Study Strategies The Writing Process Many people consider math and writing to be wholly unrelated, but this is not the case. After all, you are reading a math textbook right now. Further, nearly every profession that involves math also requires some writing, whether it is in the form of a lab report, a memo, or simply an email to colleagues. As a college student, you will also, of course, be asked to do a great deal of writing as you work toward your degree. The step-by-step skills below will help you write more successfully in any context. • Decide what your goals are for the piece of writing. Do you need to communicate an opinion? Explain a decision to a coworker? • Do a freewriting exercise to help start your thinking: Write continuously on your topic, without stopping, for 5 to 10 minutes. • Defi ne the main point, or thesis, of your piece of writing. What is the core of what you want to say? • Construct an outline. Think of this as the scaffold on which you will build your piece of writing. • Write your fi rst draft. Do not let doubts get the better of you. The purpose of a fi rst draft is to give you something to work with. Give yourself permission to be creative and make mistakes. • Revise your fi rst draft, asking yourself whether it accomplishes the goal you defi ned at the start of the process. • Check your punctuation and spelling. • Put yourself in the shoes of the person who will read the paper. How might he or she suggest changing the piece of writing? • If you used anyone else’s ideas in your writing, make sure you give them credit. Plagiarism could get you kicked out of school or fi red! • Reconsider the message of your writing. Does it communicate what you want it to? 430 CHAPTER 7 Measurement and Conversion www.mhhe.com/messersmith
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