The Digital Writing Process

    (Image from Dreamstime.com)

            Have you ever posted something online, came back to it later, and thought, “I could have said that better.”? Well, you are on the right track of understanding the digital writing process. When you are writing for the web it is more than producing a perfect final draft like you would in your basic English 101 class. Instead, the focus is on moving through a process. This process consists of four steps categorized as: drafting, editing, reviewing and publishing. In the text, Digital Writing: A Guide to Writing for Social Media and the Web, Lawrence (2022) makes it clear that digital writing is “recursive”. This simply means that each step informs the next step rather than coming to an ending. Once you see writing through this lens it becomes less intimidating and far more attainable.

The Prewriting/Draft

            The first step is drafting. This is a space for the writer to create and make mistakes. The goal is not to develop a “picture perfect” writing sample but to get ideas out where they can be shaped into a product. The focus of planning a writing product (digitally or written) is to make sure you create a connection with your audience who will read the writing and match the tone you are trying to set or meet. Lawrence (2022) emphasizes that drafting online is exploratory which allows writers to “try” ideas before committing to them fully in the final product. 

Let's Talk About Edits

The next step in the process is known as the editing phase. When writing digitally, compared to written expression, it is important to notice the type of reading people look for online. The best digital writing experiences involve those readings with short paragraphs, clear ideas, and an organzine look that creates an easy read. Also in this stage, you are turning your draft into a more cohesive and intentional product. While you are fixing mistakes such as grammatical errors you are also shaping the look, detail, and meaning of your writing.

Time To Review

Now, you move into the next step in this process which is the review phase. This is one of the most important parts of the process as you make your writing come to “life”. Remember what the author says in the text as he describes this process as an ongoing interaction not a “final check” (Lawrence, 2022). Now is the time to ask yourself questions regarding your writing as you read the product. 

1. Does it have a clear purpose? 

2. Is this meeting the needs of the audience? 

3. Have you checked it various times? 

4. Have you had someone else read through it? 

5. Have you posted (shared) it yet on a platform and gotten any feedback? 

            These questions and points are widely supported by various researchers with the purpose that online peer feedback significantly improves writing quality (Shulgina et al., 2024). 

Oh! It Is Publishing Time

The final step is the publishing phase. In writing, most people would consider this as the last step, but when completing the Digital Writing Process, you are not finished. Many would say, you may just be “really” getting started. Once you have published (shared) your product, you can review, revise, and rethink your writing. By publishing your writing you are inviting conversations and thinking, which in return, can impact your edits or future writings. An important thing to take into consideration (especially when taking the resources into account) is to remember that digital writing is not about getting it right the first time, but it is about staying open minded and willing to make continuous revisions to your product. Making connections with further research, Shulgina et al. (2024) shows that ongoing peer interactions after publication encourage writers to make meaningful revisions, demonstrating that even published work is part of the continuous learning process.

Are You A Teacher?

             Check out this video about a school (Eastside Memorial High School) and how their ESL Teacher uses digital writing in her classroom.

Wrap-Up/Conclusion

By connecting Lawrence’s (2022) explanation of digital writing as recursive, the findings from Shulgina et al. (2024) on peer feedback, we can see a complete picture of writing in action. These three resources illustrate that digital writing is a moving process that goes in all directions.

(Image from Thoughtful Learning)

References

Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.

The writing process at work [Video]. (2018). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJP_q3X2v

Shulgina, T. A., Smirnova, E. V., & Karpova, E. V. (2024). The role of online peer feedback in improving         students’ writing quality. Education and Information Technologies, 29(1), 1045–1063.                                 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11968-5