What is the Recursive Writing Process?

The recursive writing process is what happens when a writer moves through the steps of the writing process but moves back and forth through them instead of just going through them like a checklist. Most writers do this without realizing it, but going through recursive writing consciously can improve writing and allow writers to be more aware of their own strengths and faults.

Importance of Recursive Writing

Every writer goes through the writing process, but recursive writing can complement the writing process while also allowing reflection on the part of the writer in order to improve for the next essay. Repeating, revising, and reflecting are the main tasks that form recursive writing.

Recursive writing means that a writer will go back to a previous step in the writing process to see if something can be improved. It involves rethinking each step along the way and evaluating what has been done to look for ways to improve.

Stages in the Recursive Writing Process

The recursive writing process works in parallel with the writing process. Each step has an additional action that can be taken.

• Prewriting: Because prewriting is the first step, recursive writing has very little to do with it at first. Also called brainstorming, prewriting should include all research required to write the essay. Prewriting is also the place where any and all ideas should be welcome until the writer chooses which ideas will go into the essay itself.
• Drafting: The drafting stage is when the essay is written out. A writer should go back to the prewriting stage, however, if some part of the essay does not appear to be working. For example, when writing an argumentative essay, a writer may have picked out an idea for an argument from the prewriting. However, once the writer actually writes the argument down and sees it in relation to the rest of the essay, the writer may realize that particular reason is too weak. The writer should go back to the prewriting stage, then, and look for another argument to replace it.
• Revising and editing: Revising means to change or remove sentences or even entire paragraphs that do not fit into the essay. Editing involves mostly proofreading, ensuring the mechanics, grammar, and other smaller details are correct. This step, however, will often result in an essay being cut down as redundant or unnecessary sections get cut out. This may result in an essay being shorter than it should be, so the writer needs to back to the prewriting step and look for other ideas to draft in order to make sure the essay is the correct length.
• Publication: Publication means different things depending on the work involved. A book or article might be published physically or electronically. For a student, the publication step means turning in the work for a grade. While there is no step after this one, recursive writing would involve going over the work after it as been published. When something is published, it typically receives feedback of some sort, either via reviews, a grade, and comments from readers. A writer should listen to this feedback and go back through the process to see where things still went wrong and what was done correctly in order to continue the right parts and fix the errors for the next assignment.

Examples of Recursive Writing

The following are two examples of recursive writing in different contexts to illustrates the steps and how recursive writing can help writers in future assignments.

Personal Story

A student needs to write a personal story for a class but doesn’t know what to write about. The student, though, remembers writing an argumentative paper for another class that dealt with why men should speak up when they see other men disrespecting women. The student realizes that the first essay drew on their personal experiences, so they talk with the instructor about using the source material for the short story. The instructor agrees, and the student prewrites to figure out which specific incident to use for the plot and where to start the story.

During the drafting stage, the student finds that the prewriting gives them plenty to talk about. When they get to revising and editing, however, they find that they made the story much more cohesive but are now a full page below the word count. Looking back through the prewriting notes, though, the writer finds notes from the first essay that discuss the events that happened before the story begins that give more perspective. The writer starts the story earlier to give more background.

When they finish and turn the story in for a grade, they save the instructor’s feedback for later reference.

Literary Analysis

A student needs to analyze the short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The student starts prewriting by reading the short story and taking notes on major characters, events, and possible meanings. The student has trouble finding much to discuss, but they remember they wrote a paper on Hawthorne before, so they revisit that paper for inspiration and find some themes they can bring up in “Young Goodman Brown.”

After drafting, the student visits a peer review group they’ve been a part of all semester and get feedback on what they wrote. They take the main critique of the essay (one paragraph seems to be saying the same thing as another) and go back to their prewriting notes to get another literary element to analyze. After turning in the paper and getting feedback from the instructor, the student puts the essay in a writing portfolio for later reference. They also sit down with both Hawthorne essays, look at the feedback for both, and realize their analysis is becoming more in-depth, but they still need to work on their editing.

Lesson Summary

Recursive writing is the act of moving along the steps of the writing process but moving backwards and forwards as needed to evaluate the work while it is being written and after publication. Repeating, revisiting, and reflecting are essential to recursive writing. It is different from the writing process as it asks writers to rethink each step as they work. For example, a student might take an argumentative paper and make it into a personal story. This involves reflecting on the original essay and adapting it to the new genre.

Students can also meet with instructors or peer review groups in order to get feedback and get a different perspective on their work. One of the more effective ways to engage with recursive writing is to keep a writing portfolio, though. This allows writers to revisit graded papers and see what was well received or what can be improved. It allows writers to revisit every stage of the writing process by keeping track of feedback from themselves and others. A portfolio also allows writers to use old papers for inspiration in new patterns and genres.