Rethinking the Writing Process: What Best‐Selling and Award‐Winning Authors Have to Say

Increasing attention has been directed recently to literacy education as a means for disciplinary learning and career readiness. All the while, concepts of print have dramatically changed because the majority of reading and writing now occurs in digital formats. Therefore, it is an ideal time to investigate the complexities of the writing process to determine how current writers hone their skills and how pedagogical practices can reflect those elements of writing. To unearth ways in which students can develop the writing proficiencies necessary for academic and career success, this investigation set out to determine the writing processes and practices of prolific best‐selling and award‐winning authors. Using a questionnaire containing both open‐ended and multiple‐choice items, findings reveal that successful writers maintain degrees of plasticity in terms of how their story, content, and voice unfold. Their processes for writing are not only purposefully pragmatic and highly individualized but also do not always progress linearly through the five elements of the writing process. Recommendations are made to assist classroom teachers of writing in their pedagogical planning, instruction, and assessment.