Written Communication Apr 2018

Distributed Cognition and Embodiment in Text Planning: A Situated Study of Collaborative Writing in the Workplace

Ashley Clayson University of West Florida

Abstract

Through a study of collaborative writing at a student advocacy nonprofit, this article explores how writers distribute their text planning across tools, artifacts, and gestures, with a particular focus on how embodied representations of texts are present in text planning. Findings indicate that these and other representations generated by the writers move through a spectrum of durability, from provisional to more persistent representations. The author argues that these findings offer useful insights into the relationships among distributed cognition, materiality, embodiment, and text planning and have implications for practitioners and students of writing. Additionally, the author recommends that scholars further investigate the ways in which embodied representations of texts are generated through lived experiences with the materials of writing.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2018-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088317753348
Open Access
Closed
Topics
body and rhetoric

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (9)

  1. Shahri et al. (2025)
    Digitally Mediated Micro-processes of Novice Multilingual Writers: Textualizati…
    Written Communication
  2. Shivener et al. (2025)
    Writing in Virtual Reality: Understanding Invention, Collaboration, and Frictio…
    Written Communication
  3. Burnett et al. (2025)
    Birthing Genre: Conventions of Rhetorical Situation and Accessibility of Inform…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Markey et al. (2024)
    Dense and Disconnected: Analyzing the Sedimented Style of ChatGPT-Generated Tex…
    Written Communication
  5. Vaughan et al. (2024)
    On the Page and Off the Page: Adolescents’ Collaborative Writing in an After-Sc…
    Written Communication
Show all 9 →
  1. Nissi et al. (2022)
    Digital Documenting Practices: Collaborative Writing in Workplace Training
    Written Communication
  2. Lindgren (2021)
    Writing With Data: A Study of Coding on a Data-Journalism Team
    Written Communication
  3. Olinger (2020)
    Visual Embodied Actions in Interview-Based Writing Research: A Methodological A…
    Written Communication
  4. Miller (2019)
    Negotiating Communicative Access in Practice: A Study of a Memoir Group for Peo…
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Cites in this index (16)

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    The <i>Net Work</i> Genre Function
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Miller (2016)
    Literate Misfitting: Disability Theory and a Sociomaterial Approach to Literacy
    College English
  3. Alexander et al. (2015)
    DMAC After Dark: Toward a Theory of Distributed Invention
    Computers and Composition
  4. Angeli (2015)
    Three Types of Memory in Emergency Medical Services Communication
    Written Communication
  5. Owens et al. (2013)
    Writing With(out) Pain: Computing Injuries and the Role of the Body in Writing …
    Computers and Composition
Show all 16 →
  1. Hayes (2012)
    Modeling and Remodeling Writing
    Written Communication
  2. Olive et al. (2012)
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    Written Communication
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Also cites 13 works outside this index ↓
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CrossRef global citation count: 13 View in citation network →

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