Purpose
This component explores writing as a craft, and as a
process with identifiable steps. Writers at all skill
levels may use knowledge of this process to improve
their ability to create professional interpretive writing.
Objectives
At the completion of this component, the learner will
be able to:
Describe
the writing process and use it to enhance writing
ability;
Use
the revision step, including peer and other editors,
to improve drafts of interpretive writing projects
Approach
Familiarity with the steps of the writing process helps
writers form intellectual and emotional connections
with the topic, regardless of whether it was chosen
or assigned. With a better understanding of the writing
process, individuals can come to feel a sense of ownership
and control over their writing ability. With practice,
self-evaluation, peer editing, and coaching, interpreters
can become better writers.
This component refers to the concept of tangible/intangible
connections introduced in Module 101--Fulfilling the
NPS Mission: The Process of Interpretation.
I.
Pre-writing: short (5-10 minute), unstructured
warm-up preceding a writing project; helps you loosen
up and begin the idea flow.
II.
Drafting: the first effort to organize your
thoughts
(includes the following in an order you prefer)
--theme statement
--tangible/intangible links and universal concepts
--transitions
--complete sentences and paragraphs
--audience(s)
--medium
III.
Revising: through self and peer review, analyze
and improve your writing; use editors.
A. Personal style
1. your personal style is an asset
2. limitations and realities of using your personal
style
B. Editorial style
1. review your own work
2. peer review
3. value of outside editing
IV.
Publishing: any time a final product is delivered
to an audience (the audience can be your supervisor,
visitors, coworkers, etc.); the opportunity to use audience
feedback to improve your effectiveness at delivering
the interpretive message.
The
Creative Process
A Writer's Time. Atchity, Kenneth, W.W. Norton: New
York, NY, 1995. One of the best overall books on the
importance of pre-writing and how to write for different
media.
Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories
of Real Life. Gerard, Philip. Story Press: Cincinnati,
OH, 1996. Excellent reference on how to find a topic,
conduct research and interviews, decide form and style,
and produce writing.
Description: How to Engage Reader and Keep Stories
Moving. Wood, Monica. Writer's Digest Books: Cincinnati,
OH, 1995. Excellent tips on "showing" versus
"telling," helps writers incorporate motion,
dialogue, points of view, and personal style.
Freeing Your Creativity: A Writer's Guide. Cook, Marshall
J. Writer's Digest Books: Cincinnati, OH, 1992. Discusses
personal style, contrasts standard writing types, such
as technical, and gives great ideas for developing a
creative attitude toward all writing assignments.
The
Interpretive Process Model, National Park Service,
2002. The Interpretive Process Model provides a framework
for the development of interpretive programs and products.
It consists of a sequence of activities that guide an
interpreter to develop opportunities for their audiences
to make emotional and intellectual connections to the
meanings of the resource, as well as cohesively develop
an idea or ideas that are relevant to the resource and
the audience.
Interpretive Skills Lesson Plan: Interpretive
Writing, rev. by Peter Givens, 1992.
Nature Writing Handbook: A Creative Guide. Murray,
John A. Sierra Club Books: San Francisco, CA, 1995.
Includes the writing process, elements of style, and
how to incorporate observation into writing.
On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction.
Zinsser, William. Harper Collins: New York, NY, 1993.
Zinsser gives solid, clear advice about writing nonfiction.
Simple and Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers. Barzun,
Jacques. Harper and Row: New York, NY. Written for both
writers and writing teachers with the goal of teaching
writers to express themselves in ideas with effect and
impact.
Thinking on Paper, Howard, V.A. and J.H. Barton, Quill/William
Morrow: New York, NY, 1986. Includes "A User's
Guide to Grammar and Punctuation." Outlines the
writing process in detail.
Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life. Goldberg, Natalie.
Bantam Books: New York, NY, 1990. Provides suggestions
to improve freedom and creativity in writing.
Writing Down the Bones. Goldberg, Natalie. Shambhala
Publications: 1986. A good encouragement of basic writing
skills and writing every day.
Writing Without the Muse: 50 Beginning Exercises for
the Creative Writer. Joselow, Beth Baruch. Story Line
Press: Brownsville, OR, 1995. Encourages the frustrated
beginning writer to try several loosening-up exercises
to get the juices flowing.
Writing and Personality. DiTiberio, John K. and George
H. Jensen. Davis-Black: Palo Alto, CA, 1995.
The
Editing Process
Editing Your Newsletter: A Guide to Writing, Design,
and Production. Beach, Mark. Coast to Coast Books: Portland,
OR, 1988. Offers guidance to the newsletter writer and
editor.
Getting the Words Right: How to Rewrite, Edit, and
Revise. Cheney, Theodore A. Rees. Writer's Digest Books:
Cincinnati, OH, 1982. How to edit your own work, as
well as that of others.
Line by Line: How to Edit Your Own Writing. Cook, Clair
Kehrwald, Houghton Mifflin: The Modern Language Association
of America, 1985. Good, basic tips on editing your own
work before sending it on for external review.
Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know about
What Editors Do. Gross, Gerald, ed. Grove Press: New
York, NY, 1993. Defines the editing process and includes
perspectives on editing from editors of journalism,
poetry, prose, and technical writing.
Copy Editing: A Practical Guide. Judd, Karen. Crisp
Publications: Los Altos, CA, 1989. Solid background
and guidance for the beginning editor: takes the reader
through the basics of the process.
The Elements of Editing. Plotnik, Arthur. Henry Holt:
New York, NY, 1996. Focuses on how to edit others, including
standard editing notations and techniques such as passive
versus active voice.
The Elements of Expression. Plotnik, Arthur. Henry
Holt: New York, NY, 1996.
The importance of grammar and punctuation blended with
development of your own style of writing.
The Elements of Style and The Elements of Editing.
Strunk, Williams, and E.B. White. Macmillan Press: New
York, NY, 1979. Concise view of style and usage. Perhaps
the most widely used references for writing and editing.
The New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style
and Usage. Harper Collins: New York, NY, 1994.
NPS
Editorial Style Guide, National Park Service, Harpers
Ferry Center, 2003. Creates a writing/editing standard
for NPS media, and defines policy regarding recurring
questions about grammar and editorial style, with an
emphasis on terms and phrases specific to national parks
Suggested
Developmental Activities
1. As a pre-writing exercise, create a list of abstract
words (intangibles and universal concepts) that appeal
to you. (Examples: love, hate, greed, hunger, family,
freedom, hope, money, sex, spirit). Write for eight
minutes, using these words as guides and inspiration.
At the end of the eight minutes, look at what you wrote
and see what ideas emerge.
2. Choose a park resource and pre-write about it for
five minutes: write all the thoughts and feelings you
have about this resource without stopping to construct
meaning about it. When you are done, examine your writing
and find the basis for a good tangible/intangible link,
and craft a theme statement.
3. Taking the theme you created from Exercise Two above,
or a theme developed through that process, write a one-page
draft essay. Incorporate feedback from peer and other
editors to revise your first draft, striving for a final
draft which is thematically structured and free of errors.
4. Keep a writing journal or file with ideas and raw
material for future writing projects.
