Finding Your Focus:The Writing Process

Everyone has a writing process.

Why do you need a writing process?

It can help writers to organize their thoughts.

It can help writers to avoid frustration and procrastination.

It can help writers to use their time productively and efficiently.

Steps of the Writing Process

Prewriting Drafting Revising

Self RevisingPeer Revising

Editing Publishing

Prewriting: coming up with your topic

Brainstorming:Getting your ideas on

paper so you can give yourself the widest range of topics possible

Listing

Political apathyAnimal abuseNFL instant replayAir pollutionTelemarketing scamsInternet censorshipNBA salary caps

Paper Topics

Brainstorming

Mapping Out Ideas

MEInternet censorship

telemar-ketingscams

NFL instantreplay

NBA

politicalapathy

three-partysystem

salarycaps

sportsmanship

animalabuse

First Amendment

Flag Burning Amend-

ment

Data Collection

Gathering ideas Locating and

evaluating research

Conducting interviews

Drafting: getting your ideas on paper in an organized way.

Give yourself ample time to work on your project.

Find a comfortable place to do your writing.

Avoid distractions. Take breaks.

Revising: reviewing ideas and making changes

Review higher-order concerns:Clear communication of

ideas Organization of paperParagraph structureStrong introduction and

conclusion

Editing: checking for correctness

Review later-order concerns:SpellingPunctuationCapitalizationGrammarFormat

Editing Tips

Slowly read your paper aloud.

Read your paper backwards.

Exchange papers with a friend.

NOTE: Spell check will not catch everything, and grammar checks are often wrong!

Publishing: creating a final copy that celebrates your work Format:

Final Draft (minimum: 1 ½ pages written, 1 page typed)

Final drafts must be written in ink or typed

Typed: double spaced, times new roman, font size 12

Written: legible, black ink, no skipping lines

The Writing Process: Find Your Focus

• Prewriting• Drafting• Revising• Editing• Publishing