Chapter 6

The Writing Process

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

a. explain the importance of writing effectively;

b. describe writing as a process;

c. illustrate some prewriting strategies/techniques; and

d. write a short composition in an organized manner.

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Writing helps us to express ourselves better through our written thoughts. It is

one of the ways that we transfer our opinion and ideas to others. A writer must be a
critical thinker. Writing style says a lot about the writer. Writing is not an inborn quality;
instead, one can achieve writing skills through thorough practice.

One way of looking at writing is that it is not a product but it is a process; thus,
one should remember that a good product depends on a good process. Writers must
have to follow a particular strategy to write well.

The process of writing is no easy feat. Whether the writing is for academic or
professional purposes, writers of all ages face the same challenges: coming up with
ideas, creating content, addressing and adequately informing about the topic at hand,
incorporating research and facts for validity, presenting the information in an organized
format, and polishing the final presentation with regards to word choice, spelling,
grammar, usage, and punctuation. Making matters worse, most writers try to accomplish
all of the above at once, aiming to get the writing over with as quickly as possible.
 As a result of this pressure, many writers find themselves staring at a blank
screen, unsure of where to start, and even if a good start is managed, roadblocks pop
up around every corner as the mind strains over what to write next and how to write it. A
common remark: “I know what I want to say, but I just don’t know how to write it.”

The solution is simple: breaking the writing process into three different phases
(prewriting, writing, and post-writing) allows the writer to focus on one aspect at a time.
This leads to successful writing, and in the long run, actually saves time— and stress!

A.Prewriting

Prewriting is the planning phase of the writing process. The prewriting stage
helps expand or narrow focus, and identify and/or organize ideas. During this phase,
writers may plan for writing by drawing pictures, making lists, brainstorming, using
graphic organizers, or conferring with a peer as they anticipate writing on a topic for a
particular audience.

Prewriting Strategies

Pre-writing strategies use writing to generate and clarify ideas. While many
writers have traditionally created outlines before beginning writing, there are other
possible prewriting activities. Five useful strategies are brainstorming, clustering, free
writing, looping, and asking the six journalists' questions
1. Brainstorming

Brainstorming, also called listing, is a process of generating a lot of information

within a short time by building on the association of previous terms you have mentioned.

Steps:

a. Jot down all the possible terms that emerge from the general topic you are
thinking about. This procedure works especially well if you work in a team. All
team members can generate ideas, with one member acting as scribe. Do not
worry about editing or throwing out what might not be a good idea. Simply
write down a lot of possibilities.

b. Group the items that you have listed according to arrangements that make
sense to you.

c. Give each group a label. Now you have a topic with possible points of
development.

d. Write a sentence about the label you have given the group of ideas. Now you
have a topic sentence or possibly a thesis statement.

2. Clustering

Clustering is also called mind mapping or idea mapping. It is a strategy that

allows you to explore the relationships between ideas.

Steps:

a. Put the subject in the center of a page. Circle or underline it.

b. As you think of other ideas, link the new ideas to the central circle with lines.
 c. As you think of ideas that relate to the new ideas, add to those in the same way.

d. The result will look like a web on your page. Locate clusters of interest to you,
and use the terms you attached to the key ideas as departure points for your
paper.

Clustering is especially useful in determining the relationship between ideas. You

will be able to distinguish how the ideas fit together, especially where there is an
abundance of ideas. Clustering your ideas lets you see them visually in a different way,
so that you can more readily understand possible directions your paper may take.

3. Free-writing

Free-writing is a process of generating a lot of information by writing non-stop. It

allows you to focus on a specific topic, but forces you to write so quickly that you are
unable to edit any of your ideas.

Steps:

a. Free-write on the assignment or general topic for 5-10 minutes non-stop. Force
yourself to continue writing even if nothing specific comes to mind. This free-
writing will include many ideas; at this point, generating ideas is what is
important, not the grammar or the spelling.
 b. After you have finished free-writing, look back over what you have written and
highlight the most prominent and interesting ideas; then you can begin all over
again, with a tighter focus. You will narrow your topic and, in the process, you will
generate several relevant points about the topic.

4. Looping

Looping is a free-writing technique that allows you to increasingly focus your

ideas in trying to discover a writing topic. You loop one 5-10 minute free-writing after
another, so you have a sequence of free-writings, each more specific than the other.
The same rules that apply to free-writing apply to looping: write quickly, do not edit, and
do not stop.

Steps:

a. Free-write on an assignment for 5-10 minutes. Then, read through your free-
writing, looking for interesting topics, ideas, phrases, or sentences. Circle those
you find interesting. A variation on looping is to ask a classmate to circle ideas in
your free-writing that interests him or her.

b. Then free-write again for 5-10 minutes on one of the circled topics. You should
end up with a more specific free-writing about a particular topic.

Loop your free-writing again, circling another interesting topic, idea, phrase, or
sentence. When you have finished four or five rounds of looping, you will begin to have
specific information that indicates what you are thinking about a particular topic. You
may even have the basis for a tentative thesis or an improved idea for an approach to
your assignment when you have finished.
5. The Journalists' Questions

Journalists traditionally ask six questions when they are writing assignments, 5
W's and 1 H: Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?, How? You can use these
questions to explore the topic you are writing about for an assignment. A key to using
the journalists' questions is to make them flexible enough to account for the specific
details of your topic.

