{"id":2541,"date":"2019-09-24T19:11:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T19:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transfer.writingcommons.org\/?post_type=section&#038;p=2541"},"modified":"2024-11-25T17:17:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T17:17:49","slug":"invention","status":"publish","type":"section","link":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/","title":{"rendered":"Invention &#8211; How to Realize Your Creative Potential"},"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\/writing-process\/invention\/#What_is_Invention\" title=\"What is Invention?\">What is Invention?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#Related_Concepts\" title=\"Related Concepts\">Related Concepts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/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\/writing-process\/invention\/#1_Invention_May_Refer_to_Any_Act_of_Creation\" title=\"1. Invention May Refer to Any Act of Creation\">1. Invention May Refer to Any Act of Creation<\/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\/writing-process\/invention\/#2_Invention_May_Refer_to_the_Act_of_Creating_Something_Novel\" title=\"2. Invention May Refer to the Act of Creating Something Novel\">2. Invention May Refer to the Act of Creating Something Novel<\/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\/writing-process\/invention\/#3_Invention_Refers_to_a_Stage_of_the_Writing_Process\" title=\"3. Invention Refers to a Stage of the Writing Process\">3. Invention Refers to a Stage of the Writing Process<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#4_Invention_Refers_to_one_of_the_Five_Canons_of_Rhetoric\" title=\"4. Invention Refers to one of the Five Canons of Rhetoric\">4. Invention Refers to one of the Five Canons of Rhetoric<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#Stasis_Theory\" title=\"Stasis Theory\">Stasis Theory<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#5_Invention_a_Socio-Cultural-Rhetorical_Construct\" title=\"5. Invention a Socio-Cultural-Rhetorical Construct\">5. Invention a Socio-Cultural-Rhetorical Construct<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#6_Invention_May_Be_Experienced_in_the_Body_as_a_Form_of_Felt_Sense_or_Inner_Speech\" title=\"6. Invention May Be Experienced in the Body as a Form of Felt Sense or Inner Speech\">6. Invention May Be Experienced in the Body as a Form of Felt Sense or Inner Speech<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#Felt_Sense\" title=\"Felt Sense\">Felt Sense<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#Inner_Speech\" title=\"Inner Speech\">Inner Speech<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#FAQs\" title=\"FAQs\">FAQs<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#What_is_an_Invention\" title=\"What is an Invention?\">What is an Invention?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-process\/invention\/#What_is_the_difference_between_prewriting_and_invention\" title=\"What is the difference between prewriting and invention?\">What is the difference between prewriting and invention?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-invention\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_Invention\"><\/span>What is Invention?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention\/\">Invention<\/a><\/em> is the act of creation. In it&#8217;s most pure form, <em>invention<\/em> refers to the moments when you create something\u00a0<em>novel<\/em>, something that has never existed before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Invention<\/em> may also refer to<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>any act that results in the creation of an <a href=\"https:\/\/education.nationalgeographic.org\/resource\/artifacts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">artifact<\/a>, insight, story, product, application, service<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the act of creating something <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Novel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">novel<\/a><\/em>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>a new poem or story, the printing press, photography, the internet, the iPhone, the Blackwell GPU<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a major stage in <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/design\/\">the writing process<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>one of the five canons of <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/purpose\/\">rhetoric<\/a> (along with <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention\/\">Invention<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/organization\/\">Arrangement<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/\">Style<\/a>, Memory, Delivery)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a socio, cultural, rhetorical construct<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>an intuitive, prelinguistic construct<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a measure, a metric, of originality, uniqueness, creativity<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_Concepts\"><\/span>Related Concepts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/mindset\/self-regulation\/play-the-believing-game\/\">Believing Game<\/a>; Composing; <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/research\/research-methods\/empirical-research-primary-research-scientific-research\/mixed-methods\/the-customer-discovery-process\/\">Customer Discovery<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/mindset\/growth-mindset\/\">Growth Mindset<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/mindset\/intellectual-openness\/\">Openness<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention\/prewriting\/\">Prewriting<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Invention: 6 Definitions of Invention<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>See below for a summary of 6 definitions of invention. This review of literature on invention is largely informed by qualitative research (e.g., interviews, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/research\/research-methods\/empirical-research-primary-research-scientific-research\/qualitative-research\/case-study\/\">case studies<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/research\/research-methods\/empirical-research-primary-research-scientific-research\/qualitative-research\/ethnography\/\">ethnographies<\/a>) and self-reports by <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/writer-speaker-author-rhetor-sender\/\">writers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Invention_May_Refer_to_Any_Act_of_Creation\"><\/span>1. Invention