Writer Journal #4

Q.1: How does the notion of writing collaboratively challenge your sense of
what a writer is and does?

First of all, to properly answer this question I think that collaboration in

writing only takes place within the academic and scholarly circles, so Ill speak
about the definition of the academic writer.

I think that the academic writer is a person who gather academic information
and data to form evidence in order to build an argument and support it. The
purpose of the argument may be to support an opinion of the writer or to
advance the academic field in which the writing takes place.

Academic writers use information and data to form evidence, as I mentioned

above, but where and from whom do they take this information? This
information is used and taken from other writers, which results in the
concept of conversation through works. This concept simply means that
writers within a field have conversations with each other through their
writings and text. For example, if a scientist want to argue that CRISPR-9
technique, which is a genetic engineering technique*, can be a bit ineffective
in changing the characteristics of, say, cows to produce more milk. To be able
to argue that his opinion is right, he needs to gather information to form
evidence for supporting his argument and opinion.

This is how I understand an academic writer and the relationships between

academic writers. But what are the differences that collaborative writing

*Genetic Engineering: A method used to edit the genetic information

animals and plants carry in order to fit the human needs more effectively.
 makes in this definition?

I think that the differences that collaboration raise is that now instead of a
writer having a conversation with other writers individually, theyre now
acting like a group of some sort. Now writers express their opinions and
form their arguments as a whole, which in my opinion makes the academic
conversation more supported with evidence, and the writers argument more
supported. To understand what I mean, imagine a writer arguing the above
CRISPR-9 example. When some other writer writes in his paper that this
writer argues about the ineffectiveness of CRISPR-9, hell say something like
the writers name argues that CRISPR-9. This way the opinion of the writer
is a bit weak, and his argument is way more likely to be overlooked if, for
example, four writers argued about the same thing in the same paper. This
way their argument is stronger and more is more likely to be discussed
between scientists in the field.

Q.2: Do you find collaborating on your writing exciting or intimidating? Why?

When it comes to collaboration, Im not the best at it. I generally dont prefer
collaboration because whenever I tried to collaborate, there are just too
many opinions*, the owners of which are a hundred percent sure each that
they have the right opinion and its just hard to speak up when there is so
much noise But thats not always the case, either. Sometimes I happen to
collaborate with people that have this great habit called open-mindness.
The people who give and take and have no problem with others having
different opinions and points of views. Unfortunately, these people are a rare
metal, but when I do find them, collaboration becomes a wonderful activity.

______________________________________________________________________________

*(And by opinions here I mean the little opinions, like we should include
this paragraph before this one, I think we should edit this section, etc. and
not the large opinions, like political points of view)
 Q.3: What do you think you might learn or gain from collaborating with other
writers?

I think there are very useful things collaboration can teach me, and any other
person: Teamwork (and all the habits that come with it)

Why are they useful? Because great teamwork can serve you and your peers
greatly in achieving your goals. Collaboration reduces the time needed to
execute a project, increases the size of the project, and makes the project
more effective through peer-review. For example, if you want to write a
chemistry textbook, but you need help, you can team up with 2 or 3
professors in various chemistry fields to write the book more effectively in
less time.

As you can see, collaboration can benefits a lot of individuals. Not just the
authors and providers of a certain service, but the people receiving these
services, whether the service was a magazine, a book, fast food, or
automobile distribution. Remember! All of these things involve collaboration.

Q.4: One of the bullets under the WPA Outcomes Process heading reads,
By the end of first -year composition, students should...Experience the
collaborative and social aspects of writing processes. Why do you think the
WPA Outcomes value the collaborative and social aspects of the writing
process? What does this say about academic writing and collaboration?

It says that academic writing can be a very useful tool to serve humanity
through collaboration. Collaboration writes better books, builds bigger
businesses, and provides greater services. So its obvious why the WPA
outcomes value collaboration so much. Because academic writing can be a
lot better if collaboration is to be involved.

In conclusion, I hope you enjoyed reading this assignment!