{"id":11247,"date":"2020-02-22T12:30:05","date_gmt":"2020-02-22T12:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transfer.writingcommons.org\/?post_type=section&#038;p=11247"},"modified":"2023-07-23T21:51:24","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T20:51:24","slug":"writer-based-prose-style","status":"publish","type":"section","link":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/writing-styles\/writer-based-prose-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Writer-Based Prose"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tts_content_wrapper_2\" >\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_69_1 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/writing-styles\/writer-based-prose-style\/#What_is_a_Writer-Based_Prose\" title=\"What is a Writer-Based Prose?\">What is a Writer-Based Prose?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/writing-styles\/writer-based-prose-style\/#Who_Coined_the_Term_Writer-Based_Prose\" title=\"Who Coined the Term Writer-Based Prose?\">Who Coined the Term Writer-Based Prose?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/writing-styles\/writer-based-prose-style\/#Writer-Based_Prose_vs_Inner_Speech\" title=\"Writer-Based Prose vs Inner Speech\">Writer-Based Prose vs Inner Speech<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/writing-styles\/writer-based-prose-style\/#Writer-Based_Prose_Composing\" title=\"Writer-Based Prose &amp; Composing\">Writer-Based Prose &amp; Composing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/writing-styles\/writer-based-prose-style\/#Writer-Based_Prose_Sentence-Structure\" title=\"Writer-Based Prose &amp; Sentence-Structure\">Writer-Based Prose &amp; Sentence-Structure<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_a_Writer-Based_Prose\"><\/span>What is a Writer-Based Prose?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Writer-Based Prose Style<\/em> is <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>a <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/writing-styles\/\">style of writing<\/a> that is so personalized, so idiosyncratic, that readers cannot successfully interpret it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Discourse \u2014 aka a <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/text-composition\/\">composition<\/a>, prose, or <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/text-composition\/\">texts<\/a> \u2014 may be called <em>writer-based <\/em>when it<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>lacks an organizational structure other than stream of consciousness<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>is more focused on the needs of the writer than the reader<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>has problems with\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>grammar<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: initial; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;\">mechanics (e.g., <\/span><a style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/grammar\/sentences\/sentence-fragment\/\">sentence fragments<\/a><span style=\"color: initial; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;\">, <\/span><a style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/article\/avoid-run-on-sentences\/\">run-on sentences<\/a><span style=\"color: initial; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;\">, <\/span><a style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/elements-of-style\/flow-coherence-unity\/choppy-writing\/\">choppy sentences<\/a><span style=\"color: initial; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;\">)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>unity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A w<em>riter-based prose<\/em> may also be described as abbreviated, self-centered, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/collaboration\/coauthorship\/\">vague<\/a>, developmental, or underdeveloped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Writer-based prose is the antithesis to reader-based prose. It is self-centered, based on the whim of the author, rather than the needs of the reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related Concepts: <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/diction\/concrete-language-sensory-language\/\">Concrete Language<\/a>; Inner Speech; <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/collaboration\/coauthorship\/\">Vague Language<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/article\/clarify-vague-pronoun-references\/\">Vague Pronoun Reference<\/a>; <meta charset=\"utf-8\"><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/styles-of-writing\/reader-based-prose-style\/\">Reader-Based Prose Style<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/article\/clarify-vague-pronoun-references\/\">Reference<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_Coined_the_Term_Writer-Based_Prose\"><\/span>Who Coined the Term Writer-Based Prose?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The term <em>writer-based prose<\/em> was coined by Linda Flower (1979):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;As both a style of writing and a style of thought, writer-based prose is natural and adequate for a writer writing themself. However, it is the source of some of the most common and pervasive problems in academic and professional writing. The symptoms can range from a mere missing referent or an underdeveloped idea to an unfocused and apparently pointless discussion. The symptoms are diverse but the source can often be traced to the writer&#8217;s underlying strategy for composing and to his or her failure to transform private thought into a public, reader-based expression&#8221; (p. 19).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-writer-based-prose-vs-inner-speech\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Writer-Based_Prose_vs_Inner_Speech\"><\/span>Writer-Based Prose vs Inner Speech<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The concept of <em>writer-based prose<\/em> is different from the concept of <em>inner speech<\/em>, and yet both of these concepts are interrelated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you, as the writer, look at your own draft, you may recall detailed memories and associations. Even a single word may elicit a burst of memories. This is the language of self-talk and self-regulation. This is the language of the self. It&#8217;s personally full of meaning, And this language, it so happens, shares many of the characteristics of writer-based prose: it can be disorganized and it can be generative, creative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-writer-based-prose-composing\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Writer-Based_Prose_Composing\"><\/span>Writer-Based Prose &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/drafting\/\">Composing<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Writer-based prose plays an important role in <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/design\/\">composition<\/a>: when drafting, writers often first write sloppy drafts. They <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention-prewriting\/freewriting\/\">freewrite<\/a> without concern for <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/grammar\/\">grammar<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/mechanics\/\">mechanics<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/mechanics\/punctuation\/\">punctuation<\/a>. Instead of communicating with others, them initially compose for themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, however, in order to communicate to an <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/audience\/\">audience<\/a>, writers need to <em>translate<\/em> their ideas using <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-studies\/discourse-community-community-of-practice\/semiotics-sign-signifier-signified\/\">signs<\/a> reader can understand, including, e.g., <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/research\/research-methods\/\">research methods<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/genre\/\">genre<\/a>, organizational schema, and <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/organization\/rhetorical-moves\/\">rhetorical moves<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-writer-based-prose-sentence-structure\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Writer-Based_Prose_Sentence-Structure\"><\/span>Writer-Based Prose &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/sentence-patterns\/\">Sentence-Structure<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Writer-Based Prose is characterized by short, choppy sentences that fail to show logical relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While short and simplistic sentences can be used effectively to emphasize a point or clarify a confusing statement, frequent use of them can make a paper sound choppy and interrupt the flow of the paper. Primer-style sentences require readers to infer logical relationships. Loads of simplistic sentences make a text to appear more like a <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention-prewriting\/freewriting\/\">freewrite<\/a>, a rough draft, a laundry list, than a text written for an audience.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":18808,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"chapters":[1922,2272],"class_list":["post-11247","section","type-section","status-publish","hentry","chapters-style","chapters-styles-of-writing"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section\/11247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/section"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section\/11247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63621,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section\/11247\/revisions\/63621"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section\/18808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11247"},{"taxonomy":"chapters","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapters?post=11247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}