Step One: Generating Ideas
Try (a) or (b) below to get started. It’s best to complete this stage with the monitor turned off to help keep you from editing. Remember, at this point it’s all about getting something down on paper.
a) Free write about your topic for 15 minutes. Write everything you know about the topic. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling or punctuation. Feel free to write down questions you have about the topic as you write.
b) Make a bulleted list of everything you know about the topic. It’s okay not to write full sentences. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling or punctuation. Feel free to write down questions you have about the topic as you write.
Step Two: Looking At What You Have
Read through your free writing or bulleted list. Underline or circle ideas that you think are worth keeping—ideas that you might be able to develop. This includes questions you asked.
Step Three: Organizing
Look at the ideas you underlined or circled. Can group them together into categories? Are there specific points that connect to a more general point? If you were going to write a two or three paragraph essay, how might you group your points together? Try grouping your ideas together using a mind map.
Step Four: Outlining
Once you have SOME ideas grouped together, see if you can make an outline. Don’t worry about the order of your ideas or a thesis just yet. You can develop these as after you write about your topic a little.
I. Point One
a. sub-point
b. sub-point
II. Point two
a. sub-point
b. sub-point
Stuck? If you’re stuck at this point and don’t have enough ideas to create a list or outline, then you may need to do some more free writing or talk it out with a coach. It is also possible that you may need to learn more about your topic before you can begin writing about it. If you after talking with a coach don’t feel like you have anything to say, then you need to conduct some more research. Read more about your topic and then start this process over.
Step Five: Developing A Rough Draft
Now begin writing by developing each point one at a time. Start writing about the first point trying to include your sub-points. It may be helpful to use an organization tool like SEEC to develop your ideas. You can also try more timed free writing if you need to. You may discover as you write that you need to conduct more research. If so, write down the some questions or specific topics you need to look up later if you get stuck. Try to finish writing about all of your points.
Step Six: Focusing On The What
Once you’ve finished writing about all of your points, you should have what we call a rough draft. It’s likely that you will need some help to figure out if you’re saying what you want to say and if it makes sense. Try using one of feedback strategies in the drafting stage of the writing process. It is likely that you will need to revise your draft several times before you’re ready to move on to the next stage.
Step Seven: Focusing On The How
Once you’re confident that your writing says what you want it to say, you should take some time to look at how you’re saying it. Do you need to rearrange the order of things to make it more convincing? Can you add stronger evidence or examples? Read through the “How” part of the types of revision on the bulletin board. Try using some feedback strategies that help you focus on the how, like ‘Believing and Doubting.”
Step Eight: Editing
Now that you have worked your writing through several drafts, it’s likely you are ready to begin the editing stage of the writing process. There are four steps in the editing process. We encourage you to start with step one. You should try to complete all four steps to ensure you’ve thoroughly edited your work. It’s helpful if you focus on one area at a time as you edit. For example, you might want to read your writing once focusing solely on spelling. Then read it again focusing solely on grammar and punctuation. If you have teacher feedback from previous assignments, you should look through it and identify common problems you have. Then read through and edit your writing focusing solely on these problems. The last area you should address is MLA citation and formatting.
Areas of Focus (one at a time)
- Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling
- Teacher Feedback from Previous Work
- MLA Citation & Formatting
Editing Strategies
- 1.Read it Aloud
- 2. Read it Backwards
- 3. Have a Friend (or coach) Read it Aloud
- 4. Copy Editing
Having trouble fixing a grammar or punctuation problem?
Try rewriting the sentence that contains the problem. Compare your new sentence to the old one. Which one works better? If you can’t decide, write a third sentence and then pick the best one among the three.
Source: Learning In Strides (2018) by Joe Schaaf.