AnnoBib -- Problem-Solving Strategies for Writing

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Flower, Linda. Problem-Solving Strategies for Writing.4th ed. New York: Harcourt, Brace Pub., 1993. Print.
A textbook of thirteen chapters, covering topics as understanding the author's personal writing process, planning,generating and organizing ideas, analyzing problems, writing to the reader's expectations, and several case studies. With few visuals or graphics, the text emphasizes the rhetorical situation as an event between writer and reader, and so generating, style, editing, etc. are to be performed with the reader in mind. Uses research on problem-solving (and makes overt references to this research within the conversation of the text, expecting the student to continue her own research into the model) as the model to compose. The student is expected to look at the process of composing, not the product. Writing is seen not only as a problem that needs to be solved, but also as a means to approaching and understanding other problems. Emphasizes (and uses the terminology) goal-direction, collaborative acts, and “writing within a discourse community” (even “academic discourse,” (23, 88-90, 189)). Teaches the student to self-reflect on all stages of addressing the writing problem, recording these reflections, and “resting and incubating” to allow combinations of new ideas to be formed when not actively considering the problem (55).
This text has been followed-up by Problem Solving Strategies for Writing in Colleges and Communities where Flower attempts to connect the college experience with community problem-solving, connecting individuals and the societies they make with the writing process. Reviewed by Petrosky.
The lack of graphics is perhaps representational of the publishing expectations of the time, but added visuals (the text has only a few skeleton “issue trees” (mind maps)) would help the visual-learning student identify problems and organize, etc. The attention to problem-solving is addressed directly and the text treats the student as a learner who can associate new skills for life-long writing tasks, not simply a semester course.

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