Welcome to the Vidcasts of the OWL@Purdue
where we deepen our knowledge of rhetoric, logic, invention, and communication.
Whether you want to know more about the ancient history of rhetoric,
or just get some advice on how to choose the best medium for your message,
the OWL Vidcasts are here to guide you.
At the start of a writing assignment, do you ever feel like this?
How am I ever going to figure this out?
This vidcast offers advice and practices to help you invent ideas and create plans for your writing projects.
We all, at some point in our educational or professional careers, face writing blocks,
or difficulty developing unique and organized work.
The creative and engaging suggestions within this vidcast
help us overcome writing stress and anxiety so that we can push past stumbling blocks
and gain confidence in our approaches to thinking and writing. Enjoy the vidcast!
When you're asked to create something out of the blue for a writing project, it can be a daunting task.
However, there are a variety of techniques the writer can use to help her begin the process of creating or inventing
ideas and material for her writing.
First off, what is invention, and what does it have to do with writing?
Well, invention is what happens before we begin writing. We decide what we want to write based on
the requirements of the rhetorical situation and then we try to create or invent ideas that will
become part of our writing. Hmm, that seems to work. When I get an assignment, I try think about what I can write
that fulfills that assignment. For example, if a teacher says he wants an essay about a current
issue, I find an issue, such as teaching evolution in schools, and then I follow what the assignment
asks of me. That seems easy enough, but what if I can't think of anything and just sit there staring
blankly at the computer screen? Sure, we've all felt that sense of frustration at being unable to come
up with interesting ideas for an assignment, but there are a number of resources and practices at
your fingertips, some of which may be unaware of that you can rely on to help you get over
the hump when creating material for a project. But, what if I'm not that creative of a person?
I'm pretty boring actually. Don't be too hard on yourself. All writers face similar creative
challenges. It's important to remember to keep an open mind and realize that the process of
invention isn't going to happen all at once. It's not going to be a Eureka moment every time. Exactly.
Invention is an ongoing process. It starts with questions, ideas that work, ideas that don't work,
and more questions. Okay, that helps, but how do I know what questions to ask? Well, there are a
number of activities you can do to help you create or invent such questions. What exactly
are those types of activities? To begin with, you can ask the who, what, when, where, and why questions.
So what you're saying is ask questions like who is this writing for, what is this writing about,
what time period will the writing relate to or when will it appear, where will I submit it, or
even as simple as why am I writing this in the first place. Yes, and for each question you can
begin jotting down any and all answers that come to mind. This is the process referred to
as brainstorming. In addition to taking notes in brainstorming, you could also begin constructing
an outline to help you organize your thoughts. Ultimately, your goal in beginning the invention
process is to have a broad scope, and then narrow it as your interest in a topic becomes more clear.
Both of those suggestions are great ideas, and another very useful method for your invention
is to reflect on your own life experiences and try to generate material or ideas from that. Sometimes
people think that method, using stuff from your own life, is too obvious but it's actually really
helpful. Writers are experts when it comes to their own life experiences, and they should use them as
much as possible. That's pretty good advice. So it seems like if I spend a lot of time at the
beginning of a writing project trying to think of interesting things to say, then I'll be okay.
Well that's true, but remember that invention is an ongoing process. Don't stop thinking if
you begun writing. Be open to making changes and adjustments as you write if something doesn't
work like you expected. Great point, and remember that there is no one perfect way to do invention
activities for writing. The most important skill may be to begin to learn how to ask
questions about what the writing is designed to be doing as well as how it will accomplish its goal.