In this essay, we map out four major approaches to the study of writing experiences: (a) worlds apart, (b) literacy in the wild, (c) ecologies and networks, and (d) transfer. We examine how the primary metaphors used in each approach have contributed to our field’s understanding of writing. In focusing on specific dimensions of writing, each framework privileges a different aspect of the writing process, writing development, and/or writers’ context(s). Building on these approaches, we propose the concept of wayfinding to emphasize how writers navigate their own writing development, skills acquisition, and changing knowledge about writing over time. Wayfinding offers a metaphor that resonates with recent work on lifelong learning and meaningful writing. Among other characteristics, wayfinding emphasizes how writers encounter a continuous potentiality in writing and how they navigate unanticipated challenges and opportunities.

在本文中，我们列出了研究写作经验的四种主要方法：（a）与世隔绝，（b）野外识字，（c）生态和网络以及（d）转移。我们研究了每种方法中使用的主要隐喻如何促进我们领域对写作的理解。在专注于写作的特定方面时，每个框架都会优先考虑写作过程，写作开发和/或作者上下文的不同方面。在这些方法的基础上，我们提出了寻路的概念，以强调作家如何驾驭自己的写作发展，技能习得以及随着时间的推移不断变化的写作知识。寻路提供了一个隐喻，与最近关于终身学习和有意义的写作的工作产生了共鸣。除其他特征外，寻路 强调作者如何在写作中遇到连续的潜力，以及他们如何应对意料之外的挑战和机遇。