The Writing Process

There are steps or stages to most processes.
These may or may not need to be done in a particular order.
Some people may begin the writing process with a “practice” draft.
Some people may begin by not writing at all--by thinking...
Prewriting is sometimes the first stage.

1. Prewriting: Gathering ideas: brainstorming, freewriting, clustering, listing,                         
                questions/answers, problems/solutions, branching, thinking, talking,                 
                reading, doing research, and research is also a process with many stages                 
                that could loop back around over/on each other....
                This list is as endless as you want to make it, including any activity that                 
                relaxes or stimulates your mind--such as: walking, visiting museums,                 
                listening to music, watching t.v.--the news, political debates, discovery or                 
                nature shows, or any type of informational or educational programing, etc.
                thoughtful, thought provoking stuff...

2. Planning: Organization starts here: making an outline, creating a “working” thesis:                 
                a rough sketch of the main idea the work will be centered around...usually                 
                one or two sentences long (an essay map for the reader--a key of what to                 
                expect). Research may be done here.

3. Drafting: This is the part of the process where you JUST WRITE and don’t worry
                about anything exept getting your ideas down on paper. “Rough” it out.

4. Revising: Revision means “Re-See.” This is the best part of the stage to try to see                 
                your work with new “eyes.” In fact, if you can get someone else to                         
                “re-visit” your work with you this is the time to do it. Workshop the                 
                paper if you can. Think of large scale changes in terms of overall content.
                What might need added? Why? What might need cut? Why? Research                 
                could be done to fill any gaps in the paper at this point.

5. Editing: Proofreading the work making small scale changes--sentence structures,                 
                grammar/mechanics, spelling, correcting typos, etc.

Notes: