The Writing Process
And, it is a process!
Procrastinators beware!
• If you like to write at the last minute, and if
your idea of the “last minute” is the night
before a paper is due, you’re going to have to
change your ways!
• Fact: It takes the average writer 1-2 years to write a
novel!
Good News!
• But here’s the good news. Whether
you’re writing a two-page paper or a
book, the overall approach can be
essentially the same. You need only to
break down the writing process into
manageable bits that you can tackle one
at a time.
Step 1: Be a reader!
• All good writers are avid readers. You need to
be aware of different styles, voices, and
audiences. You need to be aware of what
makes a writer successful.
• If you like to write, but don’t like to read,
that’s like being someone who likes to talk but
is unable to listen…
Step 2: Get Ideas!
• Brainstorming- once you have chosen a topic,
start writing down ideas that come to mind.
You never know what might be used later.
• Practice Activity: Write down the name of an
animal. Begin taking notes on anything that
comes to mind in regards to that animal.
Brainstorm example: Turkeys
• Turkeys
• - flightless, edible birds with big tail feathers
• - we eat them at Thanksgiving (who started
that?) and Christmas (why?)
• - kind of silly-looking and sounding (gobble
gobble); will the animal rights people ever
harp on turkeys?
• -actually, HAVE animal rights people ever tried
to liberate a turkey farm?
Step 2 Cont. Freewriting
• Freewriting. Like brainstorming: you jot down
whatever comes into your mind on a topic.
But this time, force yourself to write without
stopping. Set a timer for ten minutes, and
don’t let your fingers rest until the ten
minutes are up. Believe it or not, this
technique can really work.
Freewriting Example: Turkeys
• Turkeys. Let’s see: I like to eat them - the triptophan thing is
apparently just a rumor, though, you get sleepy after TGVG because
you eat too much, not because the turkey meat has a special
sedative in it! - turkey sandwiches with mayo, very nice. Ground
turkey: yuck. Processed turkey: double yuck. Not the world’s most
versatile meat. Ground turkey cooking smells like a high school
locker room at 99 degrees. Turkey turkey - more ideas? - it’s a very
American thing, you always think of Thanksgiving though the Euros
also eat it at Christmas - not sure if other cuisines eat turkey?
Indigenous to the US maybe? It’s very dry! a real pain to roast
properly, not worth the effort - Benjamin Franklin wanted to make
the turkey a national bird instead of the eagle. What would that
have done for American foreign policy: a turkey on the embassy
insignia instead of an eagle....!!!
Step 2 Cont. Clustering
• Clustering. Like brainstorming again, only this
time, you try to organize your jottings spatially
on the page so that you cluster similar ideas
together.
Clustering Example: Turkeys
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EXAMPLE:
like the eagle, an
emblem for U.S.;
flightless
symbolic significance
large tail feathers
indigenous to US
domesticated
not versatile
a lot of trouble
tasty though when cooked
TURKEY
humorous, hard to take seriously
ceremonial meals:
not a target for PETA’s efforts!
Thanksgiving
Christmas (US
and abroad)
Step 2 Cont. Use the Mode
• Use the modes. These give you a fresh angle
on your subject, and can trigger a profitable
brainstorm (for more on the modes, keep
reading).
Use the Mode Example: Turkeys
• EXAMPLE: What do I write about turkeys?
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• Compare & contrast: turkeys v. eagles
• - similar: indigenous to the US, both considered for mascots for the
country, both important American symbols (eagle is the US
emblem, the turkey is the Thanksgiving bird)
• - different: turkeys are flightless, edible, farmed (not wild), plentiful
(not endangered), kind of silly with all that gobbling (not majestic),
big, vivid red flaps on their necks, big tailfeathers.
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• Argument: We should eat more turkey
• - it’s healthy (properties of turkey meat)
• - it’s easy to raise (history of domestication of turkey)
• - it’s tasty (some turkey recipes)
Step 3: Drafting
Now that you have gotten yourself thinking, you
need to get started. You’ll need:
• Thesis
• Outline
• Rough draft
Drafting: Thesis
• A working thesis. It doesn’t matter if you stick
to it, but look at what you’ve got, and ask
yourself: What point can I make? What shall I
say? Pick something and start there.
Thesis Example: Turkeys
Examples:
• The turkey is an important American symbol.
• We should eat more turkey.
• Eating turkeys is cruel.
Drafting: Outline
• An outline. Look at your thesis, and imagine a
reader asking, “Why?” or, “In what way?”
