Writing as a Creative Translation

Effective multimodal writing is reliant on the process. The process of ordering various elements - the alphabetic, the visual, the auditory, the kinesthetic - in order to creatively translate and communicate an idea.

In the introduction for his book, Jason Palmeri writes on his fascination with the deleted scenes in movies and television shows. He says, “...the deleted scenes remind me that the stories we tell are always partial and incomplete” (4). I appreciate this metaphor because it hits at a fundamental aspect of writing – the process.

It is important to emphasize that first and foremost multimodal writing is a process consisting of various decisions on alphabetic, visual, and auditory elements. Janet Emig specifically defines composing as “...the selection and ordering of elements” (26). Furthermore, Emig views composing as inherently multimodal, since the composer must make specific decisions on how the elements can come together to effectively communicate an idea. Palmeri writes about Emig’s ideas in his section on creative translations. Specifically, he examines her perspective that multimodal composing requires creativity in both the composing process and final product. Furthermore, writing is seen not only as a process towards effective communication, but also a process of creative problemsolving (29).

Palmeri’s perspective of composing as a creative translation is important when thinking about applying multimodal writing in the classroom. First of all, students rarely see revision as anything other than grammatical structure and word choice, but through the multimodal writing process students can come to see revision as a method to radically re-see and transform their initial ideas. Additionally, multimodal writing allows opportunities for students to creatively translate their ideas in different ways. When we restrict students to only alphabetic writing, we end up “...limiting their ability to think deeply about their rhetorical tasks” (34). By teaching students the process and various elements in multimodal writing, students are encouraged to approach the communication of their ideas in innovative ways.

"Today 'writing' is in full Technicolor; it is nonlinear and alive with sounds, voices, images of all kinds" - Jason Palmeri, 5