Writing Process

What is the Writing Process?

a. The writing process refers to the steps someone takes to compose text. That
said, every individual writer follows his or her own writing process and it
usually comes naturally to them.
b. There are basic writing process steps that are universally referred to and
followed. Understanding them will help you develop your very own writing
process more easily.
c. Why do we need to follow a process? Following a proper writing process is
actually important for a few good reasons
e.i…
 It will help you write better and faster. By breaking down the task into
manageable steps, you can do away with the struggling and
procrastinating.
 Since you will be following individual steps, you can focus on each
better, which in turn will be reflected in the quality of the final copy.
 Practice makes perfect. The more you follow the process, the more it
will improve your writing skills.
 At the end of it, you’ll have something that is well-written, free of
grammar or spelling errors, properly formatted and of greater quality.

Why is writing process essential?

First, it’s simply a good practice to develop, especially if writing
professionally is something you’ve only started doing recently.
Running through the various stages of the writing process ensures you’ve covered
your bases. It keeps you organized and helps you work more efficiently. As a result,
you can look forward to a better finished product every time.
Second, consciously going through each stage of the writing process can be a
great way of getting unstuck when you’re struggling to take an idea to the finish
line.
Although writing is a creative endeavor, sometimes it helps to have a little more
structure. Just knowing how to begin can break down those mental barriers that
keep you from moving forward.
Third, though you may have your own routine when it comes to writing,
chances are you’re following the basic steps anyway — even if you don’t realize it.
In that case, it wouldn’t hurt to familiarize yourself with the terminology. That way,
you can keep a mental (or physical) checklist, adjusting it to fit your creative
workflow.
With all of that in mind, we wanted to take this opportunity to give you a refresher
on (or possibly an introduction to) the six stages of the writing process.
Many different processes for writing
If you have already searched the term writing process on google, you may have come across
several different types of it. Some claiming to have 3 steps, 4 steps or even 7 steps. (fig. 1)

Figure 1

a. The 3-step process is a generalization of the other process types, while the
7-step process breaks down the sub-steps in the others.
b. In the 6-step process, marketing and reflecting refer to bringing what
you’ve written in front of your audience and assessing the feedback to
understand what you could have done better.
c. The 7-step writing process here is used mostly in schools where teachers
guide the children by showing them how to write by planning and drafting
a model piece in front of the class. Then they can incorporate the input of
the children with a shared piece, which can then be evaluated, revised and
edited before publishing.

3 Steps of Writing Process

“These steps are usually used for business communication”
1. Planning
a. Analyze the Situation
- Define the reason or purpose for writing and develop an audience
profile.
b. Gather Information
- Determine the needs of the audience and gather information required
to satisfy those needs.
c. Select the Right Delivery Vehicle
- Determine the best medium (delivery vehicle) for communicating the
message.
d. Organize the Information
- Define the main communication idea and select a direct or an indirect
approach. Outline the communication content.
2. Writing
a. Adapt to the Audience
- Connect with your audience by being sensitive to their needs and using
a “you” attitude.
 - Build a strong relationship with the audience by establishing
credibility and projecting your company’s brand image. Use a
conversational tone, plain English, and an appropriate voice to deliver
the message.
b. Compose the Message
- Choose strong words that create useful sentences and coherent
paragraphs.
3. Completing
a. Revise the Message
- Evaluate the content and review it for readability. If required, edit the
content and rewrite for conciseness and clarity.
b. Produce the Message
- Use useful design elements for a clean and professional layout.
c. Proofread the Message
- Review the communication piece for errors in the layout. Check the
spelling and mechanics as well.
d. Distribute the Message
- Deliver the message using the chosen communication vehicle. Make
sure that all documents and files relevant to the communication item
are successfully distributed.
“The more you use the process, the effective you became at writing communication”

4 Steps of Writing Process

“These steps were also known as a recursive process. While you are revising, you
might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas.”

1. Pre-writing
a. Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft of your document.
It includes thinking, taking notes, talking to others, brainstorming,
outlining, and gathering information (e.g., interviewing people,
researching in the library, assessing data).
b. Although prewriting is the first activity you engage in, generating ideas is
an activity that occurs throughout the writing process.
2. Drafting
a. Drafting occurs when you put your ideas into sentences and paragraphs.
Here you concentrate upon explaining and supporting your ideas fully.
Here you also begin to connect your ideas. Regardless of how much
thinking and planning you do, the process of putting your ideas in words
changes them; often the very words you select evoke additional ideas or
implications.
b. Don’t pay attention to such things as spelling at this stage.
c. This draft tends to be writer-centered: it is you telling yourself what you
know and think about the topic.
3. Revising
a. Revision is the key to effective documents. Here you think more deeply
about your readers’ needs and expectations. The document becomes
reader-centered. How much support will each idea need to convince your
readers? Which terms should be defined for these particular readers? Is
your organization effective? Do readers need to know X before they can
understand Y?
 b. At this stage you also refine your prose, making each sentence as concise
and accurate as possible. Make connections between ideas explicit and
clear.
4. Editing
a. Check for such things as grammar, mechanics, and spelling. The last
thing you should do before printing your document is to spell check it.
b. Don’t edit your writing until the other steps in the writing process are
complete.
“In these steps, the process can repeatedly be assessed until its completion”

