The Writing Process
You may have been taught that there's a writing process. It may have looked something like this:
Now, all of these steps are important. It usually helps to think about something before you put pen to paper, and it always helps to read something over before you share it with others.
Writing Processes
However, I would argue, and others who study writing have argued, that there is no one writing process. Writing is a messy, creative endeavor, and there is no right way to write. Amirite?
Writing is also recursive, meaning that it repeats itself. Writers hardly ever go from step 1 to step 2 to step 3 all the way to the end. You might do some research, start an outline, do more research, write a paragraph, reorganize your outline, and so on.
Because writing is a such a messy and, often, difficult process, it will be helpful to review the stages of the writing process in some detail, starting with . . .
1. Prewriting
The word "prewriting" means "before writing," but don't be fooled. Prewriting is essentially everything you do to help you write that is not writing itself. That includes thinking about what you have to write, talking about what you have to write, conducting research, creating an outline, etc.
Some people like to take a lot of time planning out what they have to write, so that by the time they put pen to paper, or fingertips to electronic device, they know exactly what to say.
Most people will plan what they need to write a bit, start writing, go back to prewriting, then write some more, back to prewriting, back to writing, and so into infinity.
The important thing is that you do prewrite. You don't want to forget about an assignment, sit down to write it the night before it's due, then turn in your first draft.
2. Drafting
Drafting is when you start putting words on a page.
Some people work best by writing one draft and making a few revisions and edits afterwards. These people do their thinking ahead of time and write to communicate a message to their readers.
Other people think as they write. It can be hard to sort out your ideas when they're in your head, so writing them down, even if it's a jumbled mess at first, can help you make connections or figure out how to express what you want to say.
Drafting to communicate to someone else and drafting to help yourself think are both valid writing strategies. But if you're the kind of person who writes to think, keep in mind that you will need to do lots of revising or write more than one draft before you show your work to anyone else.
3. Revising
Revising means making BIG changes. The changes you make to your writing can be categorized as higher order and lower order.
Revisions, or higher order changes, include:
* Purpose. There's no use having all your commas and semi-colons in the right place if you turn in an informative essay when your teacher wanted a persuasive one. Make sure you understand what it is you're expected to write.
* Organization. Each paragraph in an essay should have one main point, each paragraph should lead to the next, and the order of the paragraphs should make sense.
You can check the organization of an essay by creating a reverse outline.
* Development. You need to fully explain any important ideas in your essay, often by including examples or evidence.
The default thesis statement is: "[blank] has both positive and negative aspects." That's fine as a placeholder, but a developed thesis will be more specific: "Despite the high cost of [blank], it should be implemented in US public schools to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn in a safe environment."
4. Editing
Editing involves making little, or lower order, changes. Lower order concerns include:
* Style. In this sense, style refers to word choice. Your teacher will know what you mean if you say, "Sigmund Freud is really big in psychology," but s/he will be more impressed if you say, "Sigmund Freud is a seminal figure in the field of psychology" (and, if s/he is a Freudian, would probably have something to say about your choice of the word "seminal").
* Sentence structure. You want to make sure that your sentences are complete, rather than run-ons or fragments. Run-on sentences should be avoided because they just keep going on and on and can be really hard to follow even for the most attentive and intelligent readers who really want to figure out what you're saying even though they really honestly shouldn't even bother since you haven't bother to pay attention to sentence structure. Fragments also bad.
* Grammar. Grammar covers a lot of things, including capitalization, punctuation, subject-verb agreement, etc. Grammar has very little to do with meaning. You know what Timbaland means when he asks, "Can you handle me the way I are?" In an essay, though, he'd have to ask, "Can you handle me the way I am?" Because his English teacher wouldn't be able to handle the way he are otherwise.
* Spelling. Vince Staples knows the importance of spelling.
& you damn right I delete my tweets when I spell something wrong you punk bitch the kids is watching.
We all know that checking the wording and grammar of our sentences is boring. You can making it easier by having someone else read over your essay for you, whether it's a friend, parent, Writing Center tutor, your instructor, or Google Translate.
When you’re finished with an essay, copy and paste it into Google Translate and listen to it. It’s the easiest way to find mistakes.
Just press the speaker icon under the box on the right.
5. Publication
Once you're done making changes to your writing, you can show it to an audience. However, the writing process doesn't always stop there.
As a student, you'll often be asked to take part in peer review workshops, in which someone will read what you've written and suggest revisions. Or you'll get feedback from your instructor and the opportunity to revise an assignment.
In the workforce, you might be asked to write something and, based on feedback from your peers or employer, will have to revise it until you get it just right.
If you post something on the internet, you can edit it according to user feedback indefinitely. Forever and ever and ever and ever.
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