May Refer to Any Act of Creation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Most broadly, <em>invention<\/em> refers to acts of creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People are creative. They enjoy telling stories and <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/collaboration\/\">collaborating with others<\/a> to develop new artifacts, ideas, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/genre\/argument-argumentation\/claim\/knowledge-claim\/\">knowledge claims<\/a>, products, applications, and services. As humans, as <em>homo sapiens<\/em>, we are hardwired to <em>invent<\/em>. Since emerging from the Savannah Plain several hundred thousand years ago, we have been driven to solve problems and to advance <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-studies-definition\/epistemology\/knowledge\/\">human knowledge<\/a>. On a personal level and a social level, we love to solve whatever problems we come across. We have an urge to build and to <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/collaboration\/\">collaborate<\/a> with others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>&#8220;Invention is at the heart of writing; because composing entails invention, it is considered an epistemological practice\u2014that is, a practice through which one makes knowledge.&#8221;<\/p><cite><a href=\"https:\/\/prod-ncte-cdn.azureedge.net\/nctefiles\/resources\/journals\/ccc\/0634-jun2012\/ccc0634posterinvention.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NCTE 2012<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Invention_May_Refer_to_the_Act_of_Creating_Something_Novel\"><\/span>2. Invention May Refer to the Act of Creating Something Novel<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"736\" src=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2023-02-03-at-7.31.18-PM-1024x736.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-51704\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2023-02-03-at-7.31.18-PM-1024x736.png 1024w, https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2023-02-03-at-7.31.18-PM-300x216.png 300w, https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2023-02-03-at-7.31.18-PM-768x552.png 768w, https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2023-02-03-at-7.31.18-PM.png 1196w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The first successful flight was made by the Wright brothers in 1903 on the Wright Flyer. Photo Credit: John T. Daniels (1873-1948). Public Domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The term <em>invention<\/em> may be reserved for the act of creating <em>&#8220;works&#8221;<\/em> that are <em>novel<\/em>&#8211;that is, works that have never been imagined before. Here the term works is interpreted broadly: works include artifacts, ideas, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/genre\/argument-argumentation\/claim\/knowledge-claim\/\">knowledge claims<\/a>, products, applications, and services<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In turn, a story, novel, or work of nonfiction work may be described as an act of invention (i.e., inventive) so long as the <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/text-composition\/\">text<\/a> is not derivative&#8211;i.e., a replay of past stories that seems trite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Invention_Refers_to_a_Stage_of_the_Writing_Process\"><\/span>3. Invention Refers to a Stage of the Writing Process<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"709\" src=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/process-pedagogy.png\" alt=\"This Model of Process Pedagogy illustrates the role of feedback in document development\" class=\"wp-image-42025\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/process-pedagogy.png 1024w, https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/process-pedagogy-300x208.png 300w, https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/process-pedagogy-768x532.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sample Model of Process Pedagogy (Moxley 2015)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In its simplest form, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/design\/\">the writing process<\/a> is presumed to have four major stages: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention\/\">prewriting<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/drafting\/\">writing<\/a> (which may be called <em>drafting<\/em> or <em>composing<\/em>)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/revision\/\">revising<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/editing\/\">editing<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>In this simplified model of <em>composing<\/em>, <em>invention<\/em> is presumed to precede writing. During the invention process, writers are advised to <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>engage in <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/audience\/\">audience analysis<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/research\/research-methods\/textual-methods\/rhetorical-analysis\/\">rhetorical analysis<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-reasoning\/\">rhetorical reasoning<\/a> to understand the <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/article\/researching-your-audience\/\">target audience&#8217;s expectations<\/a> (e.g., <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/writing-styles\/\">style of writing<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/citation\/\">citation style<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/register\/\">register<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/diction\/\">diction<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/information-literacy\/information-literacy-perspectives-practices\/searching-as-a-strategic-exploration\/\">review<\/a> the canon and engage in <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/information-literacy\/information-literacy-perspectives-practices\/searching-as-a-strategic-exploration\/\">strategic searching<\/a> so you understand what is known about a <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/topic\/\">topic<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/information-literacy\/information-literacy-perspectives-practices\/scholarship-as-a-conversation\/\">what researchers are currently debating and exploring<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If that depiction of <em>invention<\/em> and <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/design\/\">the writing process<\/a> seems too detached, or too mechanical to you, then you&#8217;re not