The

Writing
Process
By: Brittany Council
Stages of the
writing Process
There are several stages of the writing process.
Each stage is essential.

 Prewriting
 Outlining the structure of ideas
 Drafting
 Revising
 Editing
Prewriting
 Choose /narrow your topic
 Determine your audience, purpose, tone,
point-of-view, and tense
 Explore your topic
 Make a plan
Choose a topic
Advice for Topic Selection

 Thetopic should be interesting to you.

 The topic should be researchable.
 The topic should not be too broad.
 Avoid topics that are overworked.
Prewriting
The four strategies below are best
used when initially deciding on a
topic:
 Using experience and observations
 Reading
 Free writing
 Asking questions
Determine
Your Audience
 Your audience is composed of those who
will read your writing.
 Ask yourself: Who are my readers?
What do my readers know
about my topic?
What do my readers need to
know about my topic?
How do my readers feel
about my topic?
Determine
Your Purpose
 Purpose is the reason you are writing.
 Whenever you write, you always have a
purpose. Most writing fits into one of 3
categories: expressive writing, informative
writing, or persuasive writing.
 More than one of these may be used, but
one will be primary.
Determine Tone
 Toneis the mood or attitude you adopt as
you write.

 Seriousor humorous?
 Intimate or detached?
Determine
Point-of-View
 Point-of-view is the perspective from
which you write an essay.
 There are 3 point-of-view: first person (I,
we), second person (you), and third
person (he, she, they)
 One of the most common errors in writing
occurs when the writer shifts point-of-view
unnecessarily.
Determine
Tense
 Tense is the voice you use to designate
the time of the action or state of being.

 Present tense
 Past tense
 Future tense
Explore Your
Topic
Pre-writing Techniques:
 Brainstorm
 Freewriting
 Ideal Mapping
 Questioning
 Searching the Internet
 Discussing
Outlining
 Organize ideas
 Write a thesis statement
 Write an outline
Organizing Ideas
Three common methods of organizing:

 Chronological order - a method of organization

that arranges ideas according to time.
 Spatial order - a method of organization that
arranges ideas according to physical
characteristics or appearance.
 Order of importance - a method of organization
that arranges ideas according to their significance.
Advice for Organizing
 Look at the question you answered when you were
developing you working thesis.
 Look at your prewriting.
 Find the main ideas or categories of your thinking.
 Put less important items under more important
items.
 Make an outline.
 Decide how you will set up you paper.
 How can you organize the paper to achieve your
objective?
Drafting
Strategies for drafting:

 Begin writing with the part you know the most

about.
 Write one paragraph at a time and then stop.
 Take short breaks to refresh your mind.
 Be reasonable with your goals.
 Keep your audience and purpose in mind as you
write.
Basic Elements of
a First Draft
 Introduction
 Thesis statement
 Topic Sentence
 Supporting sentences
 Conclusion
Revising
 Revising is finding & correcting problems with
content; changing the ideas in you writing to make
them clearer, stronger, and more convincing.
 Revising looks at the “Big Picture”.
Revising
Strategies
Look for…

 Unity
 Detail
and support
 Coherence
Unity
 Does everything refer back to the main
point?
 Does each topic sentence refer to the
thesis?
 Does each sentence in the paragraph
refer back to the topic sentence?
Detail and
Support
 Does each paragraph contain at least
two examples?
 Is each example followed by at least one
supporting detail?
Coherence
 Are all points connecting to form a
whole?
 Are transitions used to move from one
idea to the next?
Revision Tips
 Take a break from your draft before
attempting to revise.
 Read your draft out loud and listen to your
words.
 Imagine yourself as your reader.
 Look for consistent problem areas.
 Get feedback from peers.
 Get help from a tutor!
Editing
 Editing is finding and correcting problems
with grammar, style, word choice &
usage, and punctuation.
 Editing focuses on the “Little Picture” –
words.
Editing
Check list for editing
 Are your capital letters correct?
 Have you used your punctuation
correctly?
 Have you avoided run-ons?
 Are you using verbs, pronouns, and
modifiers correctly?
 Have you read your work aloud to listen
for problems?
 Did you check every possible misspelling
in a dictionary?