Writing Process: Notes

All good writing is rewriting.

The process of writing is not linear, but recursive: just as writers dont write a
perfect draft the first time they put fingers to keyboard, they dont follow the
steps
prewriting,
drafting,
revising,
editing,
proofreading
in some rigid fashion, each clearly separated from the others. Rather, they
begin with an idea, think about it in various ways (initial prewriting), start
drafting it out, then find that they need a clearer controlling idea or a more
logical structure or more relevant or sufficient information (or that they need
to rid the work of rabbit trails) and so they revise, repeating the process as
many times as necessary until they are satisfied with their work. Despite this
recursiveness, it is still helpful to name and understand the particular stages
which need to be engaged in to create a satisfactory product.
Prewriting is simply whatever thinking a writer does about the topic before
beginning to create a draft. This will vary a great deal, depending upon the
topic and form of the work and upon the personality and preferences of the
writer. Typical prewriting work includes understanding the context of the
essay (who the audience is and the purpose for writing about the topic),
researching the topic and taking notes, brainstorming about ideas in various
ways, creating an outline, free-writing and journaling, talking about the topic
with others. These kinds of strategies serve to refine the writers thinking
and lead to a tentative controlling idea (thesis) and the information needed
to support that idea.
At some point this prewriting will become drafting: the creation of a rough
draft of your ideas with an introduction, body, and conclusion. Some writers
call this a zero draft: they contend that this initial draft is generally so
rough that it doesnt deserve a number yet. Now, they say, the real work
begins as they turn this set of words into a real draft that begins to
communicate their message clearly.

We distinguish revision from editing and proofreading because too often

writers tend to think that revision merely means using spell-check and
correcting punctuation errors. Revision, however, means re-seeing the work,
looking at global concerns such as the controlling idea, the information, and
the structure to discern if the essay clearly conveys the intended message. Is
the controlling idea clear and has it been followed throughout the essay? Is
all the information necessary for the reader contained in the work, and is the
information there all relevant to the controlling idea? Can the information be
organized in a clearer and more helpful way for the reader? Does the
introduction draw the reader in, and are its promises carried out in the body
of the essay? Does the conclusion leave the reader understanding the
significance of the information given in the body?
These three stages prewriting, drafting, and revising will necessarily
overlap. It is especially important, however, not to skip the re-visioning stage
after getting a rough draft down. All good writing is rewriting, the
professionals remind us again and again. If professional writers need to
revise their work, how much more the rest of us?
Editing is the process of making sentences clear and concise. Of course, a
writer does some of this while revising, but we recommend not getting too
caught up in this stage before being sure the message is clear and fully
supported. Why spend a great deal of time making a sentence sound
beautiful if it is going to be thrown out later? Once the content of the draft is
satisfactory, then begin to focus on the clarity of each individual sentence.
Read aloud, slowly, exactly what is on the page, and listen for awkwardsounding phrases, redundancies, imprecise vocabulary, misplaced emphasis.
Are transitions clear and helpful? Does every word do necessary work?
The final stage of writing is proofreading, checking each word, phrase, and
sentence for correctness: spelling, punctuation, apostrophes, and so on.
Again, reading aloud will help with this. Especially pay attention to wrong
words real words that spell check wont catch but are not correct for the
context (defiantly instead of definitely, for example). Its best to leave
this stage as much as possible to the last, as it is counter-productive to worry
too much about comma placement, say, while still drafting or revising, as
sentences are still being changed. Focusing on this stage early in the process
can interfere with a writers train of thought and/or give a false sense of
completion when the content is not yet satisfactory.