5 Steps of Writing Process

1. Prewriting
a. Prewriting involves preparing, organizing and developing ideas before
writing a paper, report or another piece. Organizing your thoughts is a
vital step when writing a paper because it allows you to present your
material in a way that's engaging and concise.
b. Many tend to overlook this step completely.
c. They jump right into writing without taking the time to plan and organize
their thoughts. And they end up with a low-quality piece that took a lot
more time than they hoped.
d. Taking time to complete this step is important because it helps with
gathering and preparing everything you need for the subsequent writing
steps.
e. In this stage, spend time brainstorming and conducting research to
understand your topic better and gather relevant information.
f. Rely on authoritative sources from experts in the subject area and list
them down so you can refer to them when writing your piece later to
increase its credibility.
g. It’s also a best practice to identify your target audience. Understanding
your target reader and what they want well will help you narrow down
your focus.
h. Some strategies use in prewriting
 Freewriting is writing freely without regarding quality or
correctness (grammar, spellings, punctuation). The purpose is to get
what’s in your head on to paper or screen without stopping. You can
consider this as a warmup exercise.
 Clustering is also known as mind mapping, diagramming,
bubbling, etc. and is a brainstorming method. This method uses
visualization to capture your thoughts. Place your topic in the
center and write down related ideas, terms or words that come into
your mind around it connected by lines. You can delve further into
these subtopics by breaking them down as well.
 Outlining helps with neatly organizing what you have already
found out through research and brainstorming. It’ll help fish out
the important points that will help you tell your story, from the
jumble of ideas you have gathered. And it actually makes drafting a
much easier task.
2. Drafting
a. Drafting refers to actually writing the words of the paper. As part of the
writing process, you will write multiple drafts of your paper. Each rough
draft improves upon the previous one. The final draft is simply the last
draft that you submit.
 b. Now that you have researched the topic and have an outline ready, apply
them to create a rough draft. Remember that this is only the first draft,
meaning it will be revised and edited in the later steps.
c. It’s important that you only focus on getting the ideas roughly into
sentences without worrying too much about spelling, grammar or
vocabulary here.
d. If you spend time perfecting every sentence and paragraph that you write
in the drafting stage, you’ll be more stressed and the quality of the final
outcome will be lower.
e. Instead, work through the outline you’ve prepared earlier as you write.
Write complete sentences and paragraphs, and almost as in freewriting
don’t stop yourself to look back and edit.
f. However, try moderately to use proper grammar and put together words
in a way that makes sense when you revise.
g. By the end of this step, you should have written everything you needed to
say about the topic.
3. Revising
a. This is a critical part of the writing process. It’s during this phase that you
will revisit the draft and improve it by modifying and rearranging the
content. To make it more appealing to the target audience you can add,
rewrite or delete sentences or paragraphs.
b. And as you reread your draft, you will detect areas that need to be
improved to reinforce your argument better. It may require you to do a
little more thinking, and even in some cases more research, to find the
information you need to logically prove your point.
c. You don’t have to do this step alone. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can
help provide new insight that you might have missed; you can ask for help
from your colleagues or peers during this stage.
d. You can revise your draft as many times as you want. However, it’s better
to wait at least a few hours if not a day to revise you draft again after the
first attempt.
4. Editing
a. Editing requires you to fix grammar mistakes, spelling or punctuation
errors, repetition, and style. This is why you should wait to edit until you
are done with revising your piece; for there’s no point in editing something
you will later delete or rewrite.
b. You can make this another chance to ensure that your article delivers
what your title promises. It’s better to get someone else to read your piece
in this step as well, for they may find errors that you might have gotten
too tired to notice after sifting through it for dozens of times.
5. Publishing
a. This is when it comes sharing your piece to your audience.

