WRITING IV

“Writing Process”

Class : 6 A

Arrange By:

GROUP 1

Yoan Tamara 2019111002

Gusnita Ariani 2019111010

Steviana Kristanti 2019111021

Ivan Maulana 2019111022

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

PGRI UNIVERSITY OF PALEMBANG

2022/2023

A. Introduction
 Writing is a skill that is required in many contexts throughout life (Bowker, 2007). It
is a mental activity considered to be difficult and have many temptations. Thus, some writers
may have their own strategy in building a good construction of their writing. Writing is one
of language skills demanded to master especially for the academicians since they have to be
able to develop science, technology and art for the nation advancement. In fact, there are
many people interested in writing because it is so beneficial. For example, when people are
asked to write an academic paper or erudition, they needs to know how to write well, the kind
of good writing, the kind of reference and the steps to write the paper.

Writing is an activity that is not happening all at once. Like the way people are
thinking, writing takes time to reach its intended point before producing satisfactory results.
Davis and Lovejoy (1993) stated that writing process is not a rigid, step-by-step activity. It
usually involves many twists and turns, much doubling back and leaping forward. Still, it is
possible to see the difference in the three stages depending on whether the writers are
planning their writing, completing a first draft or revising their piece of writing.

Writing involves starting, progressing and finishing a complicated, challenging

combination of tasks. It requires the writers to activate lots of different skills and orientations,
sometimes at different stages and phases in the process, sometimes all at the same time. Some
researchers have claimed that writing can be experienced as one of the most difficult of all
skills, requiring an intricate combination of neurological, physical, cognitive and affective
competencies (Levine, 2004). While the others might claim that even if writing makes
complicated demands on their skills and abilities, it is possible to make writing easy, or at
least easy enough for it to feel worth tackling regularly and with good effect. However, all of
these things are pertinent to what is called mental process.
Mental process or mental function is all the things that individuals can do with their
minds (Halliday, 1985). These processes include perception, memory, thinking (such as
imagination, belief, reasoning, etc.), volition, and emotion (Nemes, 2008).

B. Writing Process

Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising,
editing and publishing. It is 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

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). Although prewriting is
the first activity you engage in, generating ideas is an activity that occurs throughout the
writing process.

This stage might include:

 Brainstorming ideas

 Planning

 Organizing

 Selecting ideas

The key to a great paper is in the planning. Before you sit down to write something, you
need to figure out what you are going to write about. Most of us start with a topic, and then
decide what we have to say about this topic. For an essay, you might generate a "working
thesis" or a main idea that you would like to explore, and then start collecting information
and ideas that relate to that idea.

Ways to Generate Ideas

 Free write or use a journal

 Brainstorms your likes and dislikes, and things, people, place, and hobbies that are
important to you
 Review assignments and discussion questions, and notes
 Use graphic organizers
 Participate in class or small group discussions; talk out ideas others
 Determine the who, what, where, when, why, and how of a topic
 Determine what you already know and what you still need to learn

Ways to Plan Your Writing

 Create a cluster, diagram, or web

  Create a storyboard
 Make an outline
 Identify pros and cons
 List supporting arguments
 Sort and organize note cards by topic

2. Drafting

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.

Don’t pay attention to such things as spelling at this stage. This draft tends to be writer-
centered: it is you telling yourself what you know and think about the topic.

As you work, keep the following things in mind:

Drafts are for the writer :

Our brain processes information as we write things down. You will find yourself
making connections and discovering new ideas as you are wiring your first drafts.
When this happens, you should go back to the planning stage (State1) to work in the
new ideas. You may even need to change your thesis or the angle you are taking on
the topic. Many writers wait to write their introduction until they have finished the
body of the paper.

