Download The Writing Process PPT

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Dunya Institute for Higher
Education

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The Writing Process

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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

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I. Prewriting
Choose/narrow your topic
Determine your
Audience
Purpose
Tone
Point-of-view
Tense
Explore your topic
Make a plan

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Choose/Narrow Your Topic
 Your topic should pass the 3-question test:
1. Does it interest me?
2. Do I have something to say about it?
3. Is it specific?

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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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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?

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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.

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Determine Tone
Tone is the mood or attitude you adopt as you
write.
Serious or frivolous/humorous?
Intimate or detached?

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Determine Point-of-View
Point-of-view is the perspective from which
you write an essay.
There are 3 points-of-view:
First person—”I, we”
Second person—”you”
Third person—”he, she, they”
One of the most common errors in writing
occurs when the writer shifts point-of-view
unnecessarily!

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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

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Explore Your Topic
 Pre-writing Techniques:
 Brainstorming/Listing
 Freewriting
 Clustering/Mapping
 Questioning
 Discussing
 Outlining

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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 essay’s
Thesis statement
Support
Order
Structure

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Thesis Statement
The thesis statement expresses the
MAIN IDEA of your essay, the
central point that your essay
develops/supports.

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Thesis continued. . .
Your thesis SHOULD:
Accurately predict your essay’s 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.

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Thesis continued. . .
• Analytical Paper:
– It breaks down an issue or an idea into its component
parts, evaluate the issue or idea and presents the
breakdown.
• Explanatory Paper:
– It explains something to the audience.
• Argumentative Paper:
– It makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with
specific evidence. The goal is to convince the audience.

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Thesis continued. . .
• Example of analytical thesis statement:
– An analysis of the college admission process
reveals one challenge facing counselors: accepting
students with high test scores or students with
strong extracurricular backgrounds.
• The paper that follows should:
– Explain the analysis of the college admission process.
– Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors.

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Thesis continued. . .
• Example of an explanatory thesis statement:
– The life of the typical college student is
characterized by time spent studying, attending
class, and socializing peers.
• The paper that follows should:
– Explain how students spend their time studying,
attending class, and socializing with peers

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Thesis continued. . .
• Example of an argumentative thesis statement:
– High school graduates should be required to take a
year off to pursue community service projects before
entering college in order to increase their maturity
and global awareness.
• The paper that follows should:
– Present an argument and give evidence to support
the claim that students should pursue community
projects before entering college.

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Support
Be sure to evaluate the information
in your prewriting carefully in order
to choose the best support for your
topic.
Primary Support—major ideas or
examples that back up your main
points
Secondary Support—details which
further explain your primary support

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Support continued. . .
Basics of good support
Relates to main point
Considers readers, i.e. provides
enough information
Is detailed and specific

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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, most-to-least)

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Structure/Organization
 Consider how your essay will be
organized; then create an Outline.
 Sample Outline of standard
5-paragraph essay:
A. Introduction
B. Body Paragraph 1
C. Body Paragraph 2
D. Body Paragraph 3
E. Conclusion

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II. Writing
During the Writing Stage, you should
Create your essay’s Title
Compose a draft
A Draft is the first whole version of all your ideas
put together; it’s a “dress rehearsal.”
You should plan to revise your Draft several times
throughout the writing process.

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Creating Your Title
 Your essay’s title should:
 Be original
 Be a reasonable length
 Reflect your topic
 Be lively and attention-getting
 Your title should NOT:
 Be generic
 Be in ALL CAPS
 Be in boldface, “quotation marks,” underlined, or italicized
 Be followed by a period

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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.)

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Effective vs. Ineffective Titles
 Topic: Cheating in College
 Effective Titles:
 Cheaters Never Win!
 Cheating in Higher Education
 Why Do Students Cheat?
 Ineffective Titles:
 Don’t Do It!
 Cheating
 Students Cheat for Many Different Reasons.

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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

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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 reader’s attention
Set the tone for the rest of the essay

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Introduction, continued
Strategies for developing an Introduction
include
Providing background information
Telling a personal anecdote
Beginning with a quotation
Asking a question

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Write Your Body Paragraphs
Each body paragraph should develop one of
the specific points mentioned in the thesis.
Each BP should contain:
Topic Sentence—main idea of BP
Primary Support—examples
Secondary Support—details

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Body Paragraphs: Topic Sentence
 A Topic Sentence expresses the main idea of the
body paragraph.
 Begin each body paragraph with a Topic Sentence
that
 Narrows the focus of the paragraph
 Accurately predicts the direction of the paragraph
 Refers back to the Thesis statement

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Body Paragraphs continued
Body paragraphs must have
Unity—everything refers back to main point
Support—examples and details
Coherence—all points connect to form a whole;
one point leads to another

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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.

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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.

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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.
Transitions—words & phrases which connect your
sentences so that your writing flows smoothly.

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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

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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.

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Revision Strategies
 Look for
 Unity
 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?
 Detail and support
 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?

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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!

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IV. 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 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; don’t try to read through
looking for everything at once.

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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.
Work with a tutor!

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Self-Review
 You should never move to peer review without first
completing a self-review (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.

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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

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Summary
Clarity: make it easy to understand
Precision: say what you mean
Conciseness: don’t waste words
Good writing is appropriate to context
Good writing is easy to understand