The Writing Process Introduction Prewriting Writing Revising Publishing Your Turn: Describe the writing process

Introduction Have you ever watched someone make pottery? Build a birdhouse? Cook a fancy meal? Doing these things well takes time, planning, and concentration. It’s the same with writing. Good text must be carefully planned and properly put together.

Introduction Writing is a process, done in stages or steps, each of which builds on the ones that came before. There are four stages to the writing process: Publishing Revising Writing Prewriting

Writing Tip: The Writing Process The writing process is recursive, which means that you can return to an earlier step any time you need to. For example, you might be writing a body paragraph when you realize that your thesis statement needs clarification. You can then return to revise your thesis statement. You can revisit any stage of the writing process at any time. 4

Prewriting The Prewriting stage is where you build the foundation for your writing project. You choose and explore a topic, consider your purpose and audience, and generate and organize your ideas. Putting thought and effort into this stage will pay off later when it’s time to draft your paper.

Prewriting Sometimes you will choose a topic for your writing; at other times you’ll be assigned a topic. In either case, try to find an aspect of your topic that you find interesting. If you are interested in your topic the writing process will be easier and you will get better results! 6

Prewriting Along with your topic, consider the form of your writing. Are you writing an essay, a letter, a narrative, a newspaper article? Each has its own standards and requirements. 7

Prewriting Be clear on the purpose of your writing. Ask yourself some questions: What am I trying to accomplish? Am I writing to convince, inform, or entertain my readers? Understanding your purpose and remembering it as you write is essential to achieving the goals of your writing.

Prewriting Identify your audience! The audience is the person or persons who will be reading what you write. Ask yourself: What are they like? How can I make the best impression on them through my writing? Keep your audience in mind as you select details, develop support, and choose the language for your writing. This will ensure that your final product will appeal to the people for whom it is intended. 9

Prewriting Now begin to gather information on your topic. How you do this will depend on the type of writing you are doing. You may need to do research, make observations in person, jot down details from memory, or interview people. Be thorough, but don’t forget that you can gather more information later if necessary.

Prewriting Once you’ve collected your information, create a plan to organize it. Consider creating an outline or graphic organizer to get your information into shape. Choose an organizational method that fits your topic and form of writing. Arrange your ideas and details in the order that will best present them. Plot the ways these ideas and details relate to one another. Main Idea Supporting Detail 1 Supporting Detail 2 Supporting Detail 3 11

Writing In the writing (or drafting) stage you take the work that you did in prewriting and develop the first draft of your composition. 12

Writing First, draft an introduction that will grab your readers’ attention and familiarize them with your subject. Give whatever background information will be needed for them to understand the rest of your paper. Your thesis, or main idea, will often appear in your introduction. 13

Writing Now proceed with the body of your paper. Follow your organizational plan so that your writing remains focused, but be prepared to modify your plan as new ideas and better ways of presenting them occur to you. Remember: You don’t have to make your text perfect the first time through. Review and revision will come later.

Writing Wrap up your paper with a conclusion. This part of your text will often include a restatement of your thesis. You can close your paper with a final image, thought, or reflection that will leave your reader with something to think about. The conclusion is your last chance to make an impression on your reader! 15

Revising Once you’ve finished your first draft, evaluate and revise your work. Read your paper at least twice. During the first reading, consider the content and organization of your work. Is your main idea clearly presented? Have you included enough information on your topic? Are your ideas in an order that makes sense? Identify what is good and what needs improvement in your work, and revise it.

Revising During your second reading, concentrate on your style—the word choice and sentence structure in your writing. Ask yourself: Is my language specific? Are my thoughts expressed clearly? Have I used a variety of types of sentences? Remember: Even if your ideas are good, poor style will make your work uninteresting!

Publishing To publish your writing means to share it with the audience for whom it was intended. Prepare for publishing by proofreading your work to eliminate mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Little mistakes can ruin the impact of well-crafted writing.

Publishing Some writers find it hard to proofread their own writing. Consider sharing your work with someone else or finding a “proofreading partner” with whom you can swap papers. 19

Publishing Finally, reflect on your writing experience. Think about what you wrote and about the writing process itself. Ask yourself questions such as: 1. What did I learn from this assignment that can help me in future writing? 2. What mistakes will I avoid next time? 3. What were the strongest and weakest parts of my paper? What made them the strongest and weakest? 4. What strategies did I use that I might use again in the future? 20

Test Tip: Prewriting If you have to write an essay as part of a test, these four steps are essential: Analyze: Get a clear idea of what you’re being asked to do and how much time you’ll have. Prewrite: Use about 15% of your available time to plan and outline your essay. Write: Allow about 70% of your time for your first draft. Follow your plan and develop each idea fully and thoughtfully. Revise: Use the final 15% of your time to revise and proofread. Focus first on your organization and content, then on grammar and spelling errors. 21

Your Turn: Describe the writing process Describe how you would follow the stages of the writing process if you were writing each of the following. 1. a persuasive essay 2. an autobiographical narrative 22

Your Turn: Possible response Writing a Persuasive Essay In prewriting I would choose an issue that I’m interested in and about which I have a strong opinion. Next, I would consider my purpose in writing and then identify and consider my audience. I would gather different types of information to support my opinion. Then, I would create an outline to organize my information. I would use that to write my paper, stating my opinion, arguments, and support. Finally, I’d evaluate and revise my essay. I would publish in a way that would reach people whose opinions I want to influence. 23

Your Turn: Possible response Writing an Autobiographical Narrative In prewriting I would pick a significant personal experience that I felt comfortable writing about. Then, I would make notes on my experience, jotting down a general description of the series of events. I’d arrange these details in chronological order and gather specific descriptive details. Next, I’d think about the meaning of the experience. Then I would write my narrative, focusing on giving details to make it seem real to my audience. I would then evaluate and revise my narrative and publish it in a place where others could read about my experience. 24

The End 25