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The Writing ProcessBy: Brittany Council
Stages of the writing Process
There are several stages of the writing process.Each stage is essential.
Prewriting Outlining the structure of ideas
Drafting Revising Editing
Prewriting Choose /narrow your topic Determine your audience, purpose,
tone, point-of-view, and tense Explore your topic Make a plan
Choose a topicAdvice for Topic Selection
The topic should be interesting to you. The topic should be researchable. The topic should not be too broad. Avoid topics that are overworked.
Prewriting
Using experience and observations Reading
Free writing Asking questions
The four strategies below are best used when initially deciding on a
topic:
Determine Your Audience
Your audience is composed of those who will read your writing.
Ask yourself: Who are my readers? What do my readers know
about my topic? What do my readers need
to know about my topic? How do my readers feel about my topic?
Determine Your Purpose
Purpose is the reason you are writing. Whenever you write, you always have a
purpose. Most writing fits into one of 3 categories: expressive writing, informative writing, or persuasive writing.
More than one of these may be used, but one will be primary.
Determine Tone Tone is the mood or attitude you adopt
as you write.
Serious or humorous? Intimate or detached?
Determine Point-of-View
Point-of-view is the perspective from which you write an essay.
There are 3 point-of-view: first person (I, we), second person (you), and third person (he, she, they)
One of the most common errors in writing occurs when the writer shifts point-of-view unnecessarily.
Determine Tense
Tense is the voice you use to designate the time of the action or state of being.
Present tense Past tense Future tense
Explore Your Topic
Pre-writing Techniques: Brainstorm Freewriting
Ideal Mapping Questioning
Searching the Internet Discussing
Outlining Organize ideas
Write a thesis statement Write an outline
Organizing IdeasThree common methods of organizing:
Chronological order - a method of organization that arranges ideas according to time.
Spatial order - a method of organization that arranges ideas according to physical
characteristics or appearance. Order of importance - a method of organization that arranges ideas according to their significance.
Advice for Organizing Look at the question you answered when you were
developing you working thesis. Look at your prewriting. Find the main ideas or categories of your thinking. Put less important items under more important
items. Make an outline. Decide how you will set up you paper. How can you organize the paper to achieve your
objective?
DraftingStrategies for drafting:
Begin writing with the part you know the most about.
Write one paragraph at a time and then stop. Take short breaks to refresh your mind.
Be reasonable with your goals. Keep your audience and purpose in mind as you
write.
Basic Elements of a First Draft
Introduction Thesis statement
Topic Sentence Supporting sentences
Conclusion
Revising Revising is finding & correcting problems with
content; changing the ideas in you writing to make them clearer, stronger, and more convincing.
Revising looks at the “Big Picture”.
Revising Strategies
Look for… Unity
Detail and support Coherence
Unity Does everything refer back to the main
point? Does each topic sentence refer to the
thesis? Does each sentence in the paragraph
refer back to the topic sentence?
Detail and Support
Does each paragraph contain at least two examples?
Is each example followed by at least one supporting detail?
Coherence Are all points connecting to form a
whole? Are transitions used to move from one
idea to the next?
Revision Tips Take a break from your draft before
attempting to revise. Read your draft out loud and listen to your
words. Imagine yourself as your reader. Look for consistent problem areas. Get feedback from peers. Get help from a tutor!
Editing Editing is finding and correcting
problems with grammar, style, word choice & usage, and punctuation.
Editing focuses on the “Little Picture” – words.
EditingCheck list for editing
Are your capital letters correct? Have you used your punctuation correctly?
Have you avoided run-ons? Are you using verbs, pronouns, and
modifiers correctly? Have you read your work aloud to listen for
problems? Did you check every possible misspelling in
a dictionary?