The Writing Process

There are four main stages in the writing process:

Prewriting

Planning

Writing

Revising drafts

The Prewriting stage will help you to narrow, define and limit the topic you have decided to write.

The topic to write must be specific. Therefore, you have to take

into consideration the complexity of the topic, from the

general topic to the very specific topic. For instance, the chart

below:ENVIROMENT POLLUTION

OCEAN POLLUTION OIL SPILLS

EFECTS ON SEA LIFE

This is a proper way to delimit a topic.

Now you have chosen a topic and narrow it to a specific focus, the next step is the prewriting step which is to generate ideas. This is done by the process called brainstorming.Brainstorming is usefulness, it can get you started writing quickly.There are three useful brainstorming techniques.

Listing

In this technique, you just have to make a list ofevery idea that comes from to your mind aboutthe topic.You can use words, sentences, or phrases.Once you have done your list. Organize theideas into similar groups. Cross out items thatdon’t belong or that are duplications.This is going to help you to choose one list tobe the basic for a paragraph and so on.

Freewriting

In this technique, you just have to write as

much as you can about the topic until you run

out of ideas.After you have run out of your ideas,

rereadyour paper and circle the main idea(s)

that youwould like to develop.Then, take that main idea and

freeewritingagain.

The second stage of the writing process is Planning (Outlining)

In this stage, you organize your generated

ideas by brainstorming into an outline.The first step toward making an

outline is todivide the ideas, for instance: your

list, furtherinto sublists and to cross out any

items thatdon’t get belong or that aren’t

useable.

For example:

Example:

Communication Problems(1)Poor verbal skills Use incomplete sentencesLack of vocabulary (2) Americans difficult to understandNew language Unclear expressionsPoor pronunciation American talk too fastLack confidence Use slang and idioms

Example: (Outline)

Communication ProblemsA. Poor verbal skills1. Lack of vocabulary

2. Poor pronunciation

B. Americans difficult to understand

3. Use incomplete sentences

4. Unclear expressions

5. Talk too fast

6. Use slang and idioms

Finally, write the topic sentence. The topic sentence is the most general sentences in a paragraph, and it expresses the central focus of the paragraph. The topic of group A is clearly communication problems. Therefore, a possible topic sentence might be as follows.

One problem that many international students face in United States is communication with Americans.

OrInternational students in the United State face communication problems with Americans.

Now, an outline is a formal plan for a paragraph. In an outline, you write down the main points and subpoints in the order in which you can plan to write about them. The following is an example of an outline of the same topic “communication problems” Communication Problems

International students in the United States face communication problems with Americans

A. International students have poor verbal skills. (Supporting point)

1. Lack vocabulary (Supporting detail)

2. Have poor pronunciation (Supporting detail)

B. Americans are difficult to understand. (Supporting point)

3. Use incomplete sentences (Supporting detail)

4. Use unclear expressions (Supporting detail)

5. Talk too fast (Supporting detail)

6. Use slang and idioms (Supporting detail)

The last stage of the process writing is writing and revising drafts This is for writing a rough draft from your outline.

Once you have done your outline, review and make some modification if it is

necessary. You can add some examples and leave some blanks “___”to add

some pointsperceptively. Write you paragraph, following your outline as closely as

possible, don’t hesitate to add ideas that aren’t in your outline because you can lost the real point.

Don’t worry about the grammar, punctuation, or spelling. This is a rough draft!!

If any idea comes from your mind when you are writing, just note it and then check if that idea can get into your outline.

Be careful! After you have written your draft. The next step is revising it.

When you revise,you change what you have written in order to improve it. You check

it over forcontent and organization, including unity, coherence, and logic. You can change, rearrange, add or delete, all for the goal of

communicatingyour thoughts more clearly, more effectively, and in a more

interesting way.

Thank You…!!!Now You have seen the main points of the writing process, you are going to make the same process to start your essay…This is the first step!! Remember, this is the moment to choose your topic!!Check our lesson plan!!