The writing process

The writing Process 1.  Generating ideas (brainstorming) You should generate ideas for your writing through discussion and brainstorming.  You should select a topic, determine a purpose and an audience, and create story webs, diagrams, or outlines.

2.  Drafting  (your 1st draft) You will create a first draft.  You should do this by yourself.  Do not worry about spelling mistakes. You should answer these questions: Topic:   What am I writing about? Purpose: What is my purpose in writing this? to pursuade? to argue? to complain? to explain? to share? to pursuade? to inform? to entertain? to descrtibe? Audience: Who is my audience? the teacher? myself? a friend? the class? younger children? a family member? Format:   What form will my writing take? a paragraph? a short story? a poem? a letter? a diary? a poster?

3.  Revising You should always revise and edit your work (writing), by yourself,  with a friend or with the teacher.  You should look at your sentence structures and your paragraphs. Ask yourself, should I: add or leave out ideas? make ideas or sentences clearer? choose words that are more interesting? rearrange ideas? change or delete words, phrases or sentences that are not appropriate? start all over again?

4.  Proofreading and editing You should proofread your text to check and correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  You can also ask a friend to help.

5.  Publishing This is your final copy.  Your paper (work) should be ready for its intended audience.  By this stage, you should have gone through the writing process.  If you did, your work should be great.