6 Steps of Writing Process

1. Prewriting
a. As the name suggests, the prewriting stage consists of the work you do
before you actually start writing your book.
b. This stage tends to vary the most from one author to the next, as everyone
generates ideas differently. Ultimately, it comes down to how you
brainstorm and flesh out concepts that pop into your head.
c. Task you may perform during this process
 Jotting down notes about a real-life scene
 Drawing inspiration from a childhood event
  Gathering information about a topic that interests you
 Thinking about how a character should look, sound, and act
 Pulling out part of a writing prompt
d. When one of your ideas begins to take shape, that’s when you move on to
the next stage.
2. Planning
a. It’s fair to say that planning is one of the most important stages of the
writing process.
b. Without at least a general sketch of your characters or path for your plot,
you’re more likely to hit a roadblock halfway through writing.
c. By planning ahead of time, however, you can typically avoid such an issue
and have a much easier time crafting your book.
d. And it’s worth noting there are pros and cons to each.
e. No matter how you operate, you should put time and effort into your
initial outline, allowing yourself some flexibility in terms of story
structure, character development, and more.
3. Drafting
a. The drafting stage is all about getting your words down on paper
4. Revising
a. Things you must include when revising
 adding details to your readers need to understand what’s going on
 Rearranging passages to improve the flow or pacing of the story
 Removing sections that don’t fit or add little value
 Eliminating awkward sentences or language
 Ensuring your character’s actions make sense
 Balancing exposition and dialogue
 Making each scene as compelling as possible
b. Made all necessary revisions until your satisfied with it
5. Editing
a. This is when you tune your paper
6. Publishing
a. This is when it comes sharing your piece with your audience.

7 Steps of Writing Process

1. Planning
a. The planning stage involves brainstorming, which takes into account your
writing purpose and goal. It’s also the stage to connect your ideas using
graphic organizers
b. The prewriting stage is when you ask the following questions:
 What will I write?
 What is the intended purpose of the writing?
 Who is the audience for your writing?
c. Answering these questions ensures that you start your writing with the
end in mind
2. Drafting
a. Before your content is ready for publishing, you must have created a
couple of drafts.
b. Through drafting process, you can write freely from the beginning to the
end. What’s more, it provides a way to quickly draw from your outline or
list of main plot points — depending on your writing process.
3. Sharing
a. After completing the first draft, it’s time to take a break and share the
text with others.
 b. While it may sound a bit scary at first, the feedback will help you evaluate
elements of your writing. These include the composition, structure, and
overall effectiveness.
c. Consider sharing your first draft in the following places:
 Your email list — if you have one
 Online writing groups and forums
 Social media groups for writers
 Social media group for a specific genre
d. n the end, you’ll know whether your first draft fulfills the intended
purpose and appeal to your audience. The feedback also tells you if your
writing is clear, enjoyable, and easy to read.
4. Evaluating
a. This writing process involves doing a full evaluation of your first draft.
b. At this stage, you have to take the feedback that you’ve received into
account. It’s also an excellent opportunity to address possible mistakes
with grammar or mechanics.
c. For fiction writers, this writing stage allows you to ask whether the
readers like your main character. Likewise, non-fiction writers have to ask
if their content addresses their audience’s questions.
d. After evaluating your work, you can move to the revision stage of writing.
5. Revising
a. Revision involves making changes to your work based on the feedback you
received and thorough evaluation. This writing process is especially useful
for fiction writers.
b. Along with correcting structural problems in your story, it also allows you
to find loose ends and tie them up. You can also add or remove content to
improve your write-up’s flow and usefulness.
c. When you’re done revising, you’ll have a new draft that takes you closer to
your writing goal.
d. At this point, your newest revision becomes your latest draft.
6. Editing
a. The editing aspect of the writing process is about eliminating possible
errors in your revised content. These include elements that can affect your
text’s accuracy, clarity, and readability.
b. The editing process also addresses misquoted content, factual errors,
awkward phrasing, and unnecessary repetition.
7. Publishing
a. The last stage of the writing process involves sharing your text with your
audience.

What is the Most Important Step in the Writing Process?

Educators have not reached a consensus on the most important writing process.
Some would argue that the prewriting stage is the most critical for completing a
piece of writing.
After all, brainstorming is required to create an idea that’ll eventually become the
content. Besides, writers can use the prewriting stage to avoid or overcome writer’s
block.
References:
Edgy:The Writing Process: A Seven-Step Approach for Every Writer (2021)
https://edgy.app/writing-process
MB marketingbinder: Three Step Writing Process Cheat Sheet (2019)
https://marketingbinder.com/product/three-step-writing-process-cheat-sheet/
The fussy librarian: The 6 stages of the writing process: A helpful guide for authors
(2020) https://www.thefussylibrarian.com/newswire/2020/06/11/the-6-stages-of-the-
writing-process-a-helpful-guide-for-authors
Comerative Media Study Writing:Resources for Writers: The Writing Process (2018)
https://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/resources/writers/writing-
process/#:~:text=Writing%20is%20a%20process%20that,drafting%2C%20revising%
2C%20and%20editing.
Creatly:The Ultimate 5-Step Writing Process for All Writers (2021)
https://creately.com/blog/marketing-sales/writing-process-steps/