Unit 1: Writing

The Writing Process

Stages of the Writing Process

1. Pre-Writing

2. Writing

3. Revising and Rewriting

4. Editing and Proofreading

Stage 1: Pre-Writing: Loosening Up and Focussing

1. Gather your thoughts and information.

2. Determine the purpose of the assignment.

3. Analyze the audience.4. Write your topic/thesis sentence.5. Organize the material and create an

outline of your supporting points.

Stage 2: Writing: Express Yourself Without Formal Writing

Get started writing and follow your pre-writing plan.

Go back to Stage 1 if you get stuck.Let your thoughts flow!!!Stick to the subject!!!Ignore technical details. (this is your first

draft)Try to write it in one sitting.

Stage 3: Revising and Rewriting

This is where the real work starts: polishing and perfecting your writing.

Revision checks for variety, style, emphasis, coherence, transition, unity, detail; Revision gets rid of wordiness, unnecessary or off-topic details, and inconsistent ideas.

So check for topic sentence, sufficient specific details that support topic, and a closing sentence that restates topic in different words.

Stage 4: Proofreading : Punctuation and Grammar

Have I used proper capitalization?

Have I spelled all words correctly?

Have I checked for commas, periods, exclamation marks, quotation marks, apostrophes, colons, and semicolons.

Do all my subjects have verbs and do they agree?

Do nouns and pronouns agree in number, case, and gender?

Have I used the correct forms?

Have I avoided using the adjective form when the adverb form is required and vice-versa.