Week 11 (October 25-29, 2021)

CONCERNS AND STRATEGIES IN

PRE-WRITING, DRAFTING,
REVISING, EDITING,
PROOFREADING, AND
PUBLISHING
This chapter will introduce to you the concerns and strategies in Pre-writing, Drafting,
Revising, Editing, Proofreading, and Publishing.

Pre- Competency Checklist

At the end of this chapter, the student is expected to:
recognize important concepts in teaching the macro skills in English.

Learning Resources
The content of this chapter was taken from various resources and the student is advised to visit
these references for further reading:
The Writing Process- Drafting and Editing - Calvert Education. (2020). Retrieved 14 October
2020, from https://www.calverteducation.com/learning-motivation/the-writing-process-
drafting-and-editing
Aaron, Jane E. The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises. 7th ed. New York:
Longman, 2010.
Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. A Writer's Reference. 7th ed. Boston: Beford/St.
Martin's, 2011.
Pilgrim Library: The Writing Process: Revising & Editing. (2020). Retrieved 14 October
2020, from https://library.defiance.edu/writingprocess/revisingetc
Figure 4.1 “The Writing Proces,” Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College,
CC-0, .
 Explore

PREWRITING

Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft of your document. It includes thinking,
taking notes, talking to others, brainstorming, outlining, and gathering information. Although
prewriting is the first activity you engage in, generating ideas is an activity that occurs
throughout the writing process. During prewriting a writer will choose a manageable topic,
identify a purpose and audience, draft a sentence that expresses the main idea of piece, gather
information about the topic, and begin to organize the information. Examples of prewriting
include brainstorming, freewriting, and questioning. Many people find it helpful to use a shape
planner or graphic organizer to organize their thoughts during the prewriting process.

DRAFTING

The second step of the writing process involves drafting. During drafting, the writer puts his
ideas into complete thoughts, such as sentences and paragraphs. The writer organizes his ideas
in a way that allows the reader to understand his message. He does this by focusing on which
ideas or topics to include in the piece of writing. During drafting, the writer will compose an
introduction to the piece and develop a conclusion for the material. At the end of this step of
the writing process, the author will have completed a “rough draft.”

DRAFTING—THE PROCESS

The process of drafting a piece of writing begins with an analysis of the prewriting. The author
must use his prewriting notes to determine a focus for the piece. This may involve narrowing
the focus of the topic and perhaps identifying a purpose for the piece.

For example, an author may decide to write an essay about dogs. He could have developed his
prewriting notes with information about three topics relating to dogs: Show dogs, working
dogs, and dog racing. These are all topics that could stand alone in an essay. During drafting,
the author should choose just one of these topics for his piece of writing.

Once he has chosen a topic, he should identify a purpose for the essay. For instance, if the
writing was meant to be informational, he might choose to write about working dogs, his
purpose being to impart information. On the other hand, if he chose to write a persuasive
essay, perhaps he would choose to write about dog racing, arguing for or against this
controversial topic. After determining a purpose for a piece of writing, it is easy to begin
drafting. Any information that is unrelated to the topic and its purpose should be eliminated
from the prewriting.

The author begins writing by composing an introduction to the piece. The purpose of the
introduction is not only to state the topic of the piece, but it should also draw the reader in to
the piece of writing. For young children, the introduction may be one sentence stating the
topic. More sophisticated writers will create an introductory paragraph that identifies the topic,
sets the purpose for the writing, and suggests how the topic will be developed throughout the
piece. The introduction to a piece of writing should be interesting. The tone of the introduction
will vary according to the topic. If an author is writing a personal narrative, he might decide
to begin with a creative quote about his experience. When writing an informational essay, the
tone of the introduction must follow suit. It should be focused and informative.

A solid, interesting introduction sets the stage for the rest of the rough draft. An author should
begin drafting the piece by organizing his notes in a sequence that will make sense to the
reader. The focus should be on logical connections between topics. A young writer will
compose the body of a piece of writing by including detail sentences related to the topic
sentence. An older author should organize his writing in to paragraphs. Each paragraph should
include its own topic sentence. Smooth transitions between paragraphs are important in
creating a cohesive piece of writing, no matter the subject. A writer should refer back to his
prewriting to keep him on track and ensure that the piece of writing maintains its focus.