alone. In practice, in fact, for many writers the act of composing is itself an act of <em>invention<\/em>. For some people there is no prewriting\/invention\/planning stage. Rather, some writers rely on the generative process of the writing process to discover what they they think, where the gaps are in <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-studies-definition\/epistemology\/knowledge\/\">knowledge<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/information-literacy\/information-literacy-perspectives-practices\/scholarship-as-a-conversation\/\">a particular scholarly conversation<\/a>, and what they want to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if the <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/topic\/\">subject<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/information-literacy\/evidence\/anecdote\/\">near and dear to you<\/a>, you may just begin drafting immediately, accessing what you already know about a <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/topic\/\">topic<\/a>.  You may reserve <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/research\/research-methods\/textual-methods\/\">textual research<\/a> and empirical research for especially challenging <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/\">rhetorical situations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond finding the writing process to be messier, more recursive, than suggested by the four stage model, some writers &#8212; and this may depend on the genre of writing they are working in &#8212; prefer to follow <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention\/felt-sense\/\">their intuition&#8211;their felt sense<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/t1wRjC8EXR0mKdsuirqH1Zit7Ga506FuuqbAB53Byl6eRf-KhOD54MX2sXbBLmPN5jB_KahzNcIoWSDBMqKBY-wJQKymqX5nyBf7KrAw17kZiSzE_tfL9l9Pyb0G0JEaLAVm78aUcGikU7Dot3aA3zA\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Invention<\/em> is something of a magical process&#8211;a metamorphosis. Professional writers report that they often discover what they want to say by composing numerous drafts.  Photo Credit: &#8220;Eclosing Danaus plexippus, monarch butterfly, life cycle Megan McCarty118.JPG&#8221; by Bfpage is marked with CC0 1.0.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Invention_Refers_to_one_of_the_Five_Canons_of_Rhetoric\"><\/span>4. Invention Refers to one of the Five Canons of <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/purpose\/\">Rhetoric<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For Aristotle, <em>Inventio<\/em> (invention) refers to one of the five canons of <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/purpose\/\">rhetoric<\/a> (along with <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention\/\">Invention<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/organization\/\">Arrangement<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/style\/\">Style<\/a>, Memory, Delivery). Aristotle conceptualized <em>invention<\/em> as the process of &#8220;discovering the best available means of persuasion.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the classical tradition, rhetoricians such as Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian imagined <em>invention<\/em> to be a cognitive, intellectual process that helped rhetors analyze the truth of things. Prior to speechmaking or writing, rhetors were advised to explore <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention\/commonplaces\/\">commonplace assumptions<\/a> about the <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/topic\/\">topic<\/a> and to ask questions about the status quo&#8211;to explore what was known or what was presumed to be true. To aid this process, classical rhetoricians developed a number of heuristics&#8211;structured approaches to asking questions about a topic. <em>Hermagoras<\/em> proposed four critical perspectives to discover &#8220;the best available means of persuasion&#8221; on a matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Stasis_Theory\"><\/span><em>Stasis Theory<\/em> <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Facts<\/em> or <em>Conjecture<\/em>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What exists? What is real? What is value?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What are the facts? <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Definition<\/em>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Defining problems is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/genre\/\">a genre of discourse<\/a>, a reoccurring&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/\">rhetorical situation<\/a>. People write about problems in order to understand their constituent parts, <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/discourse\/causes-a-effects\/\">causes, and effects<\/a>. In our daily lives, and certainly as part of our professional careers, we engage in defining problems. This is often perceived as the first step in problem solving. You cannot solve a problem if you don\u2019t understand it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Quality<\/em> or <em>Significance<\/em>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Is it a good problem? a bad problem? How severe? How important is the issue?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What happens if the problem isn&#8217;t solved?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Policy<\/em>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What actions should be taken to resolve or alleviate the matter?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Invention_a_Socio-Cultural-Rhetorical_Construct\"><\/span>5. Invention a Socio-Cultural-Rhetorical Construct<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Invention is informed by <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>social and cultural expectations and norms<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the rhetorical situation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In academic communities,<\/em> invention is often referred to as a <em>&#8220;Social, Cultural, Rhetorical Construct.