In Peter Elbow’s “Being a Writer vs. Being an Academic,” Elbow talks about the need for readers to “listen caringly” (75). As Elbow also goes on to claim that writers only get to “decide . . . [intention],” as the reader gets to “decide what [was] heard” (76), I believe Elbow would view the act of revision, with audience in mind, as an act of “writing as listening.” The reason behind this is because Elbow, quite often, refers to the writing process as a speech-related act, as “dialogue” (79), in which the writer presents and the audience interprets. Additionally, those writings not intended for an audience outside of the author, those writings that Elbow refers to as “monologue” (79), could be interpreted as being “writing as listening.” However, both of these acts, audience-focused revision and private writing, can be said to merge the act of writing/speaking with that of reading/listening, as the writer is forced to become a member of the audience, either because he or she is the sole intended audience or because he or she needs to understand how the writing will be interpreted by a wider audience. By transforming into a reader/writer, a writer would be forced to both speak and listen to what is being said/written.
Additionally, Elbow may view the writing that grants us an “[awareness] of the positions from which [we] write” (79) as an act of “writing as listening,” as we write down our thoughts and then gain insights into ourselves from reading/interpreting these thoughts. These insights can lead to further writing, which can eventually lead to more insights.