What is the writing process?

Answer 1

Prewriting includes anything you do before you actually begin to write. This includes coming up with basic ideas, researching information, and talking things over with friends and advisors. You can also start your outline during this stage of the writing process. Drafting is the stage where you begin to put your ideas into sentences and paragraphs. At this stage, don't worry about spelling and punctuation - just get those thoughts down on paper. Your first draft is more like a conversation with yourself, discussing what you know and how you are going to go about telling your story. Revising means thinking about your readers and changing your draft so that they will understand what you are trying to say. This is the stage where you decide whether you need more explanation or organization. Make sure that your writing is as clear and concise as you can make it, and define any terms that you need to. Be certain that you have said exactly what you mean to say, and that your logic is consistent and correct. In the final stage, check your grammar and spelling. Make certain that your manuscript is printed in the correct format, and that you have used an easy-to-read font. This is the stage where you can ask someone to read over your work and double-check for errors. One warning: don't start editing until you have finished all of the other stages. If you stop in the middle to worry about edits, you will get side-tracked and never finish the story at all. First brainstorm, then come up with a tentative outline for your points. Then write your first draft, trying your best to include all punctuation and use all other grammar rules. Then read over the draft (proofread) a couple of times, analyzing each phrase, making sure that quotation marks are included where (if) needed, and that each clause has a subject and a verb (of course, checking every other single grammar rule that could possibly apply). Once you see your errors, edit it on that draft, right next to the error on the page. Write a second draft, including all of your corrections, and proofread again and maybe one more time. Rinse, repeat, until you are confident that it is a good paper.