Write down one-sentence answers, with brief
notes of the kinds of details that would
support them. This approach can help you find
topic sentences.
Outline Example: Turkeys
• Example: The turkey is an important American
symbol. In what way?
• (Note how topic sentences answer this question.)
• - It’s central to an American festival (recipes,
stories)
• - Franklin wanted it to be the national bird (it’s
useful, native)
• - It’s indigenous to the US (cultivated by Native
Americans, etc.)
Drafting: Rough Draft
• A rough draft. Now you have an idea of your
point and the possible paragraphs, take one
paragraph at a time and flesh it out. Try doing
them out of order; it helps you work on the
paper a bit at a time.
Rough Draft Example:
• The turkey is central to the uniquely American festival of
Thanksgiving. Legend has it that the native Americans first
introduced the bird to the pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving
festival, and thus it symbolizes the early (and unfortunately
shortlived) friendship that existed at first between the new
arrivals and the inhabitants of the New World. Since then,
the turkey has become a fixture of the celebration.
However, it is not a particularly easy bird to deal with.
Recipes abound for rescuing a burned turkey, roasting the
uncooperative bird to succulence, and of course, what to
do with the preposterous amount of leftovers: curried,
stewed, . It’s not so much a delicious entree as a challenge.
Maybe this too makes it very American: we love a
challenge.
Drafting Note:
• Final shaping: writing the introduction &
conclusion. Movie directors don’t shoot
scenes in the order that they appear in the
movie: why should you write your paper in the
order that the reader will read it? Leave the
introduction and conclusion until last. Once
you have a clear idea of your point and how it
is developed, you will find writing a quick
introduction and conclusion fairly painless.
Step 4: Peer Response
• Peer collaboration has become a standard
feature of writing pedagogy and is used
successfully in writing and writing-enhanced
courses across the curriculum. Peer response
workshops (activities in which peers read and
comment on each other's drafts or ideas)
enable students to get quick, direct and timely
feedback on their works-in-progress.
Peer Response: What does a writer
get out of it?
• Opportunities to improve drafts before it's
too late
• An expanded idea of audience
• Practice in reading for revision
• Enhanced communication skills
• Increased confidence as a writer
Peer Response: steps
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Read piece aloud.
Free write
Second reading
Peer response sheets
Group discussion
Step 5: Revision
• This is the most important step in the process. Revision
does NOT mean correcting grammar or punctuation.
Revision means, literally, “re-seeing” - looking at your
whole work in a new light. You might not want to make
changes. But after reviewing your work with peers, you
might realize that your paper doesn’t really relate to
the thesis; that your support isn’t adequate; that one
paragraph is far too long, or too short, or redundant;
that your thinking process is unfinished, and you
“really” want to say something else; you might even
find that you no longer even believe your original
opinion. Revision can mean adding a few sentences, or
restructuring the whole paper.
Revision: Questions to ask?
• “What am I saying here?”
• See if you can clearly pick out the thesis and
supporting statements and rephrase them in a
few sentences.
Revision: Questions to ask?
“Where am I going with it?”
Is this idea really complete? Or do you now find
that you can think of a better way to say it, or a
better way to support it? Your thesis might now
seem a bit too general.
Revision: Questions to ask?
“Does the paper work?”
How is it shaped?
How are the ideas supported?
Have you integrated your
reading, used sentence
styles, taken pains to
include concrete details?
Step 6: Proofreading!
Once the paper is completely finished, you can
think about commas, complete sentences, and
the other fun stuff. Here are some tips:
Proofreading
• Give yourself the time you need. If you
habitually make lots of proofreading errors,
leave plenty of time for this stage.
• Don’t wait until the last minute!
Proofreading
Get help from your teacher.
If you have a weakness (comma rules, verb
tense, focus, style, organization, etc.), own it.
Ask a teacher for help or clarification. Practice
makes perfect!
Proofreading
• Make a list of what to look for. Don’t look at
sentences and think, “What’s wrong?” You’ll
only invent problems where none exist, and
perhaps miss those that do. Work with a
teacher to draw up a list of your specific
weaknesses - incomplete sentences, tenses,
spelling, and so on - and then look specifically
for those problems, one at a time.
Proofreading
Start at the end. Look at the last sentence first.
Reading them out of sequence helps to keep you
focused on the grammar.
Step 7: Celebrate!
If you’ve followed all six steps, you’ve done
some serious work. Give yourself credit. Writing
is hard - relax between assignments, even if it’s
only for an hour or so.