To my elementary school students, the writing process meant brainstorming ideas, mapping them out on a graphic worksheet, drafting (in pencil), sitting with me to revise and edit (add and erase), copying to nice paper (in pencil, then over again in “teacher pen”), drawing illustrations, and publishing (posting to a bulletin board).

To my college students, it’s not that different. There are more steps, like developing a thesis statement whether it will be implicit or explicit and using it as a guiding principle. And each step is more complex, requiring a high level of both critical thinking and intuition.

But at heart it’s the same. We progress from spark (and/or assignment) to completion (deadline, due date, submission). We process. In that is the work and the joy.

Laurie Cannady—a brilliant, fearless, dedicated writer and fellow Vermont College of Fine Arts grad whose memoir, Have a Little Piece of…