The Writing Process

Five Steps to Successful Writing

? What are the Five Steps ?

PREWRITING: Getting Started Writing begins with looking for something to write about. How do writers find ideas? Often, an

everyday experience or a personal interest sparks an idea. But many writers also have special ways

or techniques, they use to find and explore ideas.

Strategies for Finding a Subject:

1.Take an Inventory of Personal Interests

•What subjects do I know a lot about?

•What are my hobbies?

•What unusual experiences have I had?

2. Keeping a Journal

•A journal is a daily notebook in which you record your thoughts, feelings, and observations.

3. Reading, Interviewing, Discussing

4. Keep a Learning Log

•This is a section of your journal where you can write down ideas or information about other subjects that interest you.

PREWRITINGGuidelines for Choosing a Subject

• Choose a subject that interests you.

• Choose a subject that will interest your readers.

• Choose a subject that you know something about or can research with reasonable effort.

Strategies for Limiting a Subject

• Focus on one person or one example that represents the subject.

• Limit your subject to a specific time or place.

• Focus on a particular event or person.

• Choose one effect or one purpose of your subject.

Choosing & Limiting a Subject

General: Sports

More Limited: football

Limited: preparing for a game

PREWRITING: Considering Your Purpose, Occasion, Audience, and

GenrePurpose: is your reason for writing or speaking. For example, the purpose of an article in a computer magazine may be to explain how a software program works or to inform readers about a new laptop model.

Writing Purposes Possible Forms

Expository

to explain or inform; to focus on your subject matter and audience

Factual writing

scientific essay, research paper, business letter, summary, descriptive essay, historical narrative, news story

Creative (literary)

to create; to focus on making imaginative use of language and ideas

Entertaining writing

short story, novel, play, poem, dialogue

Persuasive

to persuade; to focus on changing your readers’ minds or getting them to act in a certain way

Convincing writing

letter to the editor, persuasive essay, movie or book review, critical essay (literary analysis), advertisement

Self-expressive

to express and reflect on your thoughts and feelings

Personal writing

journal entry, personal narrative, reflective essay, personal letter

Occasion: is your motivation for writing. It’s what prompts you to communicate, and it usually can be stated using one of the following sentences:

•I feel a need to write for my own satisfaction.

•I have been asked to write this by [name a person].

•I want to enter a writing contest.

Audience:

Who will be reading your work

Audience Profile Questions

• Who will be reading my work?

• How old are they? Are they adults? Teenagers? Children?

• What do I want the audience to know about my subject?

•What background do they have in the subject?

• What interests and opinions might they have?

• Are there any words or terms I should define for them?

Genre: is the form of your writing

• Each genre has characteristics that make it different from the others, and readers expect these characteristics to be present.

• For example, if you are reading a play you would expect to see dialogue and stage directions.

PREWRITING: From Ideas to a PlanAfter you’ve chosen and limited your subject – and you have considered your audience and purpose – you should collect specific details that develop your writing. Supporting details are the facts, examples, incidents, reasons, or other specific points that back up your ideas.

Brainstorming: is the process of writing everything that comes to mind when thinking about a particular subject.

• Set a time limit, such as 15 minutes.

• Write the subject on a piece of paper and record ideas underneath it.

• Brainstorm for details – facts, examples, reasons, connections, and associations.

• Build on each idea as you jot it down on the paper.

•Keep your mind open.

Clustering: is a visual form of brainstorming in which you not only jot down details as you think of them, but also make connections among those details.

• A cluster can look like a wheel. At the hub, or center, is your subject. Each idea that supports or explains your subject is connected to the hub by a line, like a spoke in a wheel. Sometimes supporting ideas become hubs of their own, with new spokes coming out of them.

Inquiring: is another strategy for exploring a subject by asking yourself questions concerning that subject. Who, what, where, when, why, and how questions can provide answers and help generate ideas that are helpful in developing details.

Subject: Studying Insects

Who: are some of the experts in the field studying insects?

What: specific details do people look for when they study insects?

What: tools are used?

Where: are the best places to look for insects?

When: did people first begin to study insects?

How: are insects captured, named, and observed?

Why: is gaining knowledge about insects helpful to people?

