Revisiting My Writing Process

After going through this whole course, it's time to look back and see how my writing process has changed.

Ken Whytock. "21st Century Writing Processes". 6-1-11 via Flickr. CC A-NC 2.0.

After looking back at what I said about my writing process in the beginning of this course, I think I'd still agree with most of what I described. I'm definitely a procrastinator, but I do see the value in starting early and I've definitely seen how getting an early start can make the workload much more manageable. But I do think I've learned a few things about my writing process over the past few weeks.
I've learned that I don't always know what I want to say right when I sit down to write. Sometimes I even have to write out an entire piece focusing on the wrong thing before I figure out what I should really be writing about. I think this is good; it's a process. But what I need to remember is that if I wait until the last minute, I'm clipping my own wings. But regardless, I really do think that the best way to me to get all of my ideas out is to just come up with something and then start writing because most of my best papers started as one thing and then transformed as I put them into words.
Another thing I learned about my own writing process is that I produce more under stress, but I also produce much better final drafts after I've had time to sit down to reread and revise my work. With that said, I think I want to find a way to put myself under some sort of artificial stress so I can produce something early on in the time I have to work on a project. That way I'll have the rest of the days to relax and tweak things until it's just right.
I think in the next couple years of college, I want to get really good at finishing pieces of writing well before they're due. If I can handle that, then I'll be able to touch them up as needed to make sure that they're all great, but first I have to get good at creating them in a timely fashion. I think the reason that I'm not so great at that right now is because I tend to fill my schedule to the brim with classes and jobs and other commitments and so there's always something more pressing than working on writing (until the very last minute), but if I could find a way to change that (hopefully this semester) then I think all of my writing will go a lot smoother.
I don't actually plan on working in a profession that will require a lot of writing, unless I go into law. So I need to make sure I can communicate quickly, efficiently, and effectively through my writing.