The road retaken: remix for (re)vision in creative writing

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper posits that the practice of remix offers students new learning pathways for process-based writing beyond the traditional workshop method and invites students to engage in creative writing practices beyond producing exclusively print-based texts. The paper details a Remix For (Re)vision assignment in an undergraduate Introduction to Creative Writing course. Students revise one of their written works by reinventing it in a new literary genre or remediating it as a multimodal text. The paper draws on interdisciplinary research – composition studies, literacy studies, and creative writing scholarship – alongside classroom praxis to demonstrate how the process of reconstituting an original work facilitates four key teaching and learning benefits: Remix (1) invites participation in a literary tradition (and popular online practice) of authorial borrowing and reinvention of existing works; (2) frames revision as imaginative play for active student engagement, agency, and discovery in the rewriting process; (3) enables the transfer of creative writing strategies and prior knowledge across genres and modes to develop multiliteracies; and (4) acknowledges that creative writing in the twenty-first century is increasingly engaged with digital communication practices and multimodal aesthetics. The paper outlines a sample student’s project and addresses best practices for assignment design and assessment.