The Writing Process

Brenham Writing Room

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Stages of the Writing Process

There are several stages to the

Writing Process. Each stage is
essential.
Prewriting
Writing (Drafting)
Revising
Editing

I. Prewriting

Choose/narrow your topic

Determine your
Audience
Purpose
Tone
Point-of-view
Tense

Explore your topic

Make a plan

Choose/Narrow Your Topic

Your topic should pass the 3question test:

1.

Does it interest me?

2.

Do I have something to say

about it?

3.

Is it specific?

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?

Audience continued. . .

What do my readers expect?

Standard Written English
Correct grammar and spelling
Accurate information
Logical presentation of ideas
Followed directions of the
assignment!!!

What are my length requirements?

What is my time limit?
What does the assignment consist of?
Is research required?
What format should be used?

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
Persuasive Writing

More than one of these may be

used, but one will be primary.

Determine Tone

Tone is the mood or attitude you

adopt as you write.

Serious or frivolous/humorous?

Intimate or detached?

Determine Point-of-View

Point-of-view is the perspective

from which you write an essay.
There are 3 points-of-view:
First personI, we
Second personyou
Third personhe, 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:

Brainstorming/Listing
Freewriting
Clustering/Mapping/Branching
Questioning

Sports Fan

Questioning

Make a Plan

Before you begin drafting your

essay, you should make a plan
-a roadmap.

Review, evaluate, and organize

ideas written in your pre-writing;
then make a plan for your essays
Thesis statement
Support
Order
Structure

Thesis Statement

The thesis statement expresses

the MAIN IDEA of your essay,
the central point that your essay
develops/supports.

Thesis continued. . .

Your thesis SHOULD:

Accurately predict your essays
direction, emphasis, and scope
Make no promises that the essay
will not fulfill
Be direct and straightforward
NOT be an announcement,
statement of opinion, or statement
of fact.

Thesis continued. . .

Once you have a topic, decide

what the main idea of your
essay will be
This idea will become the center
of your argument

Support

Be sure to evaluate the

information in your prewriting
carefully in order to choose the
best support for your topic.
Primary Supportmajor ideas or
examples that back up your main
points
Secondary Supportdetails which
further explain your primary
support

Support continued. . .

Basics of good support

Relates to main point
Considers readers, i.e. provides
enough information
Is detailed and specific

Order

The Order is the sequence in

which you present your ideas.
There are 3 types of order:
Time (chronological) order
Space order
Emphatic order (order of
importance: least-to-most, mostto-least)

"When the steps in the process must be

performed in a particular order, details are
arranged in a chronological (or time)
order. To help your reader follow the
chronological order, transitions like these
can help:

First, you must . . .

Next, be careful to . . .
Now, you can . . .
After that , try . . .
Finally, you should . . .

Chronological Order

How to Boil an Egg Like a Pro

"Put your eggs in a saucepan and cover them with about
one-half inch cold water. Heat the pan until the water is
simmering and cook like this for seven minutes, using a
timer. As soon as the timer dings put the saucepan into
the sink and turn on the cold tap, allowing the water to
overspill. It doesn't need to be galloping; a steady but
vigorous flow will do. After a minute turn off the tap and
leave the eggs in the cold water for another couple of
minutes, or until they are cold enough to hold comfortably.
"When time's up your eggs will be cooked, and with no
soft center remaining."

(Bunty Cutler, 211 Things a Clever Girl Can Do. Perigee,

2008)

Spatial Order

"Far to his left, in the northeast, beyond the valley

and the terraced foothills of the Sierra Madre
Oriental, the two volcanoes, Popocatepetl and
Ixtaccihuatl, rose clear and magnificent into the
sunset. Nearer, perhaps ten miles distant, and on a
lower level than the main valley, he made out the
village of Tomaln, nestling behind the jungle, from
which rose a thin blue scarf of illegal smoke,
someone burning wood for carbon. Before him, on
the other side of the American highway, spread
fields and groves, through which meandered a river,
and
the
Alcapancingo
road."

(Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, 1947)

Emphatic Order

"After looking at all the brochures and

talking to several salesmen, I decided to
purchase an SLR camera. For several
years I had been dissatisfied with the
results I was getting from my point-andshoot camera. The framing was imprecise
and the focus was not always accurate. I
had planned a vacation to an area that
promised
many
fabulous
photo
opportunities, and I wanted to capture each
one with accuracy. But the most important
reason I decided on the SLR camera was
the great versatility it offered.

Structure/Organization

Consider how your essay will

be organized; then create an
Outline.
Sample Outline of standard
5-paragraph essay:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Introduction
Body Paragraph 1
Body Paragraph 2
Body Paragraph 3
Conclusion

II. Writing

During the Writing Stage, you

should
Create your essays Title
Compose a draft

A Draft is the first whole version of all

your ideas put together; its a dress
rehearsal.
You should plan to revise your Draft
several times throughout the writing
process.

