Learn Four Stages of the Writing Process
Think of Writing as a Process of Discovery

1.1 LEARN FOUR STAGES OF THE WRITING PROCESS

The writing process is divided into four major stages: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing.

1.1a PREWRITING

is the stage in which you gather informationódetails and ideasóabout your topic:

Writing Down What You Know: You can begin by writing down what you already know about a topic. Then, you can focus and limit that information so as to write a preliminary thesis statement, which expresses the (main or central) idea that you want to develop, defend, prove, or explain in your writing.

There are several ways to record information you already know: listing, focused freewriting , clustering, and drawing a subject tree are explained in the next chapter. So is brainstorming, which involves exchanging facts and ideas with one or more other people who know something about your subject.

If you need to find additional information, you can use two other methods:

Interviewing people who can provide valuable information about your subject. College professors, government officials, and even members of your family can often provide useful facts and insights.

Researching your subject by checking books, articles, pamphlets. CDs, online databases, and resources in your college library or by using the Internet.

1.1b DRAFTING

involves writing an outline and a rough draft. However, it begins with your reviewing the notes you made during prewriting and then focusing that information on one idea you believe you know most about or that is most worth writing about. That idea will be your central or main idea, and it will be expressed in a preliminary or working thesis statement. (You will read more about central ideas and thesis statements in Chapter 3.)

The next step is to write an outline, which will act as a plan, guide, or blueprint for putting down and organizing your ideas and information when you write the first (rough) draft of your essay. (You will learn more about these skills in Chapter 4.)

1.1c REVISING

is the stage in which you rewrite draft after draft of your paper. Revising gives you the opportunity to add, delete, or move paragraphs around; change the organization of your entire paper; and add, delete, or rewrite sentences. Revising can also help you sharpen the paperís focus and make it more convincing by adding important details; eliminating facts and ideas that lack relevance; and more important, rewriting or refining the paperís thesis.

1.1d EDITING

means reading the best of your rough drafts to correct errors in grammar, punctuation, diction, sentence structure, spelling, and other common errors that decrease the effectiveness of your message because they distract the reader or even interfere with clear and precise communication. Editing also means combining short, choppy sentences, varying vocabulary, and making word choice more precise, effective, and interesting.

The editing process is not complete, however, until you have proofread your final, edited draft. Make sure to check closely for spelling and typing errors and to correct punctuation as necessary.

CAUTION:
If you use a word processor, donít rely on your spell checker to catch all misspellings. As a rule, computer spell checkers donít recognize misspellings of proper names, nor can they distinguish between homonyms, words that sound alike but are spelled differently, such as their, theyíre, and there.

1.2 THINK OF WRITING AS A PROCESS OF DISCOVERY

Writing is a process of steps, one leading to the next. However, donít think that, just because you have completed step one, you can proceed to steps two and three without ever looking back. In fact, it is only natural to stop at several points along the way, to look back and evaluate what you have written, and to make changes as needed.

Say you are a police officer who has to write up a report of an automobile/tractor trailer accident. You review the notes you made at the scene, which include your description of the road conditions and of the damage to the vehicles involved. Also included is information from eyewitnesses whom you interviewed shortly after the accident. Back at headquarters, you make a scratch outline and write a quick first draft before you realize that you havenít said anything about the speed at which the vehicles approached the intersection. You also realize that you need to be more specific about the weather conditions and the length of the skid marks made by the car before it struck the truck.

The only thing to do is to return to the prewriting stage and gather more information by re-interviewing eyewitnesses and re-inspecting the scene of the accident to gather missing information.

The writing process, if followed rigorously, will rarely take you on a straight path directly from prewriting to final product. You might have to double back to gather informationóinformation you didnít know you needed until you began to draft your paper. You might also have to eliminate facts and ideas that seemed important when you were taking notes but that lost their relevance after you wrote your first draft and revised your thesis.

Writing always involves discovery. Thatís what makes it exciting. The more you discover about a subject, the more you understand it, and the more likely you are to change what you thought you wanted to say when you began. Donít mistake such changes as signs of indecision or confusion. They are important stages in any project, and they usually mean you are developing important writing and thinking skills.

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