1. & What is an Essay? W. Mercado
Myths About Writing
&
What is an Essay?
W. Mercado

2. Myth or Fact? Writers are born, not made. “Good” writers write fast.
Writers should wait for inspiration.
“Good” writers get it right the first time.
Revising is reading over a draft and fixing spelling and punctuation.
After drafting, “good” writers look for their grammar mistakes right away.
There is only one way to write.

3. Myths About Essays An essay has no identifiable parts.
Introductions should be written first.
A well-stated point does not require proof.
After making their last point, writers should just stop.

4. Writers are born, not made.
Don’t think you are not a good writer because you weren’t born a good writer. You can learn to be a good writer, just like you can learn to be a good swimmer, dancer or piano player. You can work to improve your writing skills.

5. 7 Habits of Highly Successful Writers
1. Be patient. Improving a skill takes time. Don’t expect too much too soon, you will become frustrated. Progress comes slow but steady, not dramatically overnight.
2. Expect to get stuck. Even experienced professional writers get stuck sometimes, get writers block or have dead ends, so don’t think there’s something wrong with you. Consult your instructor, experienced writers or a writing center for a solution, when you find it, keep it close for future use.

6. 7 Habits of Highly Successful Writers
3. Remember that writing is really rewriting. Experienced writers re work drafts several times, so each time you revise, you are acting like an experienced writer.
4. Talk to other writers. Find out what they do when they write, and try some of their procedures. Form a network of classmates for support and suggestions.

7. 7 Habits of Highly Successful Writers
5. Study the responses to your writing. What do your instructor, classmates or tutors at the writing center say about your writing? Reader response helps you improve faster the areas where readers see weaknesses. If you don’t know what to change, ask for help.

8. 7 Habits of Highly Successful Writers
6. Read, read, read. Make a habit of reading the newspaper, news-magazine, short stories, novels, etc. Notice how other writers handle introductions, conclusions, supporting details and transitions. Look up unfamiliar words, observe punctuation and sentence structure. The more you read the more you learn about the language, and the faster you will improve your writing. Reading makes you more knowledgeable, so you will have more ideas for your writing.

9. 7 Habits of Highly Successful Writers
7. Do not fear mistakes. If you are afraid of making a mistake, you will never try; if you never try, you will never grow. Decide which procedures work for you and which don’t, then look for procedures to replace those that don’t work for you. For example, maybe coming up with an idea goes well for you, but revision does not. That means you have to discover new revision procedures. When your procedures work better , your writing will improve.

10. "Good" writers write fast.
Successful writers typically go through the following activities:
Prewriting
Drafting
Revising
Editing
Writers never go from prewriting to drafting to revising and editing in a straight line, they go back and forth when they come up with new ideas during any of these steps.

11. Writers should wait for inspiration.
Prewriting
If you sit around waiting for inspiration to come you may never write anything. It occurs so rarely to writers that they have to develop ways to get ideas. These procedures come before writing the first draft, that’s why it’s called PREWRITING.

12. "Good" writers get it right the first time.
Drafting
Once writers have enough ideas during prewriting they make their first attempt at putting them into writing, this is called drafting, this first draft is rough or raw, so its called the rough draft.This draft can be shaped and refined in the next stages of the writing process.

13. Revising is reading over a draft and fixing spelling and punctuation.
During this stage you rework the raw material and try to shape it. It is difficult and time-consuming. Writers have to refine the content so it is clear, points are adequately supported, and so the ideas are expressed in the best way and order possible.

14. After drafting, "good" writers look for their grammar mistakes right away.
Editing
Readers expect your writing to be free of errors, so you must edit it to find and eliminate mistakes that distract the reader. Editing should be left for the end of the process, in case you make any changes to the content.

15. There is only one way to write.
Develop your own writing process.
There really isn’t one single, correct process. Writers develop procedures that work well for them, so every writer is different. While you go through the different stages of writing (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing) try different procedures. When you find the strategies that work well for you, you will have found your own successful process.

16. Be Aware of Your Purpose
Everything you write has a purpose. Even a grocery list has a purpose. If you don’t have a reason for writing, why bother?
The Four Common Purposes for Writing
To relate an experience- Telling a friend about your job interview
To inform- About how cholesterol affects your heart, body
To persuade- Elections, protest, action
To entertain- Short stories, romance novels

17. Think about your reader
Your audience, the person or people who will read your writing, affects what you say and how you say it.
Exercise- Write an to a friend asking for $100, a note to your parents asking for $100, your boss for a $100 advance on your next paycheck.

18. An essay has no identifiable parts.
What is an essay?
A brief writing composed of several paragraphs all relating to a single topic. In general it has three parts:
The introduction
The body paragraphs
The conclusion

19. Introductions should be written first.
The Introduction- opening paragraph of an essay. It must create interest in the essay so readers want to read on.
Don’t worry about writing your introduction before the rest of the essay, sometimes the best introductions are written last.

20. The Thesis
The introduction also includes a thesis, which is the statement of the essay’s topic and the writer’s assertion about that topic.
Thesis: Network news broadcasts do not adequately inform the public.
Topic: Network news broadcasts
Assertion: They do an inadequate job of informing the public.

21. What's a good thesis?
A good thesis presents an idea worth writing about-something disputed or in need of explanation.
Acceptable thesis: Although everyone agrees that children must be adequately cared for, this country does not properly regulate day- care centers.
Explanation: The thesis idea is debatable and in need of explanation.

22. What's a good thesis?
Unacceptable thesis: Children must be adequately cared for.
Explanation: No one will disagree with this thesis idea, so why bother writing about it?

23. A well stated point does not require proof.
The Body Paragraphs
Do you believe everything you read? Your audience either, that’s why you need to prove your thesis is true. That’s where the body paragraphs come in. They present ideas that prove or explain your thesis so your reader will accept it is true. Body Paragraphs typically have two parts:
The topic sentence
The supporting details

24. The Topic Sentence
Tells what point the paragraph makes to prove or explain the thesis. Most of the time it comes at the beginning of the paragraph, and then you give the supporting details that prove the point. Sometimes it comes at the end, so your supporting details provide specific evidence that leads to the conclusion stated in the topic sentence.

25. The Supporting Details
Your supporting details must be adequate , you must have enough of them to prove or explain the thesis and each topic sentence.
Supporting details must be relevant, they must be directly related to both the thesis and the topic sentence of the paragraph they appear in.

26. Logical Order
Body paragraphs and supporting details should be presented in a logical order, for example:
In order of importance- from the least significant to the most.
In time order- from the first event to the last event.
General to specific- general statement to specific examples
Specific to General- specific examples to general statements

27. Logical Order
In order across space- near to far, front to back, left to right, etc
In a problem-solution order – a statement of a problem then an explanation of a solution
In a cause-and-effect order – explanation of why an event occurs and then the results of that event.

28. After Making their last point, writers should just stop.
The Conclusion
Conclusions are important because final impressions are important. You do not want to let down your audience because a negative final impression will affect your entire essay. Provide closure, a sense of completeness.