Lessons of writing for Bay Mills Community College students

Jump starting your writing Your first writing topic is a composition of minimum words on what is writing like to you Purpose: Introduce yourself as a writer by finding creative comparisons for the act of writing (inform+entertain) Provide a writing sample that shows where your writing is at before you start this course Audience: Your teacher and other students in the class I. Melis BMCC Fall, 20072

Writing is a process Writing does not happen automatically It is a series of steps that every writer has to follow one way or other:  PREWRITING  PLANNING  DRAFTING  REVISING  PROOFREADING I. Melis BMCC Fall, 20073

STEP ONE: PREWRITING Think before you write! I. Melis BMCC Fall, Start writing Writing is like an uphill battle or struggle for me. I dread writing and take every opportunity to avoid it until I really must. I am afraid to write, and it gets worse when I hear some voices telling me that it won’t work and I am a bad writer. These voices are rats rushing up from the basement. They spoil whatever little confidence I have to start writing. Jot down a list I want to inspire writing, not write Struggle The rat in the basement To be on the other side of writing Free writing, or generative writing Brainstorming

STEP TWO: PLANNING Start organizing what you have.  Cluster your ideas  Find a thesis or main idea  Make an outline Planning makes writing easy. Follow your outline like a roadmap or a blueprint. I. Melis BMCC Fall, 20075

STEP THREE: DRAFTING Writing is often a struggle to me that I wish was over. M. Foucault said once he always wanted to see himself on the other side of writing, as if it was a broad river or a ravine that one needs to cross. Writing is a struggle Writers are frequently bugged by “a rat rushing up from the basement.” Just as I start writing, this rat starts nagging me like “You can’t do this.” “This is crap.” “You are a terrible writer.” The rat in the basement To start writing, I have to tell myself that for now I can let the grass grow. And when I get involved, I forget about what was more important to do and become completely lost in time. Letting the grass grow I. Melis BMCC Fall, 20076

STEP FOUR: REVISING Revision is seeing your writing with a new pair of eyes Set your draft aside to be able to see it as “new” Find friendly readers Don’t be afraid of big changes Keep what is good I. Melis BMCC Fall, 20077

STEP FIVE: PROOFREAD Bare Bear Spelling When I get involved in writing I forget that the grass needs to be cut. When I get involved in writing, I forget that the grass needs to be cut. Punctuation I. Melis BMCC Fall, 20078

USING SOURCES: Paraphrasing Paraphrasing means retelling something that you read or heard in your own words: Source (police report): “The signal was red.” Paraphrasis: “The train was not allowed to proceed.” Even when you paraphrase, you need to mention your source. This is called attribution: The police report stated that the train was not allowed to proceed. According to the police report, the train was not allowed to proceed. I. Melis BMCC Fall, 20079

USING SOURCES: Quotation When you cannot or do not wish to change the words of your source, you must set the borrow information off by quotation marks. Attribution is part of quotation: Wikipedia defines paraphrasing as “restatement of a text or passages, using other words.” “Paraphrase is restatement of a text or passages,” says Wikipedia. “Paraphrase,” according to Wikipedia, “is restatement of a text or passages, using other words.” I. Melis BMCC Fall,

WHAT DO WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO? Always name your source and use a variety of verbs or phrases of attribution Change most of the words from the source when you paraphrase When you choose to quote, make sure the borrowed words fit your own sentence the borrowed words are exactly the same way as in your source there are quotation marks around your borrowed words Punctuation is correct Longer quotes (longer than 40 words) are indented I. Melis BMCC Fall,