Creating Your Title

Your essays title should:

Be original
Be a reasonable length
Reflect your topic
Be lively and attention-getting

Your title should NOT:

Be generic/repeat the assignment

Be in ALL CAPS
Be in boldface, quotation marks,
underlined, or italicized
Be followed by a period

As composition and rhetoric scholars

Maxine Hairston and Michael Keene explain,
a good title does several things:
First, it predicts content.
Second, it catches the reader's interest.
Third, it reflects the tone or slant of the piece of
writing.
Fourth, it contains keywords that will make it
easy to access by a computer search.

Titles, continued

Capitalization Rules for Titles:

Always capitalize the first letter of
the first word and the last word.
Capitalize the first letter of each
important word in between the
first and last words.

Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the)

Do not capitalize coordinating
conjunctions (and, but, or, etc.)
Do not capitalize prepositions (on, at,
in, off, etc.)

Effective vs. Ineffective Titles

Topic: Cheating in College

Effective Titles:

Cheaters Never Win!

Cheating in Higher Education
Why Do Students Cheat?

Ineffective Titles:

Dont Do It!
Cheating
Students Cheat for Many Different
Reasons.

Writing a Draft

Basics of a good draft:

Has a fully developed introduction
and conclusion
Has fully developed body
paragraphs, each containing a
topic sentence, at least two
examples, and detailed support
Follows standard structure and
uses complete sentences

Write Your Introduction

Your introductory paragraph

should do the following:
Be a minimum of 4-6 sentences
Tell the audience what to expect
from your discussion (thesis)
Move from general to specific, with
the thesis as the last sentence in
the intro
Get the readers attention
Set the tone for the rest of the
essay

Introductory paragraphs should

accomplish two tasks:
They should get the reader's
interest so that he or she will want
to read more.
They should let the reader know
what the writing is going to be
about.

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Attention Getters & Lead-ins

http://www.mesacc.edu/~paoih30491/intropgph.html

Ways writers can begin:

Paradoxical or Intriguing Statement

Shocking Statement or Statistic
Rhetorical Question
Anecdote
Statement of the Problem
Proverb, Maxim, or Strong Statement

Anecdotal:

from "Going, Going, GONE to the Auction!" by

Laurie Goering in Chicago Tribune Magazine, July
4, 1994.

Mike Cantlon remembers coming across his first

auction ten years ago while cruising the back roads
of Wisconsin. He parked his car and wandered into
the crowd, toward the auctioneer's singsong chant
and wafting smell of barbecued sandwiches. Hours
later, Cantlon emerged lugging a $22 beam drill-for
constructing post-and-beam barnsand a passion
for auctions that has clung like a cocklebur on an
old saddle blanket. "It's an addiction," says Cantlon,
a financial planner and one of the growing number
of auction fanatics for whom Saturdays will never be
the same.

Surprising statement:

from "60 Seconds That Could Save Your Child" by

Cathy Perlmutter with Maureen Sangiorgio in
Prevention, September, 1993.

Have a minute? Good. Because that may be all it

takes to save the life of a childyour child.
Accidents kill nearly 8000 children under age 15
each year. And for every fatality, 42 more children
are admitted to hospitals for treatment. Yet such
deaths and injuries can be avoided through these
easy steps parents can take right now. You don't
have a minute to lose.

Famous person:

from "Dear Taxpayer" by Will Manley in

Booklist, May 1, 1993.

The most widely read writer in America

today is not Stephen King, Michael
Chrichton or John Grisham. It's Margaret
Milner Richardson, the Commissioner of
the Internal Revenue Service, whose name
appears on the "1040 Forms and
Instructions" booklet. I doubt that Margaret
wrote the entire 1040 pamphlet, but the
annual introductory letter, "A Note from the
Commissioner," bears her signature.

Declarative:

In this pattern, the writer simply

states straight out what the topic
of his paper is going to be
about. It is the technique that
most student writers use with
only modest success most of
the time, but good professional
writers use it too.

Introduction, continued
http://www.mesacc.edu/~paoih30491/intropgph.html

In the Introduction Paragraph NEVER

EVER EVER.

bluntly announce the essay's intent ("In this

essay I will...),
make unreasonable statements,
apologize for the material that is being written
("In my humble opinion..."),
go into a detailed account of the writing,
include random information that has nothing to
do with the essay,
use an encyclopedia or dictionary definition
("According to Webster's...), and
dilly-dally. Get to it. Move confidently into the
essay.

