Big writing ideas: simply explained – The Writing For Pleasure Centre

Welcome to our new blog series where BIG WRITING IDEAS ARE SIMPLY EXPLAINED! This series is dedicated to sharing key subject knowledge that can make you a better teacher of writing.

Each month, we will share a new concept or figure with you. Over time, we hope this series can build up your expertise. To follow the series, simply sign up to our newsletter here.

This month, we are looking at Linda Flowers & John Hayes.

📣 The cognitive process model

“The process of writing is best understood as a set of distinctive thinking processes which writers orchestrate or organise.” – Linda Flowers

🧠 The big idea

Flower and Hayes revolutionised how we understand writing – not just as putting words on a page but as a complex thinking process. Their model shows that writing involves multiple, overlapping mental activities like planning, translating ideas into text, and reviewing. It’s a dynamic, recursive process where writers constantly juggle goals, audience needs, and problem-solving.

In short: Writing isn’t linear – it’s a loop of thinking, writing, and revising.

The cognitive process model

🏛️ In context

Year	Event
1981	Flower & Hayes publish their influential paper A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing
1980s–90s	Their model reshapes composition studies and writing instruction
Today	Foundation of cognitive and process-oriented approaches to writing

🔍 Core concepts

🟠 Planning
Deciding what to write, setting goals, and organising ideas.
🗣️ “What do I want to say, who do I want to say it to, and how to I want to say it?”

🟠 Translating
Turning ideas into actual words and sentences.
🗣️ “How do I express these ideas as words and sentences?”

🟠 Reviewing
Rereading and revising text to improve clarity and effectiveness.
🗣️ “Is this any good? What needs working on?”

🟠 Recursive process
Writers don’t move straight through these steps — they loop back and forth, rethink, and revise constantly.

🟠 Working memory and long-term goals
Writers juggle immediate sentence choices and their broader writing goals simultaneously.

👤 Key figures

👨‍🏫 Linda Flower & John R. Hayes Cognitive psychologists and composition researchers who mapped out writing as a mental process, shifting teaching toward process and strategy.

🛠️ In the writing classroom

✅ Teach writing as a flexible, recursive process
✅ Encourage planning and goal-setting before and during writing
✅ Understand that revision is a key part of thinking and improving
✅ Plan class writing projects in a way that manages students’ cognitive load and focuses their attention

⚖️ Criticism and debate

🔸 Some say the model underestimates the social, motivational, and cultural influences on writing.
🔸 Critics argue it’s focused more on developing the individual writer than developing a social group of writers.
🔸 Still highly influential in process-based writing pedagogy.

Find out more:

A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing by Linda Flower & John R. Hayes [LINK]
The Science Of Teaching Primary Writing by Ross Young & Felicity Ferguson [LINK]

Previous entries in the series

‘Writing as a process’ – Donald Murray [LINK]

Welcome to our new blog series where BIG WRITING IDEAS ARE SIMPLY EXPLAINED! This series is dedicated to sharing key subject knowledge that can make you a better teacher of writing.

Each month, we will share a new concept or figure with you. Over time, we hope this series can build up your expertise. To follow the series, simply sign up to our newsletter here.

We are starting off with a real pioneer: Donald Murray. He changed writing instruction by showing that both the finished text and the writer’s ongoing development matter.

Murray taught us to ‘Teach the writer – not just the writing’ and showed that writing is first and foremost a process, which he described as ‘a way of thinking on paper’. He normalised the messiness of creation, reminding teachers that the writing process involves flexibility and that even so-called ‘writer’s block’ is part of writing – a stage of ‘incubation’ where ideas form unseen.

By exploring Murray’s core concepts, you will gain a better approach to feedback, encourage revision and metacognition, and help your pupils develop and value their own unique writing habits.

🔄 Writing as a process

“Teach writing as a process not a product” – Donald M. Murray

🧠 The big idea

Donald Murray transformed writing instruction by focusing on the writer’s process, not just the final product. He argued that writing is an act of discovery – a recursive journey where ideas emerge and evolve through drafting, revising, and reflection.

Rather than correcting students’ writing, Murray believed teachers should coach writers, helping them understand how they write and how they can develop their unique voice over time.

🏛️ In context

Year	Event
1968	Murray wins the Pulitzer Prize for journalism
1972	Publishes Teach Writing as a Process Not Product
1970s–80s	His ideas become foundational in writing education

🔍 Core concepts

🟢 Writing is a process
Professional and recreational writers don’t write in one straight run – they plan, explore, rethink, and revise continuously.

🟢 Discovery through writing
Writers don’t always start with clear ideas – they discover their ideas through the act of writing itself.

🟢 The writer at the centre
Students should be treated as apprentice authors, not just students doing assignments. Their interests, voices, and choices matter.

🟢 Teachers as coaches
Teachers should give feedback as readers, ask questions, and support the writer’s growth over time – rather than acting as judges and editors alone.

👤 Key figure

👨‍🏫 Donald M. Murray Journalist turned teacher. A key figure in the process writing movement, Murray’s essays and classroom work reshaped the way writing is taught from primary school through to university.

🛠️ In the writing classroom

✅ Emphasise idea generation, planning, drafting, and revision
✅ Encourage reflection and metacognition
✅ Respond to children’s ideas and development, not just their use of grammar and conventions
✅ Help students develop and value their own writing habits and writing process

⚖️ Criticism and debate

🔸 Some argue Murray was too student-centered and unstructured
🔸 Still, Murray’s influence is visible in nearly every modern writing classroom

💬 Representative quote

“Teach the writer – not just the writing”

Find out more:

A Writer Reforms (The Teaching Of Writing) Donald Murray & The Writing Process Movement, 1963-187 by Michael J. Michaud [LINK]
Teach Writing As A Process Not Product by Donald Murray [LINK]
Write to Learn by Donald Murray
A Writer Teaches Writing by Donald Murray [LINK]
The Essential Don Murray: Lessons from America’s Greatest Writing Teacher by Thomas Newkirk & Lisa C. Miller [LINK]