SATAEE AND SHARE ( Stimulating Ideas Begin writing by gathering ideas. Read your assignment carefully, and make sure you understand the task, Then think about what you already know about the topic. D> Strategies: Highlight important parts of your assignment. Talk to classmates, about your ideas, and write about them in your journal. Circle the ideas that, are the most interesting to you. Then choose one to write about. rainstorming and Outlining ‘Make a plan that has a clear focus and a logical sequence. To write in a way that the reader will understand, organize your ideas into an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. D> Strategies: Create a list, diagram, chart, or web. Use it to decide how you will organize your essay. Think about your audience and purpose as you organize. Also make a list of vocabulary words that you think you will use. Check your assignment again to be sure your plan matches the assignment. Finally, make an outline that will guide your drafting process, Step 3: Developing Your Ideas Write a first draft that explains your ideas. Try to follow the outline, and explain the {ideas as clearly as you can. You may change your ideas as you write to better support your thesis and to add details, D> Strategies: Review your assignment before you write your first draft. Double space so that you have room to make changes later. When you finish, reread your work. Add connectors to make your ideas flow more effectively, remove anything that does not support your thesis, and add details that will make your writing clearer. Have a peer read your paper and give you feedback. Step 4: Editing Your Writing Your second draft and sometimes third draft give you opportunities to clarify your ‘meaning and check grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation, The final draft should be easy to read and should have no mistakes. D> Strategies: Use a checklist to look for mistakes in subject-verb agreement, verb tense, singular/plural forms, word forms, word order, and punctuation, Also check a dictionary for any vocabulary or spelling questions you have. ‘Then write a final draft. Make sure this final draft has one-inch margins, is double spaced, has a title, and lists your name, date, and class on the top of the first page. 160 Appendix he Writing ProcessZFEmMACH AnD T4N RAV ws kK a ‘The six steps of the writing process a 2 Read about the writing process. These are the steps you will practice in this book. Process writing When we write, we do more than just put words together to meke sentences. Good writers g0 through several steps to produce a plece of writing, Pre-writing STEP ONE: Choose a topic. Before you writs, your teacher gives you a specific assignment or some ideas of what to write about. If not, choose your topic yourself, STEP TWO: Gather ideas. When you have a topic, think about what you will write about that topic. STEP THREE: Organize, Decide which of the ideas you want to use and where you ‘want to use them. Choose which idea to talk about first, which to talk about noxt, and which to talk about last. Drafting STEP FOUR: Write, Write your paragraph or essay from start to finish, Use your notes about your ideas and organization. J Reviewing and revising STEP FIVE: Review structure and content. Check what you have written, Read your ‘writing silently to yourself or aloud, perhaps to a friend. Look for places where you can add more information, and check to see if you have any unnecessary information. Ask a classmate to exchange papers with you, Your classmate reads your paper, and you read his or hers. Getting a reader's opinion is a good way to know if your writing 4s clear and effective. Learning to give opinions about other people's writing helps you to improve your own. You may want to go on to step six now and revise the structure and content of your paper before you proofread it. Rewriting STEP SIX: Revise structure and content. Use your ideas from step five to re-write your text, making improvements to the structure and content, You might need to explain something moro clearly, or add more details. You may even need to change your organization so that your paper is more logical. Together, steps five and six can be called editing. Proofread. Read your paper again. This time, check your spelling and grammar and think about the words you have chosen to use. Make final corrections. Check that you have corrected the errors you discovered in steps five and six and make any other changes you want to make. Now your text is finished! Steps five and six can be repeated many times, INTRODUCTION: PROCESS WRITING 3 2S