The Writing Process

UNDERSTANDING THE WRITING PROCESS

Chapter 2

The Writing Process

Writing does not happen at once. There are several steps that need to be followed when writing for academic essays: Invention Arrangement Drafting and Revising Editing and Proofreading

Invention

Also called prewriting, it is during this stage that you decide what you want to write about and begin to gather information about your topic.

Invention is a creative process, so you should let your ideas flow without interruption or worry.

The invention stage is also a “work-in-progress” stage, which means that your plans may change the more you refine your ideas.

Setting the Limits

Take time to consider the situation of your writing by thinking about: Length – How much writing do you need to

accomplish? Purpose – why are you writing? Audience – who are you writing for? Occasion– what are you expected to write

about? Knowledge – What do you know about the

subject?

Invention: Finding Ideas

Free Writing – writing for a set period of time about a particular topic without stopping or worrying about grammar or spelling.

Looping your Free Writing – when you are done writing review your work and underline key ideas or sentences. Next, begin a new free write using what you underlined as your new focus.

In-class Activity

Directions: Take five minutes to freewrite topics for Essay 1. After the first five minutes, read your free write. Underline a key word or sentence and free write about what you underlined for another five minutes.

Invention: Finding Ideas

Brainstorming – generating ideas or phrases regarding your topic. Unlike a free write, a brainstorm doesn’t need to be written in sentence format. Single words or short phrases will work

Be creative – don’t limit yourself to a neat list. Write wherever you need to and feel free to underline, star, circle or make other marks on your paper.

In-class Activity

Directions: On a new piece of paper, take five minutes to brainstorm topics for Essay 1. Feel free to be a creative in generating your ideas. It might be a good idea to mark key words or ideas.

Invention: Finding Ideas

Questioning – Applying basic questions to discover more about a topic. These questions can include the 5 Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. Asking how can also be helpful.

In-class Activity

Directions: Take five minutes to use questioning to generate topic ideas. Use the information from your Magazine Pitch and the Essay 1 Prompt to help your generate ideas.

Invention: Finding Ideas

Journal Writing – journals are usually notebooks or electronic documents where you can jot down your ideas and thoughts about an essay for your personal use.

Be generative and regular – a journal becomes most useful when you use it regularly and when you write enough material to help aid you in the writing process.

In-class Activity

Directions: Pretend you are writing a journal entry about Essay 1. Write about what you’ve done so far and what you need to do in the future. Be sure to generate some ideas or thoughts as you reflect on the writing process.

Invention: Grouping Ideas

Clustering – also known as webbing or mapping, asks to you diagram the ideas you generate by their relationships to one another.

How to – one usually begins clustering by placing a single word or concept in the center of the page. Next, you begin to write related ideas around the main idea and connect them with lines. You continue branching out; becoming more specific the further out you branch.

In-class Activity

Directions: Using your free write or brainstorm, begin clustering your topics by relationship. Be sure to clearly show how these ideas connect to each other.

Main Ideas and Thesis Sentences Main Idea – is just that. The main idea or

topic you will be discussing in your writing. Thesis Sentence – is more than just the

main idea. It should be a full and complete sentence which focuses your paragraph. It should have following characteristics: Be a complete sentence Be more than just an announcement Be more than a statement of fact.

Main Ideas and Thesis Statements An effective Thesis Statement should:

Clearly express your main idea Communicate you essay’s purpose Be clearly worded

Thesis Sentence Examples

Example: The subjugation of women.Explanation: This is a main idea. It is not a

complete sentence.Possible Solution: Through the use of

harmful media images, women are subjugated to upholding impossible ideals of feminine beauty.

Thesis Sentence Examples

Example:This essay will show why the Dream Act is important.

Problem: This thesis is only an announcement of the topic.

Possible Solution:The Dream Act should be passed so that qualified students, regardless of background, can receive a good education.

Thesis Sentence Examples

Example: Language has a big impact on my identity especially being a Mexican.

Explanation: This example is a statement of fact. The writer needs to provide a more specific explanation of the topic.

Possible solution: As my experience will show, being bilingual in America is not easy because it limited my participation in society by making me socially powerless and by creating an identity which did not seem to fit the standard American identity.

In-Class Activity

Directions: Using the previous activities, create a thesis sentence for one or two of the strongest topics that you listed earlier. Be sure it expresses your main idea, your essay’s purpose or goal, and is clearly worded.