FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING
Class 4
March 13, 2015
Today
The writing process (continued)
The Writing Process
• Obviously, you should not simply start writing a paper as
soon as you have a topic.
• “Good” writing is not accomplished in one step, either.
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• Writing is a continuous process.
The Writing Process
• The first thing to consider for any piece of writing
(academic, business-related, creative…) is, the audience.
• Audience Analysis:
- Who is going to read this?
- How much do they know about the topic?
- What do they need to know through this writing?
- What is the reader’s purpose for reading this?
The Writing Process
Four Steps:
1. Pre-writing
a. Choosing & narrowing a topic
b. Generating ideas
2. Planning (outlining)
a. Organize your ideas
b. Create a topic sentence (or thesis statement)
c. Make an outline
3. Writing
4. Polishing
a. Revising
b. Editing
Listing
Clustering
1. Pre-Writing
b. Generating ideas
- No method is better than the others.
- It’s a matter of personal taste (and time).
2. Planning
a. Organize your ideas.
- Take your pre-writing notes and organize them into
categories
Listing
2. Planning
b. Topic Sentence.
- Using your organized ideas, make a topic sentence (or
thesis statement).
2. Planning
c. Make an outline.
2. Planning
c. Make an outline.
T.S.
Explanation
Evidence
Explanation
Concl.
3. Writing
• JUST WRITE.
• The first draft is sometimes called the “sloppy copy”.
• Do not worry about grammar, word choice, spelling
mistakes, or anything else.
• Just turn your outline into paragraph form.
Outline
T.S.
Supporting
point
Supporting
point
Concl.
Supporting details
Journal Assignment
In your journal, write your outline and rough draft of your
paragraph from today’s class.
At the top of the page write: Entry 1
- Deadline: Monday 1:30 p.m.
- Drop your journal in the box outside my office.
DOUBLE-SPACE YOUR WRITING