The Writing Process

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The Pweor of the human mnid
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabriege
Uiertisy, it doesn’t mttaern what order
the ltterrs in a ord are. The only
iprmoetnt thing is that the first and last
ltterr be in the rghit pclae. The rset can
be atotal msess and you cn still raed it
wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the
human mind doesnot reaed every ltter by
itself, but the word as a whlohe.
Amzanig huh?
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 The Writing Process

• Basically, good writing is the the

end result of a writing process, a
series of steps the writer has taken
which consist of the following:
1. Prewriting
2. Writing
3. Rewriting

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 Prewriting
• Prewriting helps you to:
– Think about possible subjects
– Jot down ideas on paper or computer
– Narrow the subject
– Decide which ideas to include or delete
– Arrange your ideas in a plan or outline

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 Writing and Rewriting
• Writing
– Helps you to write a first draft of your
work
• Rewriting
– Helps you to think, rearrange and revise
your first draft
– Helps you to write one or more new drafts
– Helps you to proofread for grammar and
spelling errors

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 The Writing Process
Before you write, always be clear
about the following:
• Subject – depends on your audience and
exactly what you are trying to convey
• Audience – are your readers
• Purpose – can be to explain something to
your readers, convince them that a
certain point of view is correct, entertain
them or just to tell a good old story

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 Prewriting Techniques to
Generate Your Ideas
• Freewriting – writing for five or ten
minutes about anything that comes into
your head

• Focused freewriting-freewriting for five

or ten minutes about a specific topic

• Brainstorming – freely jotting down many

ideas about a topic

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 Prewriting Techniques to
Generate Your Ideas (continues)
• Clustering – making word associations on paper

• Keeping a Journal – writing regularly about anything

that interest you

• Tree Outline – making word associations based upon a

particular topic

• Outline- summarizing the order and logic of your ideas

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Defining the Paragraph
and the Topic Sentence
• A paragraph – is a group of related sentences
that develop one main idea to which all the
sentences relate
• A paragraph has no definite length but it is often
between four to twelve sentences long
• A paragraph usually appears with other
paragraphs in a longer piece of writing – an essay,
letter, memo, report, article, for example

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 Topic Sentence and
Body
• The topic sentence states the main idea of the
paragraph
• The body of the paragraph supports this main
idea with specific details, facts, and examples
• The final sentence provides a brief conclusion
so that the paragraph is complete

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 Narrowing The Topic

• Narrow a broad topic into a specific

one by simply cutting the topic down
to size and choosing one aspect that
interest you and your audience

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 Writing the Topic
Sentence
• The topic sentence states your narrowed topic
clearly in sentence form
• The topic sentence is limited (simple and to the
point) and complete (it should have a subject
and a verb)
– The topic sentence should be specific and well-
defined because it establishes the focus of your
paragraph and helps to grab your reader’s attention

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 Use the Prewriting
Techniques to…
• Generate ideas for the body of the
paragraph
• Select and drop ideas
• Arrange ideas in a plan or an outline
• Write and revise the paragraph

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 Arranging Ideas in a Plan
or an Outline
• Choose an order in which to arrange your
ideas
– First group together ideas that have
something in common and that are related or
alike in some way
– Then decide which ideas should come first,
second, and so on (use transitional words)

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 Writing and Revising
the Paragraph
• The very first draft should contain
all the ideas you have decided to use
in a logical order
• Next, revise – that is, rewrite what
you have written in order to improve
it

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 Revising……
As you revise, keep your audience in mind
and ask yourself the following questions:
Is my topic sentence clear?
Can the reader easily follow my ideas?
Is the order of ideas logical?
Will this memo or report keep the reader
interested?

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Revise for Support and Unity

• Make sure your memo/report contains

excellent support – that is, specific
details, facts, and examples that fully
explain your subject and topic sentence
• Revise for unity – that is, to drop any
ideas or sentences that do not relate to
the subject or topic sentence

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 Peer Feedback for
Revising
• Four eyes are better than two
• Show your work to a trusted and
respected friend or classmate for
constructive feedback to improve the
development of your ideas
• Do not rely on the computer for
revising your ideas

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 Proofreading
• Do not rely on the computer to
proofread your work
• You must carefully proofread your
own work for grammatical and
spelling errors
• Use spell check
• Wait a day before sending your
document

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 Final Thoughts on
Revising and Proofreading
• Read your document out loud
• Double check names, numbers, and
details
• Reread your paper as if you were
reading someone else’s work,
marking it up as you answer the
following questions:

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 Final Thoughts
Revising and Proofreading
(continues)

 Are my main ideas clear?

 Have I supported my topic sentence in a rich and
convincing way?
 Does each paragraph in the body clearly explain
the main idea?
 Does my report/memo, etc., have a logical order
and good transitions?
 Is there anything that I should delete or add?
 What one change would improve my work?

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LET’S REVIEW!!!

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 Checklist for Writing
Effectively
Narrow the topic: cut the topic down to one
aspect that interests you and your readers
Write the topic sentence
Brainstorm, freewrite, or cluster ideas for
the body: Write down anything and
everything that might relate to your topic
Select and drop ideas that relate to your
topic

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 Checklist for Writing
Effectively (continues)

 Group together ideas that have something in

common; then arrange the ideas in a plan
 Write your first draft (not the paper)
 Read what you have written, making any
necessary corrections and additions
 Revise for support and unity
 Write the final draft
 Proofread for grammar, punctuation, spelling and
omitted words

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