Will Cunningham

Unit One Paper: Writing Process

ENC 1101 OM22

My writing process begins with entering a setting that will have minimal major

distractions that might make me lose my though process on the topic I am writing about. In

general, background noise or things moving in my peripheral vision will not distract me too

much. However, things that take my attention away from writing, like talking to someone, or

worrying about a deadline for something, will distract me, and I try to put myself in a situation to

avoid these distractions before I start writing. In general, I try not to have my phone around me

while I am writing, and try to complete smaller assignments before I start working on a big

assignment that will take my full attention, like an essay.

Then I will start the planning process of either thinking about or researching the possible

topics that I could write about. During this process I look at which topics I have the most

information about, and which topics I feel the strongest about. If I believe that I have found a

topic that might work, I will make an outline for that topic and plan out my writing by the

paragraph to make sure that the writing is well structured. Depending on the purpose or type of

writing I am doing, I will normally have each paragraph’s talking point listed with its supporting

arguments or commentary. The outline is very useful for seeing the overview of the writing.

Sometimes, when I write, I become too ingrained in the nuances of each supporting point, and

this can derail the main message of the writing and lead to the reader being confused or missing

the point of the main message.

 After I am finished writing the outline and have approved of the topic and the way it is

structured in the outline, I will start by writing the introduction paragraph. In the introductory

paragraph I will introduce the points I will bring up in my body paragraphs and how they relate

to the main message of the writing.

Then I will start to write the body paragraphs by writing all of my commentary and the

information I have pertaining to the topics I organized in my outline. Initially, I will write down

everything that comes to mind and only organize the information in later revisions. I find that

through this process I am able to not lose track of what I am thinking as often and sometimes

even contemplate even deeper about topics which could cause me to restructure or alter my

writing in some way.

Lastly, when I am writing my conclusion, I will restate the main points of my writing

again to make sure that the reader understood the main message and supporting points of the

writing. I typically use this writing process for writing essays and informational pieces.

My writing technique can vary considerably depending on the purpose of my writing. For

example, when I am writing a grocery list, I would not write an outline and try to express the

reasons as to why I put each item on the list to the reader. I would try to make the list as concise

as possible while being as specific as needed to not confuse or waste the time of the reader. The

purpose of the grocery list is to convey what groceries you need to whoever is reading the list,

not to explain every purchase in detail to change the readers perception on a topic.

In my writing method there are some things that are universal and that I find help no

matter what I am writing about, like having minimal distractions or thinking a lot about a topic
before writing about it. However, overall, I believe that keeping the purpose of the writing in

mind is the most important detail to the writing process.