1. Purdue University Writing Lab Finding Your Focus: The Writing Process A presentation brought to you by the Purdue University Writing Lab

2. Purdue University Writing Lab Everyone has a writing process. What is yours?

3. Purdue University Writing Lab Why do you need a writing process? It can help writers to organize their thoughts. It can help writers to avoid frustration and procrastination. It can help writers to use their time productively and efficiently.

4. Purdue University Writing Lab Writing process Brainstorming Prewriting Drafting Revising Publishing Proofreading

5. Purdue University Writing Lab Brainstorming: coming up with your topic Brainstorming:  Getting your ideas on paper so you can give yourself the widest range of topics possible

6. Purdue University Writing Lab Listing: coming up with ideas that interest you Listing: Political apathy Animal abuse NFL instant replay Air pollution Telemarketing scams Internet censorship NBA salary caps Paper Topics Brainstorming

7. Purdue University Writing Lab Clustering: mapping out ideas ME Internet censorship telemar- keting scams NFL instant replay NBA political apathy three-party system salary caps sportsmanship animal abuse First Amendment Flag Burning Amend- ment

8. Purdue University Writing Lab Prewriting: organizing information in an outline OUTLINE I. Introduction A. Grab attention B. State thesis II. Body A. Build points B. Develop ideas C. Support main claim III. Conclusion A. Reemphasize main idea

9. Purdue University Writing Lab Drafting: writing a rough draft of your paper Give yourself ample time to work on your project. Find a comfortable place to do your writing. Avoid distractions. Take breaks.

10. Purdue University Writing Lab Revising: reviewing ideas Review higher-order concerns:  Clear communication of ideas  Organization of paper  Paragraph structure  Strong introduction and conclusion

11. Purdue University Writing Lab Publishing: writing a final draft of your paper Whether your paper is “published” or not, this is the stage when you write or type your final draft.

12. Purdue University Writing Lab Proofreading Review later- order concerns:  Spelling  Punctuation  Sentence structure  Documentation style

13. Purdue University Writing Lab Proofreading tips Slowly read your paper aloud. Read your paper backwards. Exchange papers with a friend. NOTE: Spell check will not catch everything, and grammar checks are often wrong!

14. Purdue University Writing Lab The Writing Process: Find Your Focus Brainstorming Prewriting Drafting Revising Publishing Proofreading

15. Purdue University Writing Lab Follow the Steps in the Writing Process to Achieve our A+ Paper! Purdue University Writing Lab