Who?

Who are the participants? Who is affected? Who are the primary actors? Who
are the secondary actors?

What?

What is the topic? What is the significance of the topic? What is the basic
problem? What are the issues?

Where?

Where does the activity take place? Where does the problem or issue have its
source? At what place is the cause or effect of the problem most visible?

When?

When is the issue most apparent? (past? present? future?) When did the issue
or problem develop?

Why?

Why did the issue or problem arise? Why is it (your topic) an issue or problem at
all? Why did the issue or problem develop in the way that it did?

How?
 How is the issue or problem significant? How can it be addressed? How does it
affect the participants? How can the issue or problem be resolved?

The journalists' questions are a powerful way to develop a great deal of

information about a topic very quickly. However, learning to ask the appropriate
questions about a topic takes practice. At times during writing an assignment, you may
wish to go back and ask the journalists' questions again to clarify important points that
may be getting lost in your planning and drafting.

B.Writing

When writing the first draft of your text, focus on content only and FORGET about
language and mechanical aspects such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You
must write freely and try to find the best way to communicate your ideas.

Here’s what you need to do at this stage:

● Start writing.

● Write the thesis statement.

At the end of your introduction, write a one-sentence statement that is the

basis for your entire paper. A good thesis statement lets the reader know what
your paper will cover. For example, you might write this thesis statement: “There
are four possible causes for alcoholism, yet not all alcoholics drink for these
reasons.” The paragraphs that follow should support this statement, and each
paragraph should focus on one of the possible causes.
● Write the main ideas for each paragraph.

Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that states the main
idea of that paragraph. Just like the thesis statement, the topic sentence lets you
know what the paragraph contains. For the first paragraph on the causes of
alcoholism, you might write a topic sentence that states, ‘The most compelling
cause of alcoholism is genetics.’ From this, the reader will know that you will
cover the concept of heredity and alcoholism within this paragraph.

● Write the supporting details for each paragraph.

While your opinions and thoughts are important, they cannot be the legs
your paper stands on. You need to support your topic ideas by developing the
paragraphs with evidence from credible sources. Support comes in many
different forms: statistics, researched information, observations, descriptions,
case studies, interviews, personal experience, hypothetical situations, definitions,
etc.

The more specific the information, the more interesting the paragraph. So
instead of writing about all alcoholics, you might want to write about one
particular alcoholic—someone you know, someone you observed, someone you
interviewed, someone you researched.

● Write the conclusion.

The ending (conclusion) should present summative remarks and repeat

the key idea or thesis of the text in other words. Try to finish with a strong
statement that will have your reader asking for more.
Always check!

1. Coherence. This means ‘it all comes together’. If an essay is coherent, all the
paragraphs relate to the one before it and all the sentences relate to the one
before it. Transitional words and phrases (however, for example, in other words, in
contrast, nevertheless, and others) help to create bridges between sentences. You
set up the key words to an essay and a paragraph within the thesis statement and
the topic sentences.

2. Unity. The idea here is not to veer off into the woods. Stay on the path. Make sure
all sentences relate to the topic sentence and all paragraphs relate to the thesis.

C. Post-writing

These are activities that you need to do after completing the draft. It ensures that
you check the written work and edit them before you hand them in.

1. Editing

When editing a manuscript, only the structure of writing is corrected. These are
minor changes that include:

● Spelling

● Grammar

● Punctuation

● Sentence structure
 When editing, your overall story remains exactly the same – you are simply fixing
mistakes you have made while writing it, such as typos, grammar errors, and spelling
mistakes.

2. Revising

When revising your manuscript, you are changing the meaning or way in which
the reader perceives, experiences and interprets it. This can be accomplished by:

➢ adding new thoughts;

➢ clarifying existing thoughts;

➢ choosing more descriptive words;

➢ improving overall clarity of ideas presented;

➢ enhancing character development;

➢ adding more details; or

➢ eliminating unnecessary elements.

When revising your manuscript, you are literally conducting a re-VISION of your
previous work to make your story stronger and clearer to your readers.
Key Points

➢ Writing as a process consists of three stages/phases: prewriting, writing, and

post-writing.
➢ In prewriting, which is the planning phase of the process, some useful strategies
that may be used are brainstorming, clustering, free-writing, looping, and asking
the six journalists' questions.
➢ In the writing phase, the following steps are done:
Start writing.
Write the thesis statement.
Write the main ideas for each paragraph.
Write the supporting details for each paragraph.
Write the conclusion.
➢ Activities in the post-writing phase are editing and revising. When editing a
manuscript, only the structure of writing is corrected. When revising it, you are
changing the meaning or way in which the reader perceives, experiences and
interprets it.

Learning Activity
With the topic that you have chosen in Chapter 5, illustrate the use of one
of the following prewriting strategies/techniques: brainstorming, clustering, free-
writing, looping, and asking the six journalists' questions.

Sources

http://www.whitesmoke.com/the-stages-of-writing

http://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/firstandsecondyearadvising/pdfs/writing_process.pdf

http://thinkwritten.com/difference-between-revising-and-editing/

https://wat4english.wordpress.com/tag/post-writing/

https://www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/writing-process/