1. Mr. Wallace 6th Grade ELA Coan Middle School
The Writing Process
Mr. Wallace
6th Grade ELA
Coan Middle School

2. Writing is not Magic

3. What are the steps? PreWriting Writing/Drafting Revising Editing
Publishing
Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

4. Step 1: PreWriting
Prewriting is the process of coming up with ideas for your essay.
This is not formal, polished writing
There are many prewriting techniques but we will be discussing
Brainstorming
Freewriting
Clustering
Outlining
Steps
Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

5. Brainstorming
Just Think

6. Freewriting Just write March 23, 2007 Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

7. Clustering A way of narrowing your thoughts by connecting your ideas
Great techniques for visual learners
March 23, 2007
Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

8. March 23, 2007

9. Try It!
Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

10. Topics to choose from  Who knows me best?  What do I worry about?
 Something this school really needs is . . .
 Why are soap operas so popular?
 An unforgettable dream
 My worst vacation
 My first concert
March 23, 2007
Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

11. Outlining for your paper. begin writing.
 Outlining comes after you already have the ideas
for your paper.
 It is a way of laying out your thoughts before you
begin writing.
 Use bullet points to write down each concept you
want to mention in the order you want to mention
them.
 For more detail, see the Writing Center’s handout
on outlining.
March 23, 2007
Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

12. Step 2: Drafting/Writing
 The draft is the first attempt to organize information.
 Typically called a rough draft for a reason.
 YOU WILL MAKE MISTAKES!
 Your essay structure does not need to be perfect.
Select your writing ideas from your PreWriting Exercise.
Write, Write, Write!
Have you completed your thoughts through your writing?
Steps
Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

13. Try It! (Again) March 23, 2007 Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

14. Step 3: Revising A.R.R.R. Steps
Adding
Rearranging
Removing
Replacing
Adding: Is there any other information that the reader needs to know? Rearranging: Is the information presented in the most logical order? Removing: Are there any unnecessary details? Replacing: Could I change anything to make my expressions stronger?
Steps
Kristi Hartley

15. Revising in the best way possible.
March 23, 2007
Revising
 Reworking your essay so that the ideas are expressed
in the best way possible.
 Revising is not the editing stage.
Global Revision Local Revision
Content Grammar, spelling, etc
Structure
Thesis
Strong supporting points
Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School

16. Step 4: Editing
 Editing is eliminating punctuation, grammar, and spelling mistakes.
 Should be saved for the end of the writing process.
 Spell Check can be a false friend!
Spelling Capitalization Punctuation Grammar Sentence Structure Subject/Verb Agreement Word Usage
Steps
Kristi Hartley

17. Checklist for Editing Checklist for Editing
March 23, 2007
Checklist for Editing
Have you read your work aloud to listen for
problems?
Did you check every possible misspelling in a
dictionary?
Have you avoided run-ons?
Are you using verbs, pronouns, and modifiers
correctly?
Have you used your punctuation correctly?
Are your capital letters correct?
Kristi Hartley
Taylor County Middle School