The Writing Process
Chapter 2, Langan, College Writing Skills
The Writing Process
Writing is a process that involves the following:
Developing a thesis –often through prewriting
Developing solid support—often through prewriting
Organizing the thesis and support material in a 1st draft.
Revising and editing.
Prewriting
Prewriting helps in overcoming “writer’s block”.
It is used to generate more ideas before and during the
process of writing.
Do it for about 10 minutes before you actually start
writing
Clustering
Also known as diagramming and mapping.
Helpful for people who think visually.
Uses circles or squares and lines.
Clustering Example
Tigers
Pandas
Forest Park
Zoo
Monkeys
Ocean
Dalian
Fishing
Parks
Xinghai Park
Rides
Not good for
swimming
Scratch Outline
An excellent way to organize your thoughts after using
any of the other prewriting techniques.
Your scratch outline is your plan.
Does not need to be too long, simply a few words will
do.
Scratch Outline Example
Thesis: Forest Park Zoo is a must see destination when
visiting Dalian
Home to several Pandas.
Tiger Park
Many Monkeys
Writing a First Draft
When writing a first draft, put additional thoughts and
details that did not come out during prewriting
If you have difficulties, leave a blank space and come
back to it later.
Make your goal to write a clear thesis and specific
supporting details.
Revising
Revising is an important part of the writing process.
“Writing is rewriting.”
We will discuss more about revising as we revise.
Self editing & Peer editing
Self editing is editing on your own essay, done by
yourself.
Peer editing is done by your peers (classmates). They
will help you find errors you didn’t not necessarily see
the first time.