Thinking Through the Writing Process

The writing process step by step: proofreading

1. Allow someone time to pass between revising and proofreading. 2. Read your work one sentence at a time from the end to the beginning. Reading your for from the end to the beginning allows you to focus on each sentence. 3. Read again from the beginning with a blank paper that you slide down the page as you read so you can focus on one sentence at a time, covering the rest of the text. 4. Use a highlighter to mark mistakes. 5. Proofread more than once; focus on one type of error at a time. 6. Proofread for the types of errors you commonly make. 7. Use word processing spell checkers carefully ( they don't know the difference between words such as there, there, or they're). 8. Use a dictionary to double check your spelling. 9. Have someone else read over your work.

The writing situation step by step: purpose

1. Annotate the lists in your topic bank to indicate the possible purpose for each topic: Besides each one wrote I for informative, P for persuasive, E for expressive, or R for reflective. 2. Generate four sets of topics based on different purposes for writing, using "The Writing Situation: Step by Step: Topic " box on page 281 to guide your thinking. 3. Select one topic for each of the four purposes and complete the following statements: 4. This topic will inform the reader about... 5. This topic will persuade the reader to... 6. This topic will express... 7. This topic will reflect upon...

The Writing Process Step by Step: Drafting

1. Write your main idea in a complete sentence. Make a specific statement rather than a large, general statement. 2. As you write a thesis statement or topic sentence, assert an idea instead of announcing your topic. Avoid the following announcements: A. "I am going to write about..." B. "My paragraph (or essay) is about..." C. "My topic is..." 3. As you write your first draft, do not worry about issues such as spelling and grammar. 4. Generate major and minor details to support your main idea. 5. As you write, include new ideas as they occur to you without self-criticism or editing before you have a complete draft: this first draft does not need to be perfect. You will use the revision process to evaluate details for logic and relevance once your draft is complete. 6. Use the first draft to discover how your ideas flow and fit together. 7. Resolve to write multiple drafts to produce your best work.

Listing

A common way to brainstorm ideas is to create a list. If you have a free choice of topics, them create a topic bank: List ideas you want to learn more about or topics you already know something about and that you enjoy discussing.

Write a draft of your paragraph

A draft of a paragraph or essay is the result of careful thought based on prewriting activities. Creating a first or rough draft allows you to get a working copy of your ideas that can be improved upon during the revision process.

Assws the writing situation audience, and purpose

A piece of writing develops in response to a specific writing situation that is composed of the topic (your subject), the audience (your reader), and the purpose for writing (your goal).

Asking questions

Asking questions helps you identify a topic and develop details about it based on thoughtful insights. Asking and answering questions helps you discover both what you already know and what you need to learn about the topic. Your goal as a writer is to share a point or main idea about a topic. Usually, a main idea or point is made up, of the topic and the writer's opinion about the topic.

Free writing

During freewriting you record your thoughts as they stream through your mond. The key to this brainstorming strategy, like all prewriting activities, is to turn off the critic up your head.

Subject-verb agreement

If the subject of a sentence is singular, then the verb and subject of the verb must be singular. If the subject of a sentence is plural, then the verb and object if the verb must be plural. Correct: The lead (driver) (rams) his race car into the wall. Driver- singular subject. Rams-third person singular verb ( add "-s") Correct: Four other (drivers) (lose) control of their cars. Drivers-plural subject. Lose-third person plural verb

Proofread

Once you have revised your paragraph, take time to carefully proofread your work. Publishing a clean, error-free proves you are committed to excellence and that you take pride in your work. Many student writers struggle with common errors, and every writer and her or his own pattern or habit of careless errors. To create a published draft, a careful writer masters the rules of writing and edits to eliminate careless errors.

Reflective questions

Reflective questions also help you discover your purpose for writing by revealing your attitude toward a topic. By using these questions to reflect, identify and add your opinion about a topic to your writing, you can narrow a writing topic that is too general.

Revise

Revising is re-seeing your work through the eyes of your reader. Revising is reworking your draft for clarity, logic, interest,, and credibility.

Draft

The drafting stage of the writing process may include several tasks depending on the writing situation. An essay or letter may require the drafting of an introduction, the main idea, supporting details, and conclusion. A stand-alone paragraph may require only a main idea and supporting details. Drafting is putting your ideas into sentences and paragraph.

Topic Audience purpose

Topic- what you write Audience - who reads your writing Purpose -why you write

The Audience: Who Reads Your Writing

When we take part in a conversation, we know exactly to who, we are speaking, and we adjust our time, word choice, and examples to match the situation. For example, contrast how you talk to a friend with the way you talk to the dean of your college. Audience has the same impact in the writing situation.

The writing process has four stages: prewriting, drafting, revising, and proofreading

Writing develops, records, and communicates your thoughts to othe4 people. Careful writers rely on the writing process to discover, organize, and record information in response to a specific writing situation.

Draft: get ideas down in a preliminary form

During the drafting stage, you create a draft of your writing. This phase may include the following steps: 1. Determine who is your audience. 2. Choose a format (such as an essay or a letter). 3. Create an introduction, body, and conclusion for longer pieces.

Proofread: prepare the piece for publication

During the editing phase of the writing process, you polish your draft so your reader will not be distracted by careless errors. This phase includes correcting errors such as: 1. Fragments. 2. Fused sentences. 3. Shift in tenses. 4. Spelling. 5. Punctuation

Prewrite: plan or reheaese

During the prewriting stage, you create a plan for your piece of writing. This phase of writing is made up of the following steps: 1. Decide on a topic. 2. Determine your purpose for writing. 3. Gather information. 4. General details by using clusters, lists, and freewrites. 5. Organize the details into an outline.

