The Writing Process

Writing Process

A series of steps that go into writing a successful essay or other writing project

Essay

A short piece of writing on a particular subject

Prewriting

A stage in the writing process during which the writer brainstorms on the topic & generates ideas prior to composing a first draft Games include listing, clustering, & free-writing

Clustering

Creating a map connecting your ideas & support

Outline

Crucial element of prewriting stage Drawing sketch of essay where you plot out images you're going to draw on Main idea (as thesis statement), & section summaries of body paragraphs of essay

When you edit, you're looking for

How well each piece of language is working How clear your ideas are How precise your language is How effective your choice of words is How much variety you have in sentence length & structure Whether your sentences are all complete

Plagiarism

Presenting someone else's ideas or writing as your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally To avoid this, carefully & consistently give credit where credit is due

Stages of the Writing Process

Prewriting Drafting Revising Editing Proofreading

Drafting

The act of composing a piece of writing

Proofreading

The process of fixing errors in grammar, mechanics, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, commonly confused words, & formatting in an essay or other piece of writing

Editing

The process of improving the sentences, word choices, & overall style of essay or other piece of writing

Revision

The process of re-envisioning an essay or other writing project You're re-seeing your ideas, what kind of evidence & support you use, & overall organization of your text Involves starting at thesis statement & then looking at each individual paragraph's examples to assess their connection to main idea

Listing

Writing down any ideas as they come

Free-writing

Writing down fully-formed thoughts about the topic