Here’s a sample Inquiry Chart

DRAFTING: Creating a Rough CopyDrafting is the stage in writing where all your ideas from prewriting are put into complete sentences, forming an introduction, a body, and conclusion. Your first draft is just a rough sketch that allows you to see how your details and ideas fit on paper.

• Write an introduction that will capture your reader’s interest and express your main idea.

• After you write your introduction, use your organized prewriting notes as a guide. Depart from those notes, however, when a good idea occurs to you.

• Write fairly quickly without worrying about spelling or phrasing. You will have the opportunity to go back and fix your writing when you revise.

• Stop frequently and read aloud what you have written. This practice will help you move logically from thought to the next.

• Return to the prewriting stage whenever you find that you need to clarify your thinking. You can always stop and freewrite, brainstorm, or cluster to collect more ideas.

•Write a conclusion that drives home the main point of the composition.

REVISING: Making it betterIt is important to go back and revise your draft to improve it for clarity and unity.

STRATEGIES QUICK FIXES

Check for Clarity and Creativity• Are your ideas interesting, fresh, and original, rather than ones that people have heard over and over?• Does the text satisfy its purpose?

• Insert a personal experience or example.• Think of an unlikely comparison between your subject and something else.• Talk with others to get ideas.

Elaborate by Adding Details• Does your writing seem fully developed?• Are your ideas fully supported?• Have you used details that would help bring a scene or idea to life for a reader?

• Use one of the prewriting strategies• Tell who or what with appositives or add adjectives or other descriptive words• Show, don’t tell.• Take a mental snapshot of a scene and write what you see.

Rearrange Out-of-Order Items• Check the organization of words, sentences, and ideas. Does one idea lead logically into another?

• Use your computer to rearrange and reorganize your sentences or paragraphs so the reader can easily follow your thoughts.• Use transitions to show the relationships between ideas.

Delete Unnecessary Words or Details• Does every detail in your draft really relate to your controlling idea?

• Delete, or remove, them. Also delete any extra or unneeded words and repetitive sentences.

Substitute Words and Sentences• Are all parts of your draft clear enough for a reader to follow easily?• Are your words lively and precise?

• Ask a “test reader” to tell you where you need to provide more or clearer information.• For a dull, general word, find a richer and more vivid synonym.

DRAFTING Guidelines for the Writer

• List some questions for your peer. What aspects of your work most concern you?

• Try to be grateful for your critic’s candor rather than being upset or defensive. Keep in mind that the criticism you are getting is well intended.

Guidelines for the Critic

• Read your partner’s work carefully. What does the writer promise to do in this text? Does he or she succeed?

• Point out strengths as well as weaknesses.

• Start your comments by saying something positive like, “your opening really captured my interest.”

• Be specific. Refer to a specific word, sentence, or section when you comment.

• Be sensitive to your partner’s feelings. Phrase your criticisms as questions. You might say, “Do you think your details might be stronger if…?”

CONFERENCING

Conferencing: meeting with others to share ideas or identify and solve problems.

EDITING: Fixing all the mistakesEditing for Wordiness

• You should use word power, like other kinds of energy, efficiently.

• The fewer words needed to get the job done, the more energy-efficient the writing is.

Word Guzzler Mr. Franklin determined that his whiskers needed to be removed from the

surface of his face, and so he removed from its storage drawer the implement

that he needed to shave.

Word Efficient Mr. Franklin saw that he needed a shave, so he got out his razor.

Using a General Editing Checklist

• When you edit you should go over your work at least THREE times, each time looking for a different kind of problem.

Are sentences free of errors in grammar and usage?

Did you punctuate each sentence correctly?

Did you spell each word correctly?

Did you use capital letters where needed?

Did you indent paragraphs as needed?

Proofreading: is the process of carefully rereading one’s work and marking corrections in grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanics using the proofreading marks.

• Focus on one line at a time.

• Exchange your work with a partner and check each other’s work.

• Read your writing aloud, very slowly.

• Use a dictionary and a writer’s handbook to check spelling, grammar, usage, and mechanics.

PUBLISHING: The end is in sight

Final Copies Should be typed

12 point font

Times New Roman or Arial font

Double-spaced

Be proofread a final time (Spell check does not count since it doesn’t recognize all mistakes).

Contain a cover with the following:

Title in quotations

Your name

Class Period

Teacher’s Name

Assignment Due Date

Clipart/Picture (optional)