The Writing Process Introduction Prewriting Drafting Revising Editing Publishing Review: The writing process

Introduction Have you ever helped on a home-improvement project, such as painting a room or tiling a floor? Have you ever worked on a creative project, such as writing a song, painting a landscape, or creating a mural? These types of projects require thought, planning, and careful execution. The same is true of writing.

Introduction Writing is a process in which each stage builds on the one that came before. Prewriting Drafting Revising Publishing There are five stages to the writing process: Editing

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 might be revising your paper when you see that you need to do more research to add details. You can revisit any stage of the writing process at any time. Draft Revise Prewrite Publish Edit

Prewriting The prewriting stage is where you plan 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 help keep you focused and organized when it’s time to draft your paper.

Prewriting If you find a topic that interests you, the writing process will go more smoothly—and you will get better results, since your voice will reflect your interest. First, when choosing a topic, brainstorming ideas is extremely important. A long and creative list of items beneath that topic will ensure you have plenty of quality material to say on the subject Ideas for Essay 1.Grandpa’s farm i.Hay in summer ii.Fishing pond iii.Cutting timber 2.Summer basketball i.Hot, empty gym ii.Lousy refs 3.My old shoes…

Prewriting Research is also part of the pre-writing process. Just as in brainstorming, the quality of your final writing product depends on the quality of work you do here. Be thorough, but don’t forget that you can gather more information later if necessary. You may need to do library or Internet research, make observations in person, jot down details from memory, or interview people.

Prewriting Once you’ve collected your information, either from brainstorming or research, make a plan, such as an outline or graphic organizer, to get your information organized. 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 in which these ideas and details relate to one another. Supporting Detail 1 Main Idea Supporting Detail 2 Supporting Detail 3

Prewriting Often, taking a few minutes to create a strong graphic organizer of your writing will help you stay organized in over the course of the project. Again, time spent here will pay off in the latter stages of the writing process Include the details from your brainstorming, and add to this material—it will keep you focused and you won’t run out of things to say

Prewriting Also, before drafting, be clear on the purpose of your writing. A humorous blog is very different from a persuasive letter or a descriptive poem. Understanding your purpose and keeping it in mind as you write are crucial to achieving the goals of your writing. What am I trying to accomplish? Am I writing to convince, inform, or entertain my readers?

Prewriting And don’t forget to identify your audience. The audience is the person or persons who will be reading what you write. Keep your audience in mind as you present ideas, elaborate details, and develop a voice for your writing. This will ensure that your final product will appeal to the people for whom it is intended. Who are they? What do they already know about my topic? How can I make the best impression on them through my writing? Ask yourself:

Drafting In the drafting stage, you take the work that you did in prewriting and develop the first draft of your composition. Remember, the important thing in a draft is not to get everything perfect, but to get everything onto paper!

Drafting We all know how important an introduction is—it needs to grab readers’ attention and familiarize them with your subject. While you should have your thesis nailed down from your prewriting, many authors prefer to skip the introduction while drafting. Often, it’s easier to return to this tricky task after getting most of your content down.

Drafting Drafting is primarily about 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. For now, focus on your plan and get your ideas onto paper!

Drafting Wrap up your draft 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 show your reader why your writing is important. Like the introduction, it can be tricky and should receive special attention in the next stage.

Revising Identify what is good and what needs improvement in your work, and revise accordingly. Possibly the most important stage of all, revision is where great writing is made. In this step, you need to make major changes to your paper—not just minor spelling corrections. Revision involves adding new content where your draft is unclear, deleting content that is distracting or off- topic, re-arranging paragraphs to make better sense, and making sure your introduction and conclusion fit your paper and your audience.

Revising During the first reading, consider the content and organization of your work. Ask yourself: Is my thesis clearly presented? Have I included enough supporting details and elaboration on my topic? Is the flow of ideas logical and smooth? Do transitions show the relationship between ideas? In order to revise adequately, you need to re-read your paper at least twice. Does my introduction catch readers? Does my conclusion leave my ideas clear and meaningful in the readers’ minds?

Revising During your second reading, focus on your writing style: your word choices, sentence structures, and the tone and voice of your work. As you revise for style, ask yourself: Remember: Even if your ideas are good, repetitive language and structure or an indifferent voice will make your work uninteresting! Have I used a variety of types of sentences? Do I sound interested, involved, and knowledgeable about the topic? Are my words vivid and specific?

Revising Make sure you allow plenty of time for meaningful revision! The best writers are always the most patient and diligent revisors. Some see writing as a natural gift that one is born with, but that is merely a myth. The truth is, anyone can create a great piece of writing if she is willing to patiently and persistently revise until they arrive at the plan they envisioned in pre-writing.

Editing Like revision, editing also involves making meaningful changes to your draft. However, editing focuses more on the details of Standard English: Spelling Punctuation Grammar Usage

Often, having someone else read your work is a good way to check for these pesky mistakes. Editing Or, read your paper aloud and listen for clumsy wording or awkward pauses. Fix and begin again as often as needed to create a pristine copy of your text.

Publishing The final stage is publishing. To publish your writing means to share it with the audience for whom it was intended. Publishing may involve printing and delivery or posting online or mailing your final draft to a publisher. Whatever its form, ineffective presentation can ruin the impact of well-crafted writing.

Publishing Some considerations for publishing may include font, color, graphics, margins, and size of text, to name a few. Some of these will occur in earlier stages, but they should be completed with the final draft.

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?

Review: the writing process Being a great writer is more about dedication to the writing process than it is about natural ability. With proper planning, persistent revision, and careful attention to details along the way, anyone can compose a masterpiece. Just like any skill—from playing an instrument to shooting a jump shot to mastering a videogame, practice is essential to being a good writer. Practice with the process, and you’ll be amazed at your success.

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