Writing and Editing Effectively Using 'Fast Writing' and 'Slow Editing'

Presented by Dr. Sonja Foss, Professor of Communication, University of Colorado, and Dr. William Waters, an assistant professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown

TAA-sponsored Workshop:
Destination Dissertation: Practical Strategies for Writing the Thesis or Dissertation; Sharing Results: Crafting an Article; Individual Coaching to Facilitate Writing Progress
presented by Dr. Sonja Foss and Dr. William Waters

You know what you want to say—the ideas you want to communicate in your article or dissertation. Now you want to put your ideas into print. You want to turn them into prose as quickly as possible and then polish that prose. This teleconference is designed to help you do that. The objective of the teleconference is not to teach you how to write, but it will help you make the processes of writing and revising easier and more effective if they are difficult for you.

The teleconference focuses on two key processes that allow you to write effectively—fast writing and slow editing. Fast writing means writing as fast as you can in a state of uninhibited invention, getting your ideas on paper in any form. Slow editing follows, and it is a serial, systematic process that includes the two separate steps of editing and proofreading. Foss and Waters will share strategies for engaging in fast writing and slow editing that will help you move your rough drafts more efficiently and effectively to high-quality finished products.

"Very professionally done. Thank you for this 'just in time' training that I needed for my next project."

"I found the teleconference to be very helpful, especially now that I write frequently. During the season of my career when I did not participate in scholarship, I heard about the fast writing method. Somehow I was not persuaded. To the contrary, now that I have several pieces published and continually write proposals for conference presentation, this time, I was able to embrace their ideas, tips and strategies as I had personally struggled with many of the missteps that their ideas seek to overcome. I am a believer now and will move ahead in the assurance of writing a greater number of manuscripts more efficiently with a higher quality of editing."
– Angela Webster Smith, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Leadership Studies, University of Central Arkansas

"The presenters of this teleconference had some great suggestions I plan to use and have used already."

"Another fantastic seminar. Thanks so much."

"This was a great teleconference today, a lot of helpful information."

"This was very helpful. I had known about some of the points and processes they mentioned, but I have had a need to fill in the holes of how to do some of the other processes and when. This is critical to my success now to implement it and help my co-author to catch the vision of it, too, and help him to do at least some of the processes. The most surprising food for thought form this teleconference was the notion of the role I am playing—and to get myself switched over to author mode more hours of the week than my current professor mode."

Sonja K. Foss is a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research and teaching interests are in contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism, feminist perspectives on communication, the incorporation of marginalized voices into rhetorical theory and practice, and visual rhetoric. She is the author or coauthor of the books Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation, Rhetorical Criticism, Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric, Inviting Transformation, Feminist Rhetorical Theories, and Women Speak. Her essays in communication journals have dealt with topics such as invitational rhetoric, agency in the film Run Lola Run, feminine spectatorship in Garrison Keillor's monologues, visual argumentation, and body art. Dr. Foss earned her Ph.D. in communication studies from Northwestern University and previously taught at Ohio State University, the University of Oregon, the University of Denver, Virginia Tech, and Norfolk State University.

William Waters is an assistant professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown. His research and teaching interests are in writing theory and practice, the history of the English language, linguistics, and modern grammar. He is the coauthor of Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation and was the managing editor of La Puerta: A Doorway into the Academy. He also has published several poems in national journals. Dr. Waters earned his Ph.D. in language and linguistics from the University of New Mexico and previously taught at the University of Maine; University College in Galway, Ireland; and Cheongbuk National University in Korea.

Please note: This recording has been made available for download for the convenience of TAA members. Only TAA members have permission to download TAA Teleconference recordings. Recordings may not be copied, shared with, or distributed to non-members.

Teleconference Handouts:
Handout 1 (PDF)
Handout 2 (PDF)
Handout 3 (PDF)
Handout 4 (PDF)

Transcript:
Full Teleconference Transcript PDF

Contact information for Sonja Foss and William Waters:
Contact Sonja Foss at Sonja.Foss@ucdenver.edu and William Waters at watersw@uhd.edu

TAA-sponsored Workshop:
Destination Dissertation: Practical Strategies for Writing the Thesis or Dissertation; Sharing Results: Crafting an Article; Individual Coaching to Facilitate Writing Progress
presented by Dr. Sonja Foss and Dr. William Waters

Sonja and William's book is Destination Dissertation: Practical Strategies for Writing the Thesis or Dissertation. Order at amazon.com: Click here

As Sonja said during the teleconference, the book isn't just for those working on their dissertations. The information in the book is useful for any author.