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Matthew Herzog
Erin Workman
ENC 2135
6 August 2015
Theory of Writing
Every writer, even those who do not consider themselves writers, use a base or strategy in
order to identify if their own writing is good or if other peoples writing is good. This strategy is
ones theory of writing. A theory of writing is a formula or a guide to be used in the process of
constructing good pieces of writing. Every individual has a theory of writing. However, writers
may not always have a set theory in mind because they do not label it as a theory. Their methods
of writing can be implicit and thus they would not know that they have a theory of writing. Even
though every individual has a theory of writing, it does not mean that one has perfected a theory.
This is why it is labeled as a theory: an explanation of a phenomenon that is supported by a great
amount of evidence. As a student, I am greatly developing and improving my theory of writing
throughout my college career. As I am developing my theory, I am further associating many key
terms with it. These improvements and adjustments to my theory of writing have even been
further articulated in ENC 2135 and over the course of my first semester in college. My theory of
writing is based on a multitude of key terms: genre, clarity, fluidity, organization, cooperation,
memorability, engaging, purpose, and audience. I believe that a combination of all of these
aspects add up to create a good piece of writing.
The genre that one uses to present a piece of writing is essential in the message that one is
attempting to convey. It partially determines the purpose, audience, clarity, and organization of
writing. By choosing a particular genre, the audience a writer is trying to reach can be affected,

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since certain genres appeal to different audiences more than others. This is the same for purpose
except that a genre affects the tone of the purpose more than it does the purpose itself. If the
appropriate genre is not chosen to entertain a certain audience, the clarity of the piece of writing
can be greatly negatively affected. For example, attempting to convince an audience to buy a
house or piece of property through a Tumblr blog instead of a brochure or presentation may
make the clarity of the purpose very weak or awkward. Also, the genre chosen by a writer affects
the way their writing is organized. This is because of the conventions that particular genres call
for. For example, when I used a brochure in Assignment 3 in ENC 2135, I had to make my
information concise and organize the information in a logical order that did not make the
brochure seem cluttered.
The clarity of a piece of writing is also important in constructing quality work. The more
clear information and knowledge is presented in a piece of writing, the better the fluidity of the
writing. Depending on what type of writing or content that a writer is attempting to get across,
one needs to organize that content in order to enhance the clarity of what the piece of writing is
presenting. If a writer is not conscious of how clear they are making their writing, the piece of
writing will fall apart and all other aspects of the writing will be pointless to take into
consideration.
The fluidity of a piece of writing is also essential in order to make it compelling and wellpresented. When I am discussing fluidity, I am discussing the cohesiveness of a piece of writing
and how well each idea in it transitions. Fluidity in a good piece of writing is largely affected by
both the clarity and organization a writer established in their writing. Also, how well thought out
a piece of writing is can enhance the fluidity of it, since the organization of the writing will be
much more planned out and well put together.

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In every good piece of writing, there is a key sense of organization, in both the order in
which content is presented and the structure of its presentation. As stated before, the organization
of a piece is largely determined by what genre the writer decides to use. However, if the
organization of a piece is well executed, the fluidity, clarity, and how well thought out a piece
was will be extremely evident once the piece is presented. Organization, based on my
experiences with writing over the course of my career as a student, can either be crucial and vital
to crafting a quality piece of writing, or it can just be simply a tool that one can use to add finesse
into ones writing.
Even though it may not seem like it, the use of cooperation when composing a piece of
writing is essential in order to obtain and preserve the title of good writing for a piece. All good
pieces of writing must go through multiple revisions in order to become high quality. However,
without cooperation, peer review would not essentially exist and thus many pieces of writing
would have many errors involving clarity, fluidity, and organization that their original authors
would not recognize from their perspective. Cooperation also allows for the sharing of ideas that
could enhance the creativity of a writer and thus cause a piece of writing to flourish. For
example, in my ENC 2135 class, we peer reviewed each major assignment at least once. This
helped many people, including myself, to not only improve their assignments, but their writing
skills as well. An example of cooperation aiding my development as a writer was during a
workshop for the research essay assignment where the essay was taken apart by paragraph,
randomized, and a peer had to reorder in a way that made sense to them. When the person who
was looking over mine was finished, I realized that they put in the incorrect order, but the order
made sense. After this cooperation with another student, I realized how the organization of a
piece of writing can either matter a lot or not much at all.

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The memorability of a piece is also an important factor when it comes to considering
what a good piece of writing looks like. To me, memorability in regards to writing is how
impressionable and unique the piece is. If a piece of writing is memorable to its audience, it
makes a connection that engages the audience and makes them a form of participant within the
writing itself. The memorability of a piece also indicates the passion that the writer has put into it
and thus makes the audience place importance on the writing.
Another quality of good writing that is incorporated into my theory of writing is that it
must be engaging. The piece of writing must actively attempt to grab the audiences attention.
However, this can be overdone with too much shock value. In turn, good writing should hold its
audience by using techniques that intrigue them, but not over use these techniques to the point
where a bad taste is left in the viewers mouth. In order to make sure that the audience leaves
with some notion of purpose, a writer sure make sure that the diction, content, and techniques
that they are using techniques that engage the audience on an emotional and intelligent level.
Purpose and how it is conveyed is one of the most important aspects of good writing and
how to construct it. In terms of my theory of writing, purpose is the intended message that an
author or writer is attempting to imprint on an audience. The purpose of a piece of writing is
affected by audience while at the same time affecting a writers audience. For example, if my
purpose was to tell a story about a cancer patient and make raise cancer awareness, my intended
audience would be those who have experienced cancer themselves or those who have some form
of connection to cancer. However, those who do read the piece may interpret the intended
purpose differently than I would. I feel that, in order for a piece of writing to be considered good,
it needs to convey a strong sense of purpose, even if the audience interprets it differently than
intended. Ones purpose can also determine what genre one would like to use. It can be a more