Use the writing process: rewrite, draft, revise, and proofread

The key outcome at the end of the prices is a published piece of writing

The Purpose: why you write informative

When writing informatively, your purpose is to share, explain, or demonstrate information. Example: An informative essay that explains the cycles of grief to your reader; a paragraph that answers an exam question about that major causes of global warming.

The writing situation step by step: Audience

1. Choose a specific topic and purpose for writing 2. List the traits of your audience that are relevant to your topic and purpose: age, gender, education level 3. If you are writing for a general audience of mixed traits, identify the main traits most relevant to your topic and purpose 4. Identify three or four points about the topic of most interest to a specific audience 5. Choose several key words to describe your topic and hook the interest of a specific audience. Use a treasures to find the words best suited for your audience.

Pre writing

1. Prewriting includes reading, listening, discussing, and thinking about your topic before you wrote a rough draft that captures your prewriting thoughts on paper. It allows you to explore ideas and plan your strengths without worrying about polishing them. 2. Prewriting is the act of generating, exploring developing, and roughly organizing ideas, preach hell you choose a topic, narrow a topic, and put details related to a topic in logical order.

The writing process step by step: Revising

1. Read your draft out loud (either on your own or to a peer). This is an easy way to identify parts of your draft that may be unclear or awkward. 2. Make sure your main idea is stated clearly in a topic sentence or thesis statement. 3. Make sure the details in the body of your paragraph or essay fully support your topic sentence or thesis statement. 4. Make sure every sentence in a paragraph relates to your main idea so that a reader can easily follow the logic of your ideas. 5. More information as needed into the most logical order. 6. Add transitions as needed to clarify the relationship between ideas. 7. Add details and examples as needed to strengthen or clarify the main idea and supporting points. 8. Replace have words and details with vivid and precise expressions. 9. Delete irrelevant details. 10. If your paragraph or essay draft seems to end abruptly, add a concluding sentence ( or paragraph, if you are writing an essay), restating and summing up your main points.

The writing process step by step: prewriting by freewriting

1. Set a time limit, such as ten minutes, and write whatever comes to mind as fast as you can, without stopping at all. 2. If you get stuck, write the same word or phrase until a new idea comes along. Do not stop writing. Do nig worry about wording, organization, or grammar. Later in the writing process, you will organize and polish your ideas-tell that critic inside your head to pipe down for now. 3. When the time limit is up, read what you wrote and underline interesting ideas. 4. Use one of the ideas you underlined as a starting point for a focused rewrite. In a focused rewrite you write without stopping about a specific topic you have chosen or been assigned.

The writing processes step by step: rewriting by asking questions

1. Use the reporter's questions to identify a topic, purpose, and audience. 1. What? 2. Why? 3. Who? 2. Use the reporter's question to generate details about the topic. 1. When? 2. where? 3. How? 3. Use reflective questions to identify attitudes and generate additional details about the topic. 1. What are my attitudes or feelings about the topic? 2. Why is this topic important? 3. How will my audience respond to my point? 4. How can I make this topic interesting and relevant to my audience?

The writing process step by step: prewriting by listing

1. Write a topic at the top of your page. 2. List ideas as quickly as possible in the order that they occur to you, using words or short phrases. 3. List ideas as quickly as possible in the order that they occur to you, using words or short phrases. 4. If you run out of ideas, choose one idea you have already recorded and begin a new list about that idea. 5. Review your list and group into logical relationship. 6. Label each group of ideas as possible points of development for a piece of writing.

The writing situation step by step: Topic

1. Write down the major topics of importance in a specific course (such as biology, psychology, history). 2. Find interesting or important current events. 3. Topics most often covered in magazines and newspapers. 4. Controversial topics from television (such as news and talk shows). 5. Topics about which you want to learn more. 6. Topics about which you feel deeply. 7. Hobbies and personal interests. 8. Share your lists with your classmates; discussion to generate more ideas. 9. Review and expand your list on a regular basis.

Revise: take another look at your work

During the revision phase, you fine tune the ideas in your essay. After you have written a draft, allow some to, e to pass so that you can examine your writing with fresh eyes. This phase includes the following steps: 1. Delete details that are not relevant. 2. Add details to ideas that need more support. 3. Reporter ideas for clarity. 4. Insert transitions between details for a smooth flow of ideas. 5. Replace have or weak words with vivid, strong words. 6. Write a new draft if necessary.

Compose a Main Idea

The main idea statement for an essay is called a thesis statement. The main idea statement for a paragraph is called a topic sentence. Drafting an effective main idea statement requires several steps. In general, the main idea sentence presents a topic and the point you are making about the topic.mas I'm the following example: (Guitars)-The topic is ( versatile instruments that range in type of sounds such as acoustic, classical, and electric). -writer's point The writer's point focuses the general topic "Guitars" into a narrow topic for a narrow topic for a discussion about three types of guitars. This main idea statement gives an overview of the paragraph or essay. The writer narrowed the topic "guitars" by stating the opinion " versatile" and by identifying three "types of sounds such as acoustic, classical, and electric."

Expressive

When writing expressively, your purpose is to share with the reader your personal opino, feelings, or reaction to a topic. Example, an expressive piece that convey a an emotion or insight about a particular topic in the form of a poem, short story, or personal essay.

Persuasive

When writing oersuasively, your purpose is to change your reader's opinion or call your reader to take action. Example: An argumentative essay that defends graffiti as an art form; a letter to the editor that argues for a midnight curfew for teenagers.

Reflective

When writing respectively, your purpose is to record your understanding of what you have experienced or learned. Example: An informational essay that explores what you think is significant about a current event; a journal entry that discusses the strengths of a paper written by you or a paper.