Writing process is a pedagogical term that appears in the research of Janet Emig who publishedThe Composing Processes of Twelfth Graders in 1971. The term marks a shift from examining the products of writing to the composing process of writers.
This focus on process encourages composition students to see writing as an ongoing, recursive process from conception of the idea through publication. It asserts that all writing serves a purpose, and that writing passes through some or all of several clear steps. It was part of the general whole language approach. Writing process
Steps in writing process
Generally the writing process is seen as consisting of five steps. They are:
- Prewriting:planning, research, outlining, diagramming, storyboarding or clustering (for a technique similar to clustering, see mindmapping)
- Draft:initial composition in prose form
- Revision:review, modification and organization (by the writer)
- Editing:proofreading for clarity, conventions, style (preferably by another writer)
- Submittal:sharing the writing: possibly through performance, printing, or distribution of written material
These steps are not necessarily performed in any given order. For example, the skills used in the prewriting process can be applied any time by writers seeking ideas throughout the process. It is not necessary to go through each step for every writing project attempted. The steps make up a recursive process. The instructional theory behind the model is similar to new product development and life cycle theory, adapted to written works.
By breaking the writing cycle into discrete stages and focusing on strategies at each stage, it is hoped that writers will develop an appreciation for the process of seeing an idea through to successful completion in a logical way. Rather than presenting written works as acts of genius that emerge fully formed, they are shown as the result of several distinct and learnable skills.
Prewriting is the first step of the writing process, followed by drafting, revision, editing and publishing and is crucial to the success of any writing task, yet in writing instruction; it seldom receives the attention it deserves.
Motivation and audience awareness
Prewriting begins with motivation and audience awareness: what is the student or writer trying to communicate, why is it important to communicate it well and who is the audience for this communication? Writers usually begin with a clear idea of audience, content and theimportance of their communication; sometimes, one of these needs to be clarified for thebest communication.
Student writers find motivation especially difficult because they are writing for a teacher or for a grade, instead of a real audience. Often teachers try to find a real audience for students by asking them to read to younger classes or to parents, by posting writing for others to read, by writing a blog, or by writing on real topics, such as a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.
Choosing a topic
One important task in writing process is choosing a topic and then narrowing it to a length that can be covered in the space allowed. Oral storytelling is an effective way to search for a good topic for a personal narration. Writers can quickly tell a story and judge from the listeners’ reactions whether it will be an interesting topic to write about. Two types of pre-writing are: free writing and researching.
- When free writing, you write any and every idea that comes to mind when writing.
- Researching is another name for writing, which you get information from outside sources.
Gathering information
Several other methods of choosing a topic overlap with another broad concern of pre-writing, that of researching or gathering information. Reading (process) is effective in both choosing and narrowing a topic and in gathering information to include in the writing.
As a writer reads other works, it expands ideas, opens possibilities and points toward options for topics and narrowing of topics. It also provides specific content for the eventual writing. One traditional method of tracking the content read is to create annotated note cards with one chunk of information per card. Writers also need to document music, photos, web sites, interviews, and any other source used to prevent plagiarism.
Besides reading what others have written, writers can also make original observations relating to a topic. This requires on-site visits, experimentation with something, or finding original or primary historical documents. Writers interact with the setting or materials and make observations about their experience. For strong writing, particular attention should be given to sensory details (what the writer hears, tastes, touches, smells and feels).
While gathering material, often writers pay particular attention to the vocabulary used in discussing the topic. This would include slang, specific terminology, translations of terms, and typical phrases used. The writer often looks up definitions, synonyms and finds ways in which different people use the terminology.
Lists, journals, teacher-student conference, drawing illustrations, using imagination, restating a problem in multiple ways, watching videos, inventorying interests – these are some of the other methods for gathering information.
Discussing information
Discussing information after writing
After reading and observing, in the writing process, often writers need to discuss material. They might brainstorm with a group or topics or how to narrow a topic. Or, they might discuss events, ideas, and interpretations with just one other person. Oral storytelling might enter again, as the writer turns it into a narrative, or just tries out ways of using the new terminology. Sometimes writers draw or use information as basis for artwork as a way to understand the material better.
Narrowing the topic
Narrowing a topic is an important step of pre-writing. For example, a personal narrative of five pages could be narrowed to an incident that occurred in a thirty minute time period. This restricted time period means that the writer must slow down and tell the event moment by moment with many details.
By contrast, a five page essay about a three day trip would only skim the surface of the experience. The writer must consider again the goals of communication – content, audience, importance of information – but add to this a consideration of the format for the writing process. He or she should consider how much space is allowed for the communication and what can be effectively communicated within that space?
Organizing content
At this point, the writer needs to consider the organization of content. Outlining in a hierarchical structure is one of the typical strategies, and usually includes three or more levels in the hierarchy. Typical outlines are organized by chronology, spatial relationships, or by subtopics. Other outlines might include sequences along a continuum: big to little, old to new, etc.
Clustering, a technique of creating a visual web that represents associations among ideas is another help in creating structure, because it reveals relationships. Storyboarding is a method of drawing rough sketches to plan a picture book, a movie script, a graphic novel or other fiction.
Developmental acquisition of organizing skills
Developmental acquisition of organizing skills
While information on the developmental sequence of organizing skills is sketchy, anecdotal information suggests that children follow this rough sequence:
- sort into categories
- structure the categories into a specific order for best communication, using criteria such as which item will best work to catch readers attention in the opening,
- within a category, sequence information into a specific order for best communication, using criteria such as what will best persuade an audience. At each level, it is important that student writers discuss their decisions; they should understand that categories for a certain topic could be structured in several different ways, all correct.
- A final skill acquired is the ability to omit information that is not needed in order to communicate effectively.
Even sketchier is information on what types of organisation are acquired first, but anecdotal information and research suggests that even young children understand chronological information, making narratives the easiest type of student writing.
Persuasive writing usually requires logical thinking and studies in child development indicate that logical thinking is not present until a child is 10-12 years old, making it one of the later writing skills to acquire. Before this age, persuasive writing will rely mostly on emotional arguments.
Writing trials
Writers can also use the writing phase to experiment with ways of expressing ideas in the writing process. For oral storytelling, a writer could tell a story three times, but each time begin at a different time, include or exclude information, end at a different time or place. Writers often try writing the same information but using different voices, in search of the best way to communicate this information or tell this story.
Recursion
Writing is recursive, that is, it can occur at any time and the writing process can return several times. For example, after a first draft, a writer may need to return to an information gathering stage, or may need to discuss the material with someone, or may need to adjust the outline. While the writing process is discussed as having distinct stages, in reality, they often overlap and circle back on one another.
Variables
Writing process varies depending on the writing task or rhetorical mode. Fiction requires more imagination, while informational essays or expository writing require stronger organization.
Persuasive writing must consider not just the information to be communicated, but how best to change the reader’s ideas or convictions. Folktales will require extensive reading of the genre to learn common conventions. Each writing task will require a different selection of writing strategies, used in a different order.
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