ARCS of Writing
In graduate school, twenty-some years ago, I sat in a hard industrial chair, leaning on a shared worktable, fueled by another large paper cup of coffee, and chilled from the under-active heating system. Red pen in hand, I read my classmates draft papers and looked for comma splices and run-on sentences. It was an intensely competitive atmosphere where we would only find mistakes that were undeniable, yet never offer the kind of advice an author really craves—compliments and questions that showed we had read and connected with their work. This was part of the writing process where our professor had us start with brainstorming before writing a draft paper that we would workshop in groups in order to revise as a final assignment to be graded. This writing, workshopping, and rewriting has become the standard method for teaching students to write for the last thirty years. It helps writers improve pieces incrementally and with effort.
Fortunately, I had one professor who broke the mold when teaching writing. Dr. Paul Lehmberg never marked grammar mistakes in our essays and stories. He thought that was a useless practice since most of our work was not yet ready for a copy editor. As students of writing, we were still in the developmental stages where we needed time to play with ideas and find our voice. Dr. Lehmberg marked our papers with a simple system of lines and squiggles: lines signified great writing that needed to be emphasized while the squiggles meant that the meaning of the text was not yet clear. These notations might be in the margins or under parts of sentences. They showed what was good and what still needed attention. He rarely offered suggestions for how to edit our work because he believed that what was missing was unfathomable to the editor and within the heart and mind of the creative writer. He pushed me to write more and write better by leaving me with questions that I pondered for a long time before revising.
Dr. Lehmberg is one of the exceptional teachers that eschewed the status quo and used another method to teach writing. He encouraged us to practice for his class what we would need to do in the real world as professional writers who publish—write, share with a writing circle, rewrite, ask editors for advice, and revise before submitting for publication. This structured time on task with outside input is a tried and true way to make our writing better for audiences to read. Peer review works best when we have excellent input from writing friends and editors. These two methods of writing and revising can move a writer from an okay manuscript to a publishable piece.
Yet, there are other methods of working through the process of writing. As a Bahá’í, I have grown up using a versatile learning model that can create meaningful change in our personal as well as community life. The four recursive steps have a helpful acronym ARCS—Action, Reflection, Consultation, and Study. When applying this to the writing process it could look like this: take the first step and Actively write a draft, Reflect on the ideas by yourself or with a writing partner, Consult with fellow writers about the next best steps, and Study great writers as well as writing techniques to learn more about how to write better before going back through the cycle again with rewriting the draft, rethinking the ideas, talking out the concerns with friends, and studying to learn new skills to improve the piece.
How is this way of working different than other writing processes? In all of the other processes, it is implied that the author will think about their work, discuss their drafts openly, and learn new skills to improve their writing. However, as with most assumptions these assumed steps are not guaranteed. Furthermore, all writers are at different stages in their writing path and they need to do and learn different things. A new writer might need several cycles of rewriting before thinking about publishing, while a more experienced writer might need to quickly move on to the next phases of sharing through publishing or promoting their author platform. Fortunately, ARCS can also be applied as a path to learning more about other aspects of writing like publishing and promotion.
Here is an example of how ARCS could be used throughout the publishing process: (Act) research publication strategies, Reflect on which one might work best for you, Consult with other published writers, Study how to reach out effectively, (Act) write a query letter, (Reflect) think about if it says what you want to communicate, (Consult) ask a fellow author for their advice, Study other people’s letters, (Act) send out a query letter to one possible agent/publisher…
We can use ARCS to improve our promotion and marketing as well: (Act) create a few similar but different memes about your book on Canva, (Reflect) think about what you like about each one, (Consult) ask friends for advice, (Study) look at other people’s posts, (Act) publish the best meme, Reflect on the response, Consult with friends about their strategies, (Study) follow fellow authors on your platform of choice, (Act) create another meme or video…
Basically, ARCS is an iterative process to learn new things, continually experiment, and not get stuck in the need to be perfect. In addition, it is flexible because each person can choose a different action depending on where they are and what they want to accomplish. This means it is not a formula but a method. Furthermore, by starting in a place of action, it requires movement forward before we become too self conscious and get overwhelmed by all the things that we do not know. Additionally, it asks us to think, discuss, and learn which consolidates good practices and helps us root out unhelpful tendencies.
For people who are thinkers, this learning model forces us to act on an idea which enables us to be more productive. We get out of our heads and create the things that we have dreamed about. For active people who are doers, this process requires a pause to reflect and consolidate our efforts. It forces the question: are we leaning our ladder against the right wall? Are we pursuing the right goal? Another benefit is that it minimizes group think because we are all asked to reflect (and study as well as act) outside of our group discussions. We must take time to consider if the advice that we have been given is appropriate for our specific situation.
Following ARCS (Act, Reflect, Consult, Study), initially feels a bit like dancing where you take two steps forward and one step back. It feels slow if we are used to running flat out. However, it is important to move with purpose instead of flailing about. For anyone who has waltzed around a dance floor will know, you and your fellow dance partners will cover a great deal of ground with grace and joy by stepping and sliding, reversing and tiptoeing around the ballroom.
What will be your first action to start or continue a project you are working on?
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