The Writing Process: 5 Steps to Better Writing

Process = a system of steps for completing a task

In a process, you can't move on to Step 2 until you've completed Step 1.

Once you have chosen (or been assigned) a topic to write about, you should do all of the following steps, writing down your results as you go.

0. Pre-Writing -- Before you can write anything, you need to figure out the topic, the point you want to make about the topic (your purpose for writing), your audience, and the type of writing you should do (the genre).  Once you have finished pre-writing, you will know what your thesis is for nonfiction writing, and what your basic outline is for a fictional piece.  Then you should use the five steps of the writing process to construct your writing.

1. Brainstorming – Coming up with ideas about how to fit your pre-writing together.  Sometimes this involves doing research to find out more information about the topic.  There are some techniques that can help one brainstorm, including the following systems:
   1. Webs:
   2. Compare/Contrast Charts:
   3. Venn Diagrams:

2. Organizing – Picking the best ideas from the brainstorming and putting them in some kind of order, then adding details and examples.  This is often done via outlining.

·        Outlining – Creating a skeleton for a later essay by (a) figuring out what the main topic of the essay will be, (b) what the supporting ideas and examples will be, and (c) in what order all the information should be presented in an essay

3. Drafting (or Writing) – compiling a completed copy of the essay.  Writers usually need to draft several times before publishing. 

4. Proofreading/Reviewing – After each draft, the writer needs to review the draft for errors.  There are two separate but equally important ways to review that should be done independently from each other.

• REVIEWING TIP: An author should read her writing out loud to someone else.  Humans often hear mistakes more readily than they will see mistakes.
• Revising – Reviewing writing to look specifically at the order of the explanations and the amount of detail given, as well as checking to see if the essay “flows,” if it is easy to read and to get into. 
• Editing – Reviewing writing to look specifically at the mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation) of the piece of writing. 
  • EDITING TIP: Read the last sentence first.  Then read the second-to-last sentence.  Work your way through the essay sentence-by-sentence in reverse order.  Breaking up the flow of the writing helps your brain focus on the details.

5. Publishing – turning in a completed draft that is as close to perfect as the writer can make it in the time allowed.

• When writing an expository essay, your prewriting involves coming up with your thesis.  The thesis is your opinion stated as a fact.  The thesis may or may not be true; the body of the essay should explain or prove how the thesis is true by providing examples, details, and explanations that support your three main reasons why your thesis is true.

• Once you have your thesis, you should brainstorm information that will help you prove your thesis.  You need to come up with no less than three main ideas you can discuss in your essay that will help prove your thesis is correct. 

• Organize your brainstorming.  This is a good time to find examples and details that support your main ideas about why your thesis is correct. 

• Start your drafting by figuring out your hook and beginning your introductory paragraph.

All writers do all five steps every time they write; many don't realize they're doing it because they do most of the steps in their heads.  A successful writer, however, will almost always write out all five steps to help crystalize ideas.

**If you have PowerPoint on your computer, you can click HERE for a slideshow on the writing process**