Introduction, continued
http://www.mesacc.edu/~paoih30491/intropgph.html

Write Your Body Paragraphs

Each body paragraph should

develop one of the specific
points mentioned in the thesis.
Each BP should contain:
Topic Sentencemain idea of BP
Primary Supportexamples
Secondary Supportdetails

Each body paragraph will have basic structure. Body

paragraphs are the middle paragraphs that lie between
the introduction and conclusion. The key building blocks
of essays are the paragraphs as they represent distinct
logical steps within the whole argument.

A basic outline for a stand-alone

paragraph looks like this:
Topic sentence
A. Supporting sentence
Detail
Detail
B. Supporting sentence
Detail
Detail
C. Supporting sentence
Detail
Detail
(etc.)
Concluding sentence and final thought

Body Paragraphs continued

Body paragraphs must have

Unityeverything refers back to
main point
Supportexamples and details
Coherenceall points connect to
form a whole; one point leads to
another

Body Paragraphs: Unity

Unity is achieved when

everything refers back to the
main point
ALL SENTENCES SHOULD
RELATE BACK TO TOPIC
SENTENCE & THESIS.
Do not include any ideas that are
irrelevant or off-topic.

Body Paragraphs: Support

Support is achieved through

adequate examples and details.
Each body paragraph should include
at least two examples to support the
main idea of the paragraph.
Each example should include at
least one specific detail that further
illustrates the point.

Body Paragraphs: Coherence

Coherence is achieved when all

points connect to form a whole;
one point leads to another.
Coherence is mainly achieved
through the use of transitions.

Transitionswords & phrases

which connect your sentences so
that your writing flows smoothly.

Transitions
Ideas:

that

First...second...third
Finally,
Moreover...
________ is also...
In addition,
Next...then...after...
Furthermore
Previously

Introduce

New

Write Your Conclusion

The concluding paragraph

should
Contain a minimum of 4
sentences
Refer back to the main point, but
not simply repeat the thesis
Make an observation on what is
written
NOT introduce any new ideas
Create a sense of closure

Write Your Conclusion

Writers should also provide the reader with a fresh

new outlook on the subject, leaving them thinking
about the issue.

Good conclusions can even have a striking ending.

It should evoke supportive emotions in the reader,
reflecting the same emotions the reader felt
throughout the essay.

Transitions
for
Therefore,
Thus,
Consequently,
As a result,

Concluding

Statements:

The conclusion paragraphs typically:

Revisit the Value

Restate the Thesis

Writers should remind the reader of the magnitude

and timeliness of the issue.

The thesis and the restatement of the thesis are

cousins, not identical twins: They share key
similarities, but they still look and sound like separate
individuals. Make sure the restatement looks and
sounds different from the thesis.

Review the Main Points

Beginner writers can have a tenancy to sound like

they're making a list when they review the main points
of the essay. Read and re-read this section. Make
sure it flows and smoothly fits into the conclusion
paragraph without sounding like a list.

Write Your Conclusion

Considers Unexplored Ideas &

Leave the Reader Thinking

Now is not the time to introduce new

key arguments; that argument
should have properly expressed in
the body paragraphs. Instead,
writers might want to extend the
reader's understanding on the
argument by showing new aspects of
the "big picture."

Write Your Conclusion

In the Conclusion Paragraph NEVER EVER EVER.

oversimplify the message,

use cliches which sound good but mean nothing,
apologize for the material you're writing,
blatantly refer to the actual essay ("this essay shows
you..."),
introduce new arguments, evidence, or details you
might have forgotten,
soften your argument,
blatant repetition of the thesis,
sound repetitive or list-like, and
leave readers frustrated after reading an otherwise
wonderful paper!

A Sample Paper

1Stephen King, creator of such stories as Carrie

and Pet Sematary, stated that the Edgar Allan Poe
stories he read as a child gave him the inspiration
and instruction he needed to become the writer that
he is. 2Poe, as does Stephen King, fills the reader's
imagination with the images that he wishes the
reader to see, hear, and feel. 3His use of vivid,
concrete visual imagery to present both static and
dynamic settings and to describe people is part of
his technique. 4Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale
Heart" is a story about a young man who kills an old
man who cares for him, dismembers the corpse,
then goes mad when he thinks he hears the old
man's heart beating beneath the floor boards under
his feet as he sits and discusses the old man's
absence with the police. 5In "The Tell-Tale Heart," a
careful reader can observe Poe's skillful
manipulation of the senses.

1The sense of sight, the primary sense, is

particularly susceptible to manipulation. 2In
"The Tell-Tale Heart," Poe uses the
following image to describe a static scene:
"His room was as black as pitch with the
thick darkness . . ." Poe used the words
"black," "pitch," and "thick darkness" not
only to show the reader the condition of the
old man's room, but also to make the
reader feel the darkness." 3"Thick" is a
word that is not usually associated with
color (darkness), yet in using it, Poe
stimulates the reader's sense of feeling as
well as his sense of sight.

