The Writing Process

The first thing that most students probably do after being given a
writing assignment is panic or claim that they have the so-called
‘pressure’. This is a misguided normal common feeling that can be
done away with when one becomes familiar with the Writing Process.
The Writing Process is a useful rational procedure in the
development of a Writing. It involves a writer breaking down the
writing assignment into several steps to avoid making mistakes.
However, this procedure can be customized to fit a writer’s liking
(what works for the writer) that’s why even before knowing about the
writing process. We have been able to come up with various texts for
the reason that we have been using a scrappy, innate version of the
writing process unknowingly.
The basic steps of The Writing Process
Step 1. Time Allocation: Just after you receive the task, know when
the task is due, then devote as much good time as you can to make
sure you get done writing before the due date.

Step 2. Analyse the task: the element of the task determines

everything that one has to do to satisfy it.
a. Firstly, know what genre the task is, as this determines the
structure of your submission. Is it an essay, article, thesis,
report, research, book or dissertation?
b. Secondly, you need to know who the audience is to know what
language convention you should use.
c. Lastly, you have to break the task down to know what the
Instruction word, Topic, Aspect of the topic and what the
Restriction is.
For example, Lecturer: Good morning, students, check your E-
learning platform. I have posted an essay assignment, and the
question is ‘Discuss the pros and cons of the media in
governance?’
 Your analysis of the task should be something like this:
The genre Essay
The audience Lecturer
Instruction word Discuss
Topic The Media
The aspect of the topic The pros and cons
Restriction Governance

Step 3. Brainstorming: it is simply the generating of ideas.

Brainstorming brings out what you already know about the topic, and
it's important to note down this information as it becomes simple to
know what you should research (research more on what you do not
know).

Step 4. Research and Read: research on both what you already know
and what you do not know to be on the safe side in terms of finding
support. And also, it is important to highlight the fact that our writing
is heavily influenced by what we read, thus reading is a prerequisite
for a writer.

Step 5. Plan the outline: an outline is a skeleton form of your writing.

Where its bones are your main idea (thesis statement), key ideas
(topic ideas), and supporting ideas all put together in sequence and
numbered single sentences.

Step 6. Write a draft: a draft can easily follow the outline. It should
be coherent and logical to convey a smooth-flowing argument.

Step 7. Improve the draft: keep rewriting your draft until you come
up with a well-constructed one.
Step 8. Proofread: it’s better to read your text or give someone to
read it to identify the grammatical, spelling, referencing or
punctuation errors.

Step 9. Complete your final draft then submit it on time.

Adapter from: Academic Skills, The University of Melbourne (2017)

The Research to Writing Process. Available at:
https://youtu.be/ewAkojTzutY (Accessed: 24 Nov. 2021).