that when engaging with a recursive process, you are going back to a “simpler” form of your project and creating a more technical version. As such, you are going back to a prior stage in order to make better. Recursive is repetition, but it’s also perfection. You aren’t simply repeating necessarily. You are also adding to the previous construct to make it shine a little brighter.

How is the writing process recursive?

Writing as a recursive process encompasses the writing process itself (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing). It allows you to revisit previous steps and jump around during a writing project because, as most approaches to academic writing will tell you, these processes flow into one another, creating fluidity between stages. For instance, you may need to return to your drafting stage to enhance your introduction with more refined language, even though you’re in the revising stage.

When we discuss writing as a recursive process, we’re talking about the repetition of the writing process, which can sometimes trap us in the space between the editing and revising stages, endlessly moving sentences around, correcting grammatical issues, and adding new ideas over and over. Yet, this is precisely what we do as writers to create polished, well-crafted work. Remember: reading and writing is a “reciprocal” process and therefore they go hand in hand together; thus, you should be reading and writing as recursion.

It’s one thing to say, “Writing is recursive!” and another to fully understand its implications. Recursive writing means that each step you take in your writing process feeds into other steps. For example, after drafting an essay, you’ll verify facts, and if you find errors, you’ll return to the draft to correct them. In other words, we repeat processes to refine our message.

Conclusion

We must remember that we will always jump between stages. Completing the draft doesn’t mean you’re done drafting, and finishing revising doesn’t guarantee every paragraph is in its ideal place. In essence, writing is rewriting. It’s perfectly acceptable to revisit old steps in the process, from prewriting to drafting to revision, and even to begin again when you feel it’s necessary.

As Nancy Hutchison, associate professor of English at Howard Community College, wisely advises, “Good academic writing takes time. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and there are many steps to writing well.” This advice holds true for various writing genres, whether it’s academic, fiction, content writing, or any other form. It reminds us that we’re not in a race to finish quickly. We’ve all submitted unfinished writing due to neglecting the revision process, and a key lesson is to remember your writing steps, take breaks, and know that it’s perfectly fine to revisit your writing process.

Works Cited

“Recursive.” Cambridge. Dictionary.Cambridge.org.

Hutchison, Nancy. “Recursive Writing Process.” ENGLISH 087 Academic Advanced Writing, Howard Community College, 24 Jan. 2020, pressbooks.howardcc.edu/engl087/chapter/writing-process-recursion/.

“Writing as a Process: Writing is Recursive.” Stetson University Writing Program. Web. URL: https://www.stetson.edu/other/writing-center/media/G_Part_3.pdf. Accessed: June 14, 2021.

What is a legend?

Legends share many of the same qualities as myths. They have supernatural qualities, and unbelievable characters. The major difference is that they come from the recent past, are historical in nature, and are passed from one generation to the next. These qualities create a lasting aspect to the stories we hear about cryptids and strange happenings throughout history.

Origins of Bigfoot

The folkloric Bigfoot arrived in Northern California in 1958. This comes after journalist Andrew Genzoli of the Humboldt Times “thought the mysterious footprints ‘made a good Sunday morning story’” (Little). Though little more than a fluff piece for the paper, the story sparked a huge amount of interest with readers. So the Bigfoot legend was born out of continued attention and press.

As far as the believability of this “evidence,” writer Ben Crair addresses what most skeptics already know about the history and reliability of Bigfoot. He states that Bigfoot “is not the first fabled hominid to roam North America.” In fact, he writes that “Sasquatches” have been a tradition in the myths of Native Americans and groups of indigenous people in the “Pacific Northwest.”

He writes: “… those 1958 footprints transformed the myth into a media sensation. The tracks were planted near Bluff Creek in Northern California by a man named Ray Wallace—but his prank was not revealed until his death in 2002, when his children said it had all been ‘just a joke’” (Crair).

In other words, the legend is most definitely a hoax, but what makes it interesting is how the legend surrounding it creates a lasting impression on readers and researchers. The folkloric Bigfoot may just be an invention of eager explorers and researchers, but it has an important role in our American lore.

Bigfoot’s Legendary Importance

Legends and myths have staying power through their use in traditions and oral storytelling. If you are a writer, this should be important. Because the way we tell stories shares a lot with writing narratives or using rhetoric to persuade and argue claims. Stories rife with pathos or logos can convince us of reality—just like the legend of Bigfoot.

As stated by some sources, stories aren’t just things we relay around “a pool of lamplight in a nursery or round a campfire” (Health Foundation). Rather, stories exist each day and we engage with them often. Consider the amount of times you tell a person a story in one day, or a book you read. Additionally, they appear in our movies and shows, and in the advertisements targeted at us online.

Conclusion

To sum up, one reason reading fairy tales, folklore, legends, and myths is important, is because they are apart of a our very being. Regardless if it is just a big hairy cryptid tromping through the woods, we are informed by these stories. Bigfoot shows us that the wilds around civilization are still untamed. Unseen forces are still out there for society to uncover.