The Writing Process Please take out some paper, you will need to take notes. Please label these notes “The Writing Process”

The Writing Process Analyzing the writing situation (12-24) Discovering/Planning (25-52) Drafting (54-58) Revising (58-61) Editing (67-69)

Analyze the writing situation Context Subject Purpose Audience Genre Research Deadline/length Presentation

Analyzing the Situation: Step 1 Discover and limit a subject The subject should be suitable for the assignment It should neither be too general or too limited It should be something that interests you

Analyzing the Situation: Step 2 Defining a purpose Purpose is your chief reason for communicating something about a topic to a particular audience Purpose is your answer to a potential reader’s question, “So what?”

Analyzing the Situation: Step 3 Consider the audience Who are my readers? Why will they read my writing? What will they expect from my writing? What can I do to interest them in my writing? How do I want them to perceive me? What do I want them to think or do after they read my writing?

Analyzing the Situation: Step 4 What genre will you be using? Is there are particular genre being assigned? What are the conventions of the genre? What flexibility do you have?

The Writing Process: Discovering/Planning/ Brainstorming Writer’s Block

Generating Ideas Use a journal Observe your surroundings Freewriting Focused freewriting Brainstorming Drawing Mapping Journalist's questions Use patterns of development

Let’s Try We’re now going to try and use these strategies to help us generate ideas about a personal / descriptive essay. Your first writing assignment is going to ask you to tell me something about yourself. So let’s try a few of these strategies out, and see if we can’t figure out who you are.

Generating Ideas: Strategy 1: Listing 1. You will have 5 minutes to list any/all ideas that pop into your head. Try to free associate; don’t hold back on anything.

Generating Ideas: Strategy 2: Freewriting Simply put pen to paper and jot down whatever pops into your head. 1. Write nonstop for 5 minutes, even if you write “I have nothing to write” 2. Circle words or ideas that you might want to come back to, but don’t ever stop writing. 3. Freewrite again, starting with something you circled or marked in the previous session.

Generating Ideas: Strategy 3: Clustering Start with a general subject in a circle in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. Begin to draw other lines and circles that radiate from the original subject. Cluster the ideas that fall together. After 10 minutes, see if a topic emerges from any of your groups of ideas.

Generating Ideas: Strategy 4: Cubing Chose a subject. Having chosen that subject every time I roll the dice, you must freewrite about the topic. 1. Describe it: What does your subject look like? What size, colors, textures, does it have? Does it have any special features worth noting? 2. Compare or contrast it: What is your subject similar to? What is your subject different from? In what ways? 3. Free-associate it: What does the subject remind you of? What does it call to mind? What memories does it conjure up? 4. Analyze it: How does it work? How are the parts connected? What is its significance? 5. Argue for or against it: What arguments can you make for or against your subject? What advantages or disadvantages does it have? What changes or improvements should be made? 6. Apply it: What are the uses of your subject? What can you do with it?

Generating Ideas: Strategy 5: Interviewing 1. Pair off. 2. Each write down a topic/subject on your paper. 3. Discuss! A. Who? B. What? C. Where? D. When? E. Why? F. How? 4. Jot down any responses that sparked your interest.

Generating Ideas  Planning After you’ve mulled over a couple of topic ideas you’ll need to do some basic research. What are others saying about your topic? Then consider what it is YOU want to say about your topic so that you can create a WORKING THESIS.