Process of Writing

DR AMAN DEEP SINGH 1HS102 WRIT TEN COMMUNICATION

Six Steps of Writing Process
Pre-writing
Step 1: Choose a topic
Step 2: Gathering ideas. When you have a topic, think about what
you will write about the topic.
Step 3: Organize. Decide which of the ideas you want to use and
where you want to use them. Choose which idea to talk about first,
which to talk about next, and which to talk about last.
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Drafting

Step 4: Write. Write your paragraph or essay from start to finish. Use
your notes about ideas and organization.
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Reviewing and Revising

Step 5: Review Structure and Content. Check what you have written.
Look for places where you can add information, and check to see if
you have any unnecessary information. Getting a reader’s opinion is
a good way to know to know if you are is clear and effective.
Learning to give opinions about other people’s writing helps you to
improve your own.
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Rewriting
Step 6: Revise structure and content. Use your ideas from step 5 to re-write
your text making improvements to the structure and content. You may need to
explain something more clearly, or add more details. You may even need to
change your organization so that your paper is more logical. Together, steps 5
and six can be called ‘editing’.
Proofread. Read your paper again. This time check your spelling and grammar
and think about the words you have chosen to use.
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Make final corrections: Check that you have corrected the errors you discovered
in steps 5 and 6 and make any other changes you want to make.
Note: Steps 5 and 6 can be repeated many times.
Pre-Writing: Getting ready to write
What is pre-writing?
Before you begin writing, you decide what you
are going to write about. Then you plan what
you are going to write. This process is called
‘Pre-writing’.
Why is Pre-writing important?
Prewriting is important because it is the stage at which students understand the
assignment, when they begin to access the information they need, and when
they become motivated to get started.
In the prewriting stage students clarify the assignment for themselves.
They need to know the topic, purpose, and audience for the assignment.
Objectives of Prewriting
•Examining purposes
•Determining goals
•Considering audience
•Deciding what action you want your audience to perform
•Gathering data
•Determining the most effective communication channel
Examining Purposes
External Motivation
Internal Motivation
Determine your goals
Inform an audience of facts, concerns, or questions you
might have
Instruct an audience by directing actions
Persuade an audience to accept your point of view
Build trust and rapport by managing work relationships
Choosing and narrowing a topic
How to choose topic ?
A paragraph is a group of five to ten sentences that gives information
about a topic. Before you write, you must choose a topic for your
paragraph.
Choose a topic that isn’t too narrow (limited, brief). A narrow topic
will not have enough ideas to write about. For example, The ages of
my brothers and sisters is too narrow.
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Choose a topic that isn’t too broad (general). A broad topic
will have too many ideas for just one paragraph. For
example, Schools is too general. There are thousands of
things you could say about it.
A student can narrow this topic by choosing one of the
aspects of schools to discuss: high schools in my country,
popular school clubs, university entrance exams.
Brainstorming/Making a list
Write single word, phrases or sentences that are
connected to your topic.
Freewriting
When you free write, you write whatever comes into your
head about your topic, without stopping.
Freewriting helps you practice fluency (writing quickly and
easily).
When you free write, you do not need to worry about
accuracy (having correct grammar and spelling).
Don’t check your dictionary or stop. Just keep writing!
Example of freewriting
There are too so many subjects to study at the university, it is difficult to
choose one for my major. I’ve always made good grades in math, but I don’t
like it very much. I don’t like physical physics or any science very much.
Writing– I’ve always liked writing. Would journalism be good course to take?
Newspapers have pictures, too, so maybe photography would be good. I’m
maybe definitely looking forward to meeting new friends at university. And
what about reading? Reading is a part of any course, but literatures includes a
lot of reading and it probably includes a lot of writing, too.
Sample reporters question
Who Joe Kingsbury, Sales Rep
What Need to know
what our discount is if we buy in quantities; what the guarantees are
if service is provided onsite; if the installers are certified and bonded
if Acme provides 24‐hour shipping
When Need the information by July 9 to meet our proposal deadline
Where Acme Radiators
11245 Armour Blvd.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 45233
Jkings@acmerad.com
Why As requested by my boss, John, to help us provide more information to prospective customers
How Communicate either with a letter or an e‐mail. I can write an e‐mail inquiry to save time, but I
must tell Joe to respond in a letter with his signature to verify the information he provides.
Mapping
To make a map, use a whole sheet of paper, and write your
topic in the middle, with a circle around it.
Then put the next idea in the circle above or below your
topic, and connect the circles with lines.
The lines show the relation of two ideas.
What’s the best way to generate ideas?
There is no best way of brainstorming.
Some writers like to use lists because they don’t have to write complete sentences.
Some writers like freewriting because they can write quickly and ideas come easily.
Some writers prefer mapping because they can easily see the relationship between ideas.
Exercise
Reporter’s questions. To gather data for your resume, list answers to the
reporter’s questions for two recent jobs you have held and for your past and
present educational experiences.
Mind mapping. Create a mind map for your options for obtaining college
financial aid.
Brainstorming or listing. List five reasons why you have selected your degree
program or why you have chosen the school you are attending.
Outlining. Outline your reasons for liking or disliking a current or previous job.
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Storyboarding. If you have a personal Web site, use storyboarding to depict
graphically the various screens. If you do not have such a site, use storyboarding
to depict graphically what your site’s screens would include.
Creating organizational charts. What is the hierarchy of leadership or
management at your job or college organization (fraternity, sorority, club, or
team)? To depict graphically who is in charge of what and who reports to whom,
create an organizational chart.
Flowcharting. Create a flowchart of the steps you followed to register for
classes, buy a car, or seek employment.
Writing
Once you have gathered your data, determined your
objectives, recognized your audience, and chosen
the channel of communication, the next step is
writing the document.
Writing the draft lets you organize your thoughts in
some logical, easy‐to‐follow sequence.
Organisation
Space (spatial organization)
Chronology
Importance
Comparison/contrast
Problem/solution
Formatting
You also must format your text to allow for ease of access.
In addition to organizing your ideas, you need to consider
how the text looks on the page or screen.
Drafting
Using Templates
Using Styles
Drafting effectively – Guidelines
•Start with the easiest topics
•Draft quickly
•Don’t stop to get more information or to revise
•Try invisible writing
•Stop in the middle of a section
Rewriting
Collaborative Evaluations
Usability Testing:
•Retrievability—Can the user find specific information quickly and easily?
•Readability—Can the user read and comprehend information quickly and
easily?
• Accuracy—Is the information complete and correct?
• User satisfaction—Does the document present information in a way that is easy
to learn and remember?
Revising
Revising is the process of looking again at your draft to see whether
it works. After you revise, you will carry out two more steps —
editing and proofreading — but at this point you want to focus on
three large topics:
Audience: Has your understanding of your audience changed? Will
you be addressing people you hadn’t considered before? If so, how
will that change what you should say and how you should say it?
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Purpose. Has your understanding of your purpose changed? If so,
what changes should you make to the document?

Subject. Has your understanding of the subject changed? Should you

change the scope; that is, should you address more topics or fewer?
Should you change the organization of the document? Should you
present more evidence or different types of evidence?
Revision Techniques
Add any missing detail for clarity.
Delete dead words and phrases for conciseness.
Simplify unnecessarily complex words and phrases to allow for easier understanding.
Move around information (cut and paste) to ensure that your most important ideas are
emphasized.
Reformat (using highlighting techniques) to ensure reader‐friendly ease of access.
Enhance the tone and style of the text.
Correct any errors to ensure accurate grammar and content.