1Further on in the story, Poe uses a couple of

words that cross not only the sense of sight but also
the sense of feeling to describe a dynamic scene.
2The youth in the story has been standing in the
open doorway of the old man's room for a long time,
waiting for just the right moment to reveal himself to
the old man in order to frighten him. 3Poe writes:
"So I opened it [the lantern opening]--you cannot
imagine how stealthily, stealthily--until, at length, a
single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot
from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture
eye." 4By using the metaphor of the thread of the
spider (which we all know is a creepy creature) and
the word "shot," Poe almost makes the reader gasp,
as surely did the old man whose one blind eye the
young man describes as "the vulture eye."

The reader does not know much about

what the old man in this story looks like
except that he has one blind eye. 2In the
second paragraph of "The Tell-Tale Heart,"
Poe establishes the young man's
obsession with that blind eye when he
writes: "He had the eye of the vulture--a
pale blue eye, with a film over it." 3This
"vulture eye" is evoked over and over again
in the story until the reader becomes as
obsessed with it as does the young man.
4His use of the vivid, concrete word
"vulture" establishes a specific image in the
mind of the reader that is inescapable.

Thick darkness," "thread of the spider," and

"vulture eye" are three images that Poe
used in "The Tell-Tale Heart" to stimulate a
reader's senses. 2Poe wanted the reader
to see and feel real life. 3He used concrete
imagery rather than vague abstract words
to describe settings and people. 4If Edgar
Allan Poe was one of Stephen King's
teachers, then readers of King owe a debt
of gratitude to that nineteenth-century
creator of horror stories.

Even though I didn't relish the idea of being in New York City, I
decided to attend graduate school there for several important
reasons. First of all, Columbia University allowed individualization
in programming. Perhaps most important, I learned on my first
visit to the university that the professor who would be my advisor
would allow me to do much of my work in Rochester and travel to
New York only for special meetings. The university also accepted
work I had previously done and applied it to my degree. Besides
the coursework, I knew and respected the two professors who
would be my advisors. Both people have taught and researched
in the field for many years. They have much information to share
and I knew I could learn a lot from them. Despite my reservations
about spending time in New York City, I found that once I
became familiar with the part of Manhattan where Columbia is
located, I could get around easily. Streets and avenues run
perpendicular to one another, so it was difficult to become lost.
When I became braver, I learned to take the subways as well as
the buses instead of taxis and saved myself a lot of money. Even
though at first I had doubts about studying in New York, it was a
good decision.

Topic sentence: Even though I didn't relish the idea of being in New
York City, I decided to attend graduate school there for several
important reasons.

A. Supporting sentence: Columbia University allowed individualization

of programming.

Detail: I could work in Rochester and travel to New York only for special meetings.

Detail: accepted work from other programs

B. Supporting sentence: I knew and respected my two advisors.

Detail: Both have researched in the field for many years.

Detail: They had much information to share.

Detail: I could learn a lot from them.

C. Supporting sentence: I found I could get around easily in New York.

Detail: difficult to become lost because the city streets and avenues are
perpendicular to each other.

Detail: I learned to use subways and buses.

Concluding sentence and final thought: Even though at first I had

doubts about studying in New York, it was a good decision

III. Revising

Revising is finding & correcting

problems with content; changing the
ideas in your writing to make them
clearer, stronger, and more
convincing.
Revising looks at the Big Picture
the Idea level.

Revision Strategies

Look for

Unity

Detail and support

Does everything refer back to main point?

Does each topic sentence refer to the thesis?
Does each sentence in each BP refer back to the
topic sentence?
Does each BP contain at least two examples?
Is each example followed by at least one
supporting detail?

Coherence

Are all points connect 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!

IV. Editing

Editing is finding and correcting

problems with grammar, style,
word choice & usage, and
punctuation.
Editing focuses on the Little
PictureWord level.

Editing Strategies

Keep an Error Log to help you

identify your problem areas and
improve your writing.
When editing, review your paper
for one type of error at a time;
dont try to read through looking
for everything at once.

Editing Tips

Work with a clean printed copy,

double-spaced to allow room to
mark corrections.
Read your essay backwards.
Be cautious of spell-check and
grammar-check.
Read your essay out loud.
Get feedback from peers.

Self-Review

You should never move to peer

review without first completing a selfreview (revising & editing); you want
your peer to look for mistakes that
you were unable to catch yourself!
After you have reviewed your own
work, make the necessary
corrections and print a clean, revised
copy before moving on to peer
review.

Peer-Review

It is important to make the peer

review process useful.
Basics of useful feedback:

It is given in a positive way

It is specific
It offers suggestions
It is given both verbally and in writing