A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing

Abstract

There is a venerable tradition in rhetoric and composition which sees the composing process as a series of decisions and choices.1 However, it is no longer easy simply to assert this position, unless you are prepared to answer a number of questions, the most pressing of which probably is: What then are the criteria which govern that choice? Or we could put it another way: What guides the decisions writers make as they write? In a recent survey of composition research, Odell, Cooper, and Courts noticed that some of the most thoughtful people in the field are giving us two reasonable but somewhat different answers:

Cite this

Linda S. Flower, John R. Hayes (1981). A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing. College Composition and Communication. https://doi.org/10.2307/356600

@article{s1981a,
  title  = {A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing},
  author = {Flower, Linda S. and Hayes, John R.},
  year   = {1981},
  journal = {College Composition and Communication},
  doi    = {10.2307/356600}
}

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