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Thomas Huckaby

English 101.002

Ms. Angela Kennedy

November 29, 2010

Writing Process

Many people feel the writing process is an extremely difficult process. It can be very

tedious at times if you have no clue where to start. The writing process is basically all the steps

you take leading up to your final draft. Not everyone’s writing process is the same being that

some people have the ability to just write their ideas without brainstorming and others have to

take particular steps to produce a final draft. Although there are many different ways people

write, there are very few ways to process. Whenever I write I try to follow the procedures that

I’ve been taught by my previous teachers; Brainstorming, rough draft, peer review, personal

revision, and a final copy. Yes it may be an extensive method, but it ensures a well written

product.

Before I begin to write I usually brainstorm to get an idea of what I’m going to write

about. Brainstorming is a popular aid that helps you generate creative ideas and solutions to what

you’re writing about. Brainstorming gets your mind flowing. It gets your mind ready for the

topic at hand. It’s also useful when you’re trying to break out of stale patterns of thinking, so that
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you can develop new ways of looking at things. This technique also allows you to get your

thoughts down on paper so that you can use them later on when you’re working on your final

draft. Now while you brainstorm there should be no analysis of any ideas. You’re trying to

widen the range of ideas that you can incorporate into your writing. Ideas should only be

criticized at the end of the brainstorming.

The next step in my writing process is creating a rough draft. A rough draft is the first

version of a piece of writing. Creating rough drafts are a very

common this allows you to get an outline of your prompt. I

used to dread creating rough drafts because I felt that they were

pointless and I always thought that I was a good great writer

who could skip straight to the final draft; once I realized how

much a rough draft helped I reevaluated my feelings toward

this tool. Rough drafts help me get an idea of how I’m going to

write my piece. This step is very beneficial to me because not

only does it give me an outline, but it also allows me to try ideas out in my work. In a rough

draft there’s no right or wrong way, you will add and delete material several times before you're

pleased with your work so whatever you write is up to you. You have to remember that this isn’t

the final draft so there is a lot of room for development.

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After my rough draft is completed, I move

onto peer review. This element is very new to me.

Before college I had no knowledge of peer review,

but now that it’s a requirement in both of my

English classes I’ve realized how useful it can be to

the final product. Peer review is when your

classmates make revisions to your paper. Even

though you might not agree with the ideas of others,

criticism helps you question your previous ideas.

This is of help because many of the mistakes you

make aren’t visible to you. Peer revision allows you to see your work in another point of view.

This mainly helps the flow of my paper. Certain instances I might get off topic and not realize

my paper is beginning to sound redundant.

Subsequent to peer review, I consider the revisions of my classmates and incorporate my

own tweaks. I grab a red pen or a highlighter to bring focus to my major mistakes; not only to

my mistakes, but also the things that I could improve. Little things such as spelling, punctuation,

and sentence fragments can be corrected on the computer but issues with my thesis, lack of

information, and flow of the prompt have to be enhanced by myself. Personal revision is a tool
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used to rethink what you’ve processed before. This helps you broaden your, and others,

judgments and take you paper to a further level.

Now that I’ve taken these steps to correcting my paper, I proceed to the production of

my final draft. This is the most important step

because this is a complete illustration of your

work. Not only does this display your view

but it also determines your grade. The final

copy isn’t supposed to consist of any mistakes,

which is why all of the steps prior to this are

very crucial. You must make sure your paper is

in MLA format, a suitable title, and a proper

header. These guidelines are very simple, but

if you don’t comply you won’t receive the grade you are expecting. All your mistakes and

decisions reflect in your grade. Once these steps are accomplished you now have a complete

final draft. While making your final draft always remember to double check because some

mistakes are easily over looked by yourself, your peers, and the computer.

Although all of these steps seem tedious, they are very essential towards a clean cut
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paper. These steps have never let me down, therefore I plan on continuing the usage of this

process. Things I could do to improve this tactic would be to go to the writing lab and get

opinions from higher scholars. This would benefit me in many ways by not only helping my

paper , but help me to get a better understanding of the mistakes that I made, and to make me a

better overall writer. Another thing I could to enhance my writing skills would be to schedule my

time better. I tend to procrastinate and wait till the last day to start my assignment. This isn’t a

good idea if you want to make a good grade. When you rush on an assignment you’re not as

aware of your mistakes. Rushing not only hurts your paper but it also has a major impact on your

grade. If you want to make a good grade plan ahead and put in your best effort. When you’re

worried about time you hurry and put things down onto paper. You put what first comes to mind,

right or wrong. Other than that I think that I’ll be able to fall back on these steps without any

worries. Even though I might not obtain an “A”, I know that I gave my all. At the end of the day

effort is all you can give, and if it’s not the best at least it’s your best.
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