Lecture Essay writing & presentation skills - Lecture 4: The writing process

The main contents of the chapter consist of the following: Writing styles: formal writing, informal writing; writing efficiently: conciseness, coordination and subordination, parallelism; writing exercise (pre-assignment).

The Writing

Process

Lecture 4

During our review of the writing

process…

Make sure to keep your work

organized in your writing

folder.

Three Stages of the Writing

Process

• Pre-writing - Planning

• Writing - Drafting, Editing, Revising

• Re-writing - Finishing

Unearthing Ideas

Prewriting

There is no need to think about order or correctness.

The objective is to produce as many ideas as possible.

• The first stage of the writing process is a time of discovery – you unearth ideas

• Prewriting can condense swirling mists of

thoughts into words on paper

• You uncover raw material to shape and polish later

• There is no need to think about order or

correctness

• The objective is to produce as many ideas as possible

• Brainstorming captures ideas as they flit by,

either as words, phrases, or fragments

• You can use this technique in a group or alone

• The secret of success in brainstorming is to think fast

• In brainstorming, all ideas are respected and

recorded, no matter how wild

List Making &

Scratch Outlining on

Computer

• List making can be an advantage when you

know so much about a topic you feel

overwhelmed

• Lists often have no apparent order When you start placing ideas in order, you are beginning a scratch outline

• This primitive outline is simply a revised list that herds ideas into a tentative order

• To use questioning at its best, try projecting

yourself into the role of a reporter

• What questions could you ask to elicit

information from other people?

• The traditional “five W’s and H” (who? What? When? Where? Why? How?) can be expanded

to full-fledged questions:

Full-Fledged Questions

• Who was involved?

• What happened?

• When did it happen?

• Where did it happen?

• Why did it happen?

Keeping a Journal

• Some instructors require that students keep a journal to store reactions to essays, fiction, and poetry or other ideas for writing

• Journals are also useful for recording

observations, impressions, and incidents when you conduct firsthand research

Drafting…

•   Are my thoughts organized?

• Do I stick with the same idea throughout

my writing?

• Do I know what order I want to say things in?

Writing

– Did I skip lines?

• This will allow room for yourself and others to make corrections.

Drafting…

Writing

– Did I label everything?

• Headings

• All page numbers etc.

Drafting…

Writing

– Have I used complete sentences?

• All of my thoughts are complete.

• There are no run-ons.

WRITING

Editing…

– Are my language conventions correct?

– Have I had at least two people edit my paper?

• Choose two people in the classroom, that are

on the editing stage If no one is, you may choose to look over your work again You may also write in your journal if you cannot find someone to edit your work.

Editing…

– Editing others work…

• Make sure to check for the same items you did when editing your own work.

– Check for complete sentences, check the language conventions, and use editing marks for corrections

Editing…

WRITING

• Your writing has come a long way After fixing the error you may either choose

to type your writing or hand write it on paper.

WRITING

Typing your work…

– Sign up for a time to get on the computer

– Be sure to reread your work Spell check is not always reliable

– Look in your writing folder for requirements when typing your work

– If you are given a certain type of paper to write on, make sure you have it

– There should be no errors in your work Erase all mistakes so that you cannot see them

– Use your best handwriting

– Be sure to reread your work before turning

l What you write and how you write are very important.

edit, and proofread your writing.

then submit it.

edit, and proofread your writing!

you most?

GRANT WOOD’S AMERICAN GOTHIC

AMERICAN GOTHIC: WRITING AS PROCESS

EXERCISE

• Look carefully at the picture provided of

American Gothic, the famous painting by artist Grant Wood (1892-1942) Notice the details and mood of the composition.

PLANNING AND SHAPING

• Use single words or phrases to describe the following aspects of the painting:

mentioned help create the

Replace any fuzzy words with more precise ones

• Review your paragraph for correctness of sentence structure, grammar, spelling and punctuation

Remember, Writing is a

Process

• Every writing assignment is practice for the next one

• Writing takes time

• Go through every step of the process

• Focus on your ideas first

• Focus on grammar and spelling last

• Get feedback from a peer, instructor, or tutor

• We will not focus on rules

• We will instead focus on strategies