Drafts are not perfect :

Because you are really drafting for yourself, to understand your ideas and put them
into words, you might be unhappy with your early results. Don't agonize over every
word and sentence because you'll give yourself writer's block! You will never send
off a draft to your audience without at least SOME sort of revision or a least editing.
Just get some words down on the paper even if they sound silly or awkward. You can
always go back and fix it later- that's what revision is for.
Drafting takes time :

The more complicated your writing task is, the more time you should allow yourself
for drafting. As you discover new ideas and connections, you need the time to
incorporate them into your plan! Don't procrastinate, and don't feel that you have to
finish your whole paper in one sitting.

3. Revising

Revision is the key to effective documents. Here you think more deeply about your
readers’ needs and expectations. The document becomes reader-centered. Revision works
best when you have some time to let your writing sit. You will be better able to look at your
writing with a reader's eye if you can put it aside for a day or two before working on it again.
If drafting is for the writer, revision is for the reader.

During revision you consider your writing from your audience's point of view. In fact, to
revise means literally to "re-see" or "re-look" at your writing. You may need to change the
order of your information, expand certain sections, or cut details in others. Often, you will
need to go back to the drafting stage and re-word parts of your paper. Revising is NOT
editing! Save the spelling, grammar and sentence fixes for later. Most writers find it helpful
to have someone else read their writing and thesis statement. A reader who is unfamiliar with
your document can help you identify which parts are working and which parts are still
unclear.

Revising for Audience :

 Is the level of detail appropriate for my audience (not too general or too specific.)?
 Are my ideas presented in a logical order that will be evident to the reader?
 Do I use clear transitions to help the reader follow my train of thought?
 Are my sentences clear and specific?
 Do I say what I mean and mean what I say?
 Is my tone and style appropriate for my audience?

Revising for Purpose :

 Is my purpose clearly stated for the reader?

  Do I clearly maintain that purpose throughout the document?
 Does all of my supporting information clearly relate to my purpose?
 Do I organize my ideas to best fulfill my purpose?

Revising for Form :

 Do I follow the established form of the document I am writing?

 Do I separate ideas into paragraphs with clear topic sentences?
 Do I maintain balance among my points, developing each to the same extent?

4. Editing

While revising focuses mainly on making your content clear for your readers, editing
focuses on making your documents meet the conventions of stands written English.

During the editing stage, check the following:

 Grammar
 Sentence structure Word choice Punctuation Capitalization Spelling
 Citation and document format

Don’t edit your writing until the other steps in the writing process are complete. It is this
writing process from planning to publication that provides a template for thinking about
supporting students as writers in the classroom.

5. Publishing

Writing is communication- if you have written something, you must have intended for
someone to read it, even if that person is only yourself. When you publish a document, you
are releasing it to the public for others to read. Not all of your writing will be taken through
the publishing stage, but even turning a paper in to your teacher constitutes "publishing."

Ways to publish your writing include:

  Turning in a paper to your teacher.
 Entering an essay contest
 Sending a letter to the editor.

Writing for your school newspaper, yearbook, or literary magazine.

 Post a piece of writing on the Internet.

 Writing a letter to a public official or company
 Submitting your work to a young writer's magazine

C. The students’ Role in the Writing Process

Process Writing is an approach to teaching writing that allows the teacher and the
students to go through the process of producing a text together. In process writing, students
have the chance to think about what they are going to write, produce drafts, revise, edit, and
give and receive feedback on their work before coming up with the final version of the text.
A process approach to writing contrasts with a product approach, where the main idea is to
reproduce a model text.

The writing classroom needs to be a supportive environment for students to:

 Experiment
 Innovate
 Attempt new and different forms of writing.

So, while mindfulness of an audience necessitates attention to conventions around

grammar, spelling and punctuation, students must feel they have licence to learn through a
process of trial and error.

