The Writing Process

Stages of Writing

11/30/2019 Ms. Sehrish Aslam

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 Reflecting on...
• By and large, writers are usually recommended to bear
in mind ‘contextual factors’ when it comes to writing a
text. Can you guess what these ‘contextual factors’ might
be?

• Imagine you have to write a document that describes the

latest improvements on a particular product. How may
this document differ when aimed at the head of the
technical department and the general public? Could you
provide a list of different groups of readers an engineer
may address his/her documents to?

• How is your attitude towards the topic and your

relationship with readers reflected in your writing?

• Can you think of different ways of organizing ideas

before writing a document? Which method do you
usually prefer? Why?

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 Process Writing
 Means learning how to write
working through several steps.

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 Why do we need a writing
process?

 It can help writers organize their

thoughts.
 It can help writers avoid
frustration.
 It can help writers use their time
productively and efficiently.

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 Stages of the Writing Process

 There are several stages to the

Writing Process. Each stage is
essential.
 Prewriting
 Drafting

 Revising & Editing

 Final draft

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 STEP-I: Prewriting
 Determine your
*Audience
*Purpose
 Explore your topic and
brainstorm.
 Make a plan

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 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?
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  What do my readers expect?
 Logical presentation of ideas
 Correct grammar and spelling

 Accurate information

 Followed directions of the

assignment!!!
 What are my length requirements?
 What is my time limit?
 What format should be used?

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 Determine Your Purpose
 Purpose is the reason you are
writing.
 Whenever you write, you always
have a purpose. Most writing has
the following purposes:
 to explain
 to give information
 to argue
 to communicate…

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 Prewriting Techniques

• Free writing
• Listing
• Clustering
• Formal outline

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 Free Writing

• Purest form of writing

• Devote about 10 minutes
to non-stop writing
• Do not stop to correct
errors or read your work

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 Example of Pre-writing
Using Free-writing
Topic: My favorite person

Hmm… talk about a wash. My favorite person is Danielle, duh. What the
hell would I do without her? I don’t even want to imagine living without her.
Dani is just… amazing. She’s beautiful on the inside and out, which is so rare
these days. How many good looking people are actually kind and give a shit
about anybody other than themselves? Okay, that’s not true, but anyway. Dani
is my favorite person. She’s smarter than any other twenty- something, has life
experience that would make most people total tools, and she’s just like… real.
WYSIWYG. Dude, do you remember when we were little and we used to jump
on Cinder and Angie like they were horses? Or we called them “horsies?” Aww
man, those poor pups! They loved it, though. Remember at Pleasant Woods
when you told off that kid who was being a total dirtbag? That was great. My
students are going to see this free- writing sample, so I’m going to ix-nay our
adolescence. Haha, seriously though, compared to some of these kids- not my
students, they’re angels, but like other kids, you and I were saints.
Okay, not saints… quasi-saints. Dani pooh bear, you were always the best.
You still are. I hate that we don’t see each other every other day like we used
to when we were kids, but when we do get together every other week or so,
it’s wonderful. I always love hearing what you’re up to, especially when you’re
all “screw it, I don’t even want to teach anymore!” followed by “well, I guess I
have too, because I owe Rowan like 20 geeze.” You’re a trip.
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You’re the best friend I could ever ask for. My favorite person. I love you, Dani
bear <3
 Listing
• Also known as brain
storming
• Jot down ideas, details, or
questions about your topic
• Write words and phrases
instead of sentences
• Rearrange and group
ideas
• Work in progress: Make
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 Example of Pre-writing Using Listing
Topic: My favorite person My
cousin Dani
Partner-in-crime
Shoulder to cry on
Wonderful
Beautiful, inside and out
Way too smart for her own good
Most obnoxious laugh
Never gets embarrassed
Always fun to be with

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 Clustering
• Visual map or diagram that shows
relationships among ideas
• Begin with your topic/main idea
• Branch out from main topic to
create cluster of thoughts
• Make connections between ideas

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 Example of Pre-writing Using Clustering
Life of the party
Topic: My favorite person Always supportive
of my decisions

Entertaining Survived
Cousin/best friend
adolescence Strong bond throughout ourlives

Caring
Danielle Hardships

Sleepovers
Christa
Cox
Great childhood memories

Sports
Beating up
bullies!
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 Formal Outline
• Final stage in pre-writing and a great
tool to prepare for the rough draft
for your essay

• Good for students who are very

organized

• Most useful for organizing longer

essays, especially research
papers

• Organize your ideas by means of

hierarchy

• Use full sentences and ideas

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 Planning
Before you begin drafting your writing, you
should make a plan (a roadmap).
Academic Paragraph Outline Form

I- Topic sentence:

II- Supporting Sentences:

A) Supporting point:
o Supporting detail: _
B) Supporting Point: _ _
o Supporting detail:
C) Supporting Point:
o Supporting detail:

III- Concluding sentence: _ _

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 STEP-2: Drafting
 After getting ideas about our topic and
making a plan, it is time to start writing.
While writing our rough draft, remember
these:
 Don’t worry about writing the
‘perfect’ paper for the first time
 Our goal is to develop the ideas
we listed in our outline
 Don’t focus on spelling and
grammar, we can check this later
in the writing process

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 STEP-3:Revising & Editing
 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.

Spelling,
Content and Grammar,
Organization Punctuation,
etc.

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REVISING EDITING
 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 problematic areas.
 Get feedback from peers.
 Get help from your teacher!

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 Editing
 Editing is finding and correcting
problems with grammar, style,
word choice & usage, and
punctuation

 Editing focuses on the “Little

Picture”—Word level

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 Editing Tips
 Work with a clean printed copy,
double-spaced so that you can
easily correct your mistakes.
 Read your paragraph out loud
once more.
 Be cautious of spell-check and
grammar-check.
 Get feedback from peers.

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 STEP-4: Final Draft
 The last step is turning in the
final draft of our paragraph
• Is it written on A4 paper?
• Did you pay attention to your
teacher’s comments in your
draft?
• Did you write neatly?

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HERE IS A SUMMARY

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