Pre-writing Strategies

Munling
reading the assignment carefully

analysing it

drawing up a rough plan

sourcing the necessary data/information

reading widely, and reading in depth

taking and making notes

discussing ideas and information with others

refining the plan, and so on.

Langan
free writing
Freewriting is jotting down, in rough sentences or phrases, everything you
can think of about a possible topic. Write nonstop for three to five minutes.
Explore any idea and put down whatever pops into your head. If you get
stuck for words, repeat your-self until more words come.
Your only goal is to get your mind running. You will find any writing task
easier when you have something other than a blank page or screen to work
from. Ideas and impressions become clearer after you put them on paper.
Ideas usually lead to other ideas and connections, and unexpected
thoughts may even lead you to another pos-sible focus. That’s fine.
Through continued practice, you will develop the habit of thinking as you
write.
Now, put away the eraser or liquid paper, resist the urge to hit “delete,” and
start freewriting. Forget about spelling, grammar, and punctuation; let the
inventive part of your mind run free.

questioning

Pre-writing Strategies 1
 Freewriting gets around the order-ing parts of your mind; questioning gives
you a framework for inquiry. Its structure gives you a sense of direction and
clarity. Questioning can also help you through a temporary blank period and
show you different angles on your topic. If you have some knowledge of
your subject, from experience or research, you could find ques-tioning
particularly effective. Ask yourself as many questions as you can think of
about your subject; your answers will be a series of different “takes” or
focuses on it. Such questions include Why? When? Where? Who? and
How?

making a list
List making is simply making point-form notes of ideas that relate to your
subject. List as separate points as many ideas as possible about your topic.
Avoid making sen-tences out of your points, and never worry about
repeating yourself; your mind may be trying out a variation on some idea.
Lists have more structure than freewriting but less than questioning, so list
making appeals to a variety of writers. One risk you may find when listing
ideas for the first time is that, because listing ideas is an ordering activity,
you could be tempted to organize your ideas prema-turely. If this happens,
stop ordering and keep adding new items. Use listing for its value as an
informal, clean-looking way of recording ideas on the page or screen.

diagramming

Clustering, or diagramming , or mapping, is an excellent strategy for

generating ideas if you enjoy thinking visually. Use lines, boxes, arrows, and
circles to show relationships among the ideas and details that occur to you.
Clustering also prevents “sentence block” because you note points and
details only in words and phrases.

State your subject in a few words in the centre of a blank sheet of paper.
Then, as ideas and details come to you, put them in boxes or circles around
the subject. As you find relationships between ideas and groups of ideas,
draw lines to connect them to each other and to the subject. When you
cluster to generate ideas, keep creating “word bubbles” and connecting
them to one another. You will need to allow some time after completing your
first stage to decide which ideas are more important than others.
Clustering, like freewriting, shows relationships between ideas rather than
their order of importance.

Pre-writing Strategies 2
 YouTube video Jacob
listing

main focus is to generate a lot of information in a short period time

extremely broad ideas

group items in a way that makes sense to you

clustering

also know as “mind” or “idea” mapping

put subject at center of page. as you think of other ideas, write them
around the central idea

this will allow you to see your ideas visually and how they fit together

free writing

is a way to generate ideas through writing without stopping for a pre-

determined amount of time

you should write whatever comes to your head based off the general
topic. you shouldn't write for more than 5 to 10 minutes

looping

after free writing, you should identify a key idea

after that, you should prewrite again to create a sequence of free

writing each more specific than the last

journalist questions

using “who, what, where, when, why, how”

answering these questions is a great way to develop a lot of information

quickly

these questions may need to be asked again to clarify important points

Pre-writing Strategies 3