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appropriate decision to use one particular genre to convey ones message rather than another
genre. For example, it would be easier to establish the purpose of informing teenagers about a
topic through social media, such as Tumblr, rather than through a PowerPoint.
The audience that is both intended and is actually reached is also a major factor in my
theory of writing. I believe that the concepts of audience, genre, and purpose work in an almost
cyclical relationship; changing an aspect of one factor affects the other factors and how they
interact with each other. The intended audience of a writer determines what genre would be the
most appropriate to communicate with the audience with. The intended audience also affects
purpose in the same manner. However, both genre and purpose have a mutual and similar effect
on audience as well.
All of these factors come together in my theory of writing to be used as a whole entity
that supports and guides me as a writer. However, my current theory of writing was not as
developed as it is now before I came into ENC 2135. The main component of my previous
theory of writing was that in order to create a well-constructed piece of writing, I must use all of
my knowledge to implicitly appeal to my audience while building a well-organized and carefully
worded piece of writing. When I initially got into the class, my theory of writing consisted of
creativity, communication, engagement, meaning, clarity, genre, and organization. However,
after working with an annotated bibliography, a research essay exploring different genres in a
field, and other classmates I both expanded and contracted my initial theory of writing. In my
theory of writing, I added purpose, audience, fluidity, thoughtfulness, cooperation, uniqueness,
and impressionability as factors that are required for good writing. After transferring information
from my research essay into three different genres for assignment three, I once again condensed
my theory of writing to what it is now. I believe that my theory has evolved in this manner

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because of the exposure that I have with multiple genres in such a short amount of time. This
exposure to various genres has allowed me to see what qualities are characteristic of good
writing. As I worked within different genres, I saw what parts worked with certain types of
content and what exactly did not mesh well.
I believe that personally utilizing multiple genres and working with their conventions to
synthesize information, knowledge, and presentations is the factor that has contributed the most
to my theory of writing. As I said before, the exposure to these genres has allowed me to see the
key qualities that make up good writing. However, by actually working in the genres themselves,
I was able to see the process that goes into creating a quality piece of writing.
My theory of writing has had a great impact from reflection. Even though reflection is
important in writing, I do not believe that it should be included in my theory of writing because
of how important and necessary it is in the writing process in general. Without reflection, one
would never learn how to correct and reduce their mistakes and thus never create knowledge. I
believe that my theory of writing is a direct result of me reflecting on what has worked in my and
others writing and what has not. Even though my theory of writing has stemmed from
reflection, I also believe that my theory of writing is a tool to aid in my personal reflection as
well. I can judge a personal piece of writing based on my theory of writing and determine
whether it is was written well or not. However, reflecting on my writing can also allow me to
revise my theory of writing by discovering new aspects that work well. This process of reflection
in my writing is what I feel that allows me to create and apply knowledge. Reflection is also not
included in my theory because of how implicit it is. As humans, we always attempt to innovate
the kinks out of certain processes in order to try and make them as perfect as possible. I believe

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that this notion can be applied to writing. If one makes a certain mistake once in a piece of
writing, they will try consistently not to make that same mistake again.
Since I have had a great exposure to many genres and have had experience in working
with them, especially in the classroom setting of ENC 2135, I feel that my theory of writing can
be applied to multiple writing situations both in and out of the classroom. The key terms that I
associate with my theory of writing are general enough to apply to a multitude of writing
situations but specific enough to create a set of somewhat strict guidelines to pieces of writing.
This diverse function that my theory of writing serves can be seen in the various assignments that
I had to complete in ENC 2135. For Assignment 1, I had to create an annotated bibliography
while collaborating with others and also constricted my sources to those relating to purpose.
Then, for Assignment 2, I had to conduct research on a specific topic that related to my major
and future career plans. After conducting research, I had to synthesize a research essay that
worked towards answering a specific research question. Throughout both of these assignments, I
was able to both apply and adapt my theory of writing to successfully judge whether or not I
considered my own writing good. With this open applicability of my theory of writing, it is
evident that my theory can also be applied to writing situations outside of the classroom. For
example, my theory of writing can most likely be applied to business letters, proposals, and other
professional genres and thus can be adapted to them.
My theory of writing has greatly evolved over the course of the six weeks that the
Summer C semester consists of and has also solidified in regards to what key terms should be
associated with it. The genre of an essay and the medium of paper that I used to compose this
reflection exemplify how I developed my theory over time. I feel the most comfortable with
writing in the genre of an essay that can be viewed on a piece and I also know that I create my

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best works of writing while working with this genre. Since an essay must have a clear sense of
organization and coherence, I feel that the use of an essay defines my theory of writing and
elaborates on it in a clear and intellectually sound way.