22 Remixes

Just as musicians alter existing tracks to create new ones, writers sometimes “remix” or refashion their writing for new contexts. A mechanical engineer uses elements of her technical report about a new engine part to write instructions for the machinists who assemble the part. A historian turns his scholarly article on slavery and disability into a podcast episode for the general public. A sociology student transforms her essay on food insecurity into an infographic to persuade her college administration to start a food pantry. In each case, the writer modifies all or part of their earlier work for a new purpose, audience, genre, stance, or medium.

In college courses across the curriculum, you might be asked to do the same—for example, by writing a researched report for a class assignment and then sharing your work through a multimedia presentation for your classmates or others. For a capstone project in your major, you might be asked to return to some earlier writing you’ve done, reimagining or extending it for a new purpose.

This chapter offers suggestions for creating remixes—texts that grow out of and “play on” earlier texts you’ve composed. Let’s start by looking at an example: a profile originally published in a university alumni magazine that gets remixed into two different videos for the university’s website.