Cognitive Modes for Writing : Toward an Integrated Theory of Composition

Since the advent of the process approach in writing research, composition theorists and cognitive psychologists have been trying to develop cognitive models that describe how people write. But they have run up against a major obstacle. Adults use such a wide variety of strategies that no single model can describe them all. In this paper we present a new view of adult writing strategies. We argue that adults use different modes of thought as they write. Each cognitive mode involves a different constellation of cognitive processes, products, goals, and constraints. Writers combine these cognitive modes into different writing strategies. Viewing writing strategies as combinations of cognitive modes opens up two lines of research on writing. We can observe writers in naturalistic settings to find out what modes they use and how they combine them. And we can use more traditional experimental methods to describe the cognitive processes that specific cognitive modes entail. Research on cognitive modes would enable us to develop computer writing tools that support the modes used by successful adult writers and that ease the transitions among these modes. Cognitive Modes for Writing: Toward an Integrated Theory of Composition Ask your colleagues how they write. The variety of strategies is mind boggling. Some create outlines first, and then follow their outlines as they write. Others stew about their papers for weeks or even months, then finally dash out the whole thing at a single sitting. Still others begin by pouring out "spew drafts" just to get their thoughts down on paper, then revise again and again, completely transforming the original version. How can any single framework encompass all these diverse strategies? In this paper, we introduce a new way of talking about writing, one that we believe provides a framework for discussing the variety of strategies used by adult writers. The basic idea is that writers pass through a series of different modes of thinking as they compose their texts. They break the writing task down into subtasks, and these subtasks require different modes of thought. Not all writers use the same modes or combine them in the same way. But the concept of mode provides a way to analyze the differences between writers and a way to look for commonalities beneath these differences. What do we mean by a mode of thinking? Perhaps it's best to illustrate with a couple of examples. Exploration is a name we have given to a mode of thinking commonly used by writers as they begin to write. During exploration, writers search their memories and their source materials for ideas they may want to include in their papers and jot down lists of words or phrases or sentences. Global editing is another very different mode of thinking, one which occurs toward the end of the writing process. During global editing, writers read or skim their papers quickly, focusing on global structure. The goal is to verify that the structure makes sense and to change it if necessary. Exploration and global editing have different goals and result in different types of products. In the remainder of this paper, we further elaborate the concept of modes of thinking. We begin by situating the modes framework within the recent literature on writing. We then present our ideas on modes in greater detail. To illustrate, we discuss the modes we ourselves use and the strategies by which we combine them. Finally, we talk about how the idea of modes could be applied to research on writing and to the development of tools for writers.