THE FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING ONE CAN ONLY READ WHEN SOMEONE HAS WRITTEN SOMETHING

If you would not like to be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing for. Benjamin Franklin.

WHY WRITING? THERE IS ALWAYS THE CLASSICAL EXPLANATION: BECAUSE IS MANDATORY. BUT ….

WHY WRITING? It reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary that we have been taught. The effort to express ideas and the use of the eyes, hand and brain is a unique reinforcement to learning Students discover a real need for finding the right word and the right sentence. THERE IS A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WRITING AND THINKING.

ITEMS A WRITER HAS TO DEAL WITH TO PRODUCE A PIECE OF WRITING. Clear, Fluent and effective communication of ideas SYNTAX CONTENT THE WRITER’S PROCESS AUDIENCE PURPOSE WORD CHOICEORGANIZATION MECHANICS GRAMMAR

STAGES OF WRITING Arlenne M. Fernández

Getting Started Generating ideas Brainstorming, Free writing, Making lists, Sketches, Wh questions, Essential questions Clustering, Venn Diagrams, Outlining, Researching (creating a bibliography).

1. PREWRITING: THINK BEFORE WRITING UNDERSTAND THE ASSIGNMENT CHOOSE A SUBJECT THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN / THAT YOU KNOW ABOUT NARROW THE SUBJECT SO THAT IT CAN BE COVERED WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE ASSIGNMENT COLLECT IDEAS CONSIDER THE AUDIENCE: READERS Vs LISTENERS

THE AUDIENCE DETERMINES: WHAT YOU WRITE: – WHAT YOUR AUDIENCE KNOW – THEIR INTERESTS, NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS – WHAT DOES YOUR AUDIENCE NOT KNOW HOW YOU WRITE: – SHORT SENTENCES AND SIMPLE LANGUAGE, OR LONG AND SOPHISTICATED – CHARTS – PHOTOGRAPHS

ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AUDIENCE 1.WHO is going to read this piece of writing? 2.WHAT does my audience know (or not know) about the topic? 3.WHAT background information about my topic will my audience need to know? 4.WHAT will my audience find interesting 5.WHAT is the main point I want my audience to understand 6.HOW can I best get my audience to understand my point?

2. DRAFTING Begin writing. Don’t worry about format, grammar or any other thing than putting your ideas together in a written form.

3. REVISING: LOOK AGAIN, CHANGE AND STRENGHTEN RECONSIDER THE NEEDS OF THE AUDIENCE RECONSIDER THE PURPOSE OF THE PAPER RECONSIDER YOUR ARGUMENTS.

4. PROOFREADING: POLISH YOUR WORK AVOID COMMON ERRORS OF GRAMMAR, SPELLING AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE. CHECK THE FORMAT IS CONSISTENT CHECK ON PUNCTUATION MARKS. Using the right word is the same difference as lighting ourselves with a bulb or a fireflight Mark Twain.

1.The holes of the paper go on the left side. 2.The TITLE goes on the first line by itself. 3.INDENT the first line of the paragraph about an inch. You can also indent each paragraph if you want to. 4.Leave a MARGIN on the left and the right sides of the paper. 5.For the copy you turn in to your teacher, write in ink on one side of the paper. If possible, type your paper.

5. PUBLISHING HANDING THE PAPER OVER TO THE TEACHER

WHAT IS A COMPOSITION, ESSAY, PAPER? Is a piece of writing about one central topic. WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH? A group or related sentences that communicates a central idea. WHAT DOES THE PARAGRAPH / ESSAYS HAVE IN COMMON?

Instructions may look like this: DANCING MERENGUE is the TOPIC 1.MECHANICS: Capital letters at the beginning of sentences 2.GRAMMAR: Subject pronouns in sentences with the verb to be in present. Changing from first person to third person pronouns and verbs 3.VOICE: is the “YOU” in your writing. It shows how you feel. 4.SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION: Sentence patterns with be 5.VOCABULARY AND SPELLING: List the key words you want them to use.

WRITING GENRES Arlenne M. Fernández