Newkirk and Kittle (2013), reflecting on the legacy of Donald Graves, note that a
successful writing classroom is one where students feel a sense of:

 Audience
  Agency
 Purpose

a. Rationale for a Focus on the Writing Process

The recognition of the writing process engages students in writing for specific
personal or social purposes and alerts students to the conscious and considered creation of
texts. It focuses their attention, even in the very early years of school, on the need to be
attentive to authorial and secretarial aspects of writing, defined by Daffern and Mackenzie
(2015) as embracing:

b. Develop a Good Writing Process

Process is important. The way you write affects how well you write. The writing process
makes a huge difference in the quality of our copy. Problem is, most of us were taught a
lousy writing process.

c. How we were taught to write

Writing is hard because we weren’t taught to write, says Richard Andersen, author
of Writing That Works. Instead, we were taught how to edit — how to spell, punctuate and
use the right grammar.

d. Stages of process writing:

The creative process of writing a text is the focus of process writing. Writing is a
“productive” skill and the stages of a writing lesson differ from that of receptive skills, like
reading. A typical process writing lesson usually includes the following phases:
Pre-writing
In this stage, learners are asked to come up with ideas and plan what they are going to
write. This stage might include:
 Brainstorming ideas

 Planning

 Organizing
  Selecting ideas
Learners can - and should - work collaboratively during this stage. They can use
techniques such as creating lists, mind maps and charts in order to brainstorm and select
the ideas they'd like to include in their texts. This can be done in or outside the classroom.

Writing
In this stage, learners compose the first draft of their texts. As students will be given
the chance to revise and edit their texts later, accuracy of language, punctuation and
vocabulary is not essential at this point. Composing the text can be done individually or
collaboratively - learners can be given the chance to choose, according to their
preference.

Revising
This is when learners have the opportunity to look back at their texts and reorganize
ideas, add, change or remove sentences and adapt their choice of words to make sure the
ideas are being conveyed clearly. Feedback has an essential role in this stage. It can be
provided by the teacher or by peers: learners can exchange drafts and comment on each
other's work.

Editing
After writing several drafts, it is time to proofread, check grammar, spelling and
punctuation. Again, encouraging peer help and getting students to read each other's work
might be useful.
After revising, students write another draft. That means they go back to the "writing"
stage. This essential part of process writing allows learners to write different drafts as
they focus on the process, rather than on the final result.

D. Adopting a Process Approach to Writing

The following are some considerations when adopting a process approach to writing.
 It fosters creativity
Unlike product writing, process writing does not have a model text as the starting
point. That means that learners have the chance to use their previous knowledge and
start thinking about a text based on the ideas that they come up with. When planning
 to use a process approach to writing, however, it is important to think about what type
of text - or textual genre - the students will be asked to produce. If learners need to
write a narrative, an article or an essay, focusing on ideas first might be a good
choice. However, if the genre conventions are very fixed, like in e-mails, formal
letters, or reports, a product approach to writing might be more suitable.

 It encourages collaborative work

Most stages of process writing allow for group work and peer collaboration.
Learners can work together while they generate and select ideas - they might end up
many more ideas in the pre-writing phase if this is done collaboratively.
Feedback is of paramount importance when writing is seen as a process. As
learners can (and should!) write multiple drafts when this approach is adopted,
feedback is present throughout. Instead of being provided by the teacher only, there is
room for peer feedback and peer correction. For peer feedback to be effective,
however, the teacher must provide the tools for learners to give feedback to each
other. Some ideas might involve asking students to focus on one aspect of the text at a
time (e.g.: giving feedback on content first, then helping each other revise the
organization of the text, etc.)
One of the greatest advantages of teaching learners to collaborate with each
other when writing is that it resembles how writing takes place in most real-life
situations: when we write texts, before submitting it to the final reader, we usually ask
somebody to read and give us feedback. Why not trying this in the classroom as well?

 Time constraints
Writing takes time - and this is even more true with process writing. In order
to enable learners to focus on the process, it is important to give them time to go
through the stages, write multiple drafts, and incorporate the feedback they receive on
their work. Students will spend a lot of time not writing, so it is important to help
them keep their final objective in mind during the process.
 It requires support
As mentioned previously, feedback is key for a successful process writing
lesson. In addition to that, staging the lesson coherently and providing the necessary
amount of support in each phase may help learners reach their objectives more
efficiently. For example, if learners are asked to proofread, it would be a good idea to
give them tools that will enable them to proofread effectively.

CONCLUSION