A writer should complete a rough draft by composing a conclusion. The purpose of a

conclusion is to wrap up the piece of writing by connecting all of the related thoughts and
ideas. The best conclusions are creative, engaging, and leave few questions unanswered in the
mind of the reader. Younger students can conclude a piece of writing with a simple sentence.
Advanced writers should include a conclusion paragraph.

EDITING

Upon completion of a rough draft, the writer should take on the first edit of his work. Editing
is an on-going process, not a one time event. When an author edits his work, he is checking
the piece for errors. These are typically errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and
formatting (indenting of paragraphs, etc.). A writer should be encouraged to edit as much of
his own paper as possible. Early writers should, with some prompting, be able to check a paper
for correct capitalization and punctuation. As a child ages, he will be able to correct other
errors on his own. Some students find it beneficial to read their work out loud while editing.
This makes it easier to find mistakes. Editing should not be a negative process. This is a time
to work on creating a polished piece of writing that will make the author proud. The author
should be reminded that he will need to edit his work at least two more times. He will edit
before composing a final copy and then use the same process to check over his final product.

Use this checklist for global revision to assist you in getting started:
Purpose and audience
 Does the draft address a question, a problem, or an issue that readers care about?
 Is the draft appropriate for its audience? Does it account for the audience’s knowledge
of and possible attitudes toward the subject?
Focus
 Is the thesis clear? Is it prominently placed?
 Are any ideas obviously off the point?
Organization and paragraphing
 Are there enough organizational cues for readers (such as topic sentences)?
 Are ideas presented in a logical order?
 Are any paragraphs too long or too short for easy reading?
Content
 Is the supporting material relevant and persuasive?
 Which ideas need further development?
 Are the parts proportioned sensibly? Do major ideas receive enough attention?
 Where might material be deleted?
Point of view
 Is the dominant point of view – first person (I or we), second person (you), or third
person(he, she, it, one, or they) – appropriate for your purpose and audience?

Once you feel you have a solid draft after multiple revisions, you then move on to the editing
and proofreading stage. Smaller-scale matters like sentence structure, word choice, grammar,
punctuation, spelling and mechanics are examined at the editing and proofreading stages.
Some strategies to keep in mind at this stage are:
 Take a break. Even fifteen minutes can clear your head.
 Read the draft slowly, and read what you actually see. Otherwise you are likely to read
what you intended to write but did not.
 Read as if you are encountering the draft for the first time. Put yourself in the reader’s
place.
 Have a classmate, friend, or relative read your work. Make sure you understand and
consider the reader’s suggestions, even if you decide not to take them.
 Read the draft aloud and listen for awkward rhythms, repetitive sentence patterns, and
missing or clumsy transitions.
 Learn from your own experiences. Keep a record of the problems that others have
pointed out in your previous writing. When editing, check for the same types of errors.
Use this checklist for editing and proofreading to assist you as you move toward the final stage
of publishing:
 Are my sentences clear? Do my words and sentences mean what I intend them to mean?
Is anything confusing?
 Are my sentences effective? How well do words and sentences engage and hold the
reader’s attention? Where does the writing seem wordy, choppy, or dull?
 Do my sentences contain errors? Where do surface errors interfere with the clarity and
effectiveness of my sentences? Check especially for: sentence fragments, comma splices, verb
errors, and pronoun errors.
 How is my word choice? Have I used appropriate and exact language? Do I overly
repeat words that should be changed for variety?
 Have I used effective transitions both between sentences and between paragraphs?
 Is my spelling accurate and punctuation correct?

KEY TAKEAWAYS
 All writers rely on steps and strategies to begin the writing process.
 The steps in the writing process are prewriting, outlining, writing a rough draft,
revising, and editing.
 Prewriting is the transfer of ideas from abstract thoughts into words, phrases, and
sentences on paper.
 A good topic interests the writer, appeals to the audience, and fits the purpose of the
assignment.
 Writers often choose a general topic first and then narrow the focus to a more specific
topic.

Discussion Board
Why do you think there are several stages in writing?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________