&#8221;<\/em> In other words, the act of <em>invention<\/em> is informed by <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Social &amp; Cultural Norms <\/em><br>These are the shared expectations, professional standards of conduct, and laws members of a society share regarding appropriate\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>behavior<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/discourse\/\">discourse<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/genre\/\">genres<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/citation\/\">Citation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/information-literacy\/copyright\/\">Copyright<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/grammar\/\">Grammar<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/grammar\/mechanics\/\">Mechanics<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/\">Rhetorical Situation<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/audience\/\">Audience \u2013 Audience Awareness<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/medium-media-social-media\/\">Medium, Media<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/occasion-exigency\/\">Occasion, Exigency &amp; Kairos<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/purpose\/\">Purpose \u2013 Aim of Discourse<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/topic\/\">Subject, Topic<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/text-composition\/\">Text, Composition<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/writer-speaker-author-rhetor-sender\/\">Writer, Speaker, Knowledge Worker . .&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Writing Space<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Invention_May_Be_Experienced_in_the_Body_as_a_Form_of_Felt_Sense_or_Inner_Speech\"><\/span>6. Invention May Be Experienced in the Body as a Form of Felt Sense or Inner Speech<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Felt_Sense\"><\/span>Felt Sense<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Gendlin, an American philosopher, describes felt sense as \u201cthe soft underbelly of thought . . . a kind of bodily awareness that . . . can be used as a tool . . . a bodily awareness that . . . encompasses everything you feel and know about a given subject at a given time . . . It is felt in the body, yet it has meanings. It is body and mind before they are split apart\u201d (Gendlin 1978).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interviews of <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/writing-studies-definition\/writers-work\/\">writers at work<\/a> &#8212; such as <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/interviews\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Paris Review Interviews<\/a><\/em> &#8212; illustrate that many people experience the act of invention deep within their bodies. Some writers speak of having a dialogue with themselves as they compose. Fiction writers speak of their characters coming alive and telling them what they do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cIn out-of-the-way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, This beginning has been quietly forming, Waiting until you were ready to emerge\u201d <\/p>\n<cite><a href=\"https:\/\/sage-ing.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/ODonohue-ForaNewBeginning.pdf\"><em>John O\u2019Donohue<\/em><\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Inner_Speech\"><\/span>Inner Speech<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Lev Vygotsky (1967), a developmental psychologist working in the 1930s, theorized that thought finds form in language. Over time, as babies learn language, they move from crying and pointing to what they want to communicating it. According to this&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/writer-speaker-author-rhetor-sender\/perspective\/\">perspective<\/a>, language becomes abbreviated, condensed, saturated with personal meaning, and goes \u201cunderground\u201d as it becomes the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-stance\/voice\/\">voice<\/a>&nbsp;we hear in the back of our heads&#8211;the <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-stance\/voice\/\">voice<\/a> of&nbsp;<em>\u201cinner speech\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQs\"><\/span>FAQs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_an_Invention\"><\/span>What is an Invention?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Invention<\/em>&nbsp;is an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/umbrella_term#:~:text=Noun,blanket%20term%2C%20(technical)%20hypernym\">umbrella term:<\/a> <em>Invention<\/em> may refer to the act of creating something <em>novel<\/em>, something that has never existed before. Or, <em>invention<\/em> may refer to solving problems in your day-to-day life. And in school and work settings, <em>invention<\/em> may refer to a stage in <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/design\/\">the writing process<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-the-difference-between-prewriting-and-invention\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_difference_between_prewriting_and_invention\"><\/span>What is the difference between prewriting and <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention\/\">invention<\/a>?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Prewriting<\/em> and <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/invention\/\">Invention<\/a> are overlapping concepts: In the classical rhetoric, the rhetor was presumed to be embedded in a particular situation where a call to write has been pitched: an exigency, a problem has arisen. In this scenario, the rhetor&#8217;s next move is to find the available modes of persuasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Prewriting<\/em>, however, presupposes a different situation:  During <em>prewriting<\/em>, the rhetor isn&#8217;t so much looking for the available means of persuasion as they are looking to educate themselves about a <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/rhetoric\/rhetorical-situation\/topic\/\">topic<\/a> and to come up with a plan for <a href=\"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/section\/drafting\/\">composing<\/a> a work. <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44925,"parent":12849,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"chapters":[1946,2517],"class_list":["post-2541","section","type-section","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","chapters-invention","chapters-writing-process"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section\/2541","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":164,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section\/2541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64270,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section\/2541\/revisions\/64270"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section\/12849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2541"},{"taxonomy":"chapters","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingcommons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapters?post=2541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}