The Writing Process

Writing! As you may know, in school, the most common form of

writing is the 5 paragraph essay. This form of essay is used often because it is a simple formula

for how to write. Introduction paragraph

3 body paragraphs

Conclusion paragraph

It helps new writers learn the writing process.

Writing is NOT limited to 5 paragraph essays. There are countless ways to create a piece of writing.

We are starting with this format to help you all understand how to write. As the year goes by, you will write in other ways as well.

The Five Steps

Pre-Writing Writing/Drafting Editing Revising Publishing

Where do I start? Look for inspiration from sources like:

Film Music Art Magazines Research Personal experiences Dreams

Tips for getting started/methods: Free writing Journaling Brainstorming Webbing/mapping Graphic organizers Visualization

Pre-Writing: The first step!

When beginning Pre-Writing, the first thing you need to do is answer the following:Purpose: why are you writing this piece?

Form: how are you writing it? (the format)

Audience: who are you writing it for?

Ideas: what are you writing about?

Example

Purpose: “I am writing this essay to inform my audience about what I believe in and why”

Form: “This essay is a five paragraph narrative essay”

Audience: “My audience is Mrs. Heinze and my class”

Ideas: “My essay is about how I came to believe in chances”

Purpose: What are some purposes for writing? There are 4…

Who can name them?

4 Purposes for Writing:

InformEntertainPersuade/ArgueExpress self

Form: type of writing being used Textbooks Nutrition labels 5 paragraph essays Guide books Picture books Articles Etc.

All types of writing fit within one of the four Purposes of writing!

Audience: Who are you writing for? Consider their age

This determines the language you use! Example: If you are writing for young children, you will use

simple language. Example: If you are writing for a doctor, you will use more

complex language.

Consider their level of existing knowledge This will determine the terminology. Example: If you are writing about rocket science to a group

of 8th graders, you will have to explain specific terminology.

Ideas: What are you writing about? This is the topic of your essay. This year, we will be writing about the following topics.Narrative Essay: “This I Believe”/What do you

believe in and why?Argument/Research Essay: “Is it ethical to do

medical testing on humans or not?”Human Rights/Research Essay: “My Human

Rights Hero”Autobiography Project: “Who am I?”

You can come up with ideas for things to talk about in your writing through a variety of methods!

Ideas: Brainstorming

Brainstorming is the process of writing down words and phrases. Typically this is a list down your page!

Get out a blank piece of paper and label it “Ideas Examples”

On the first line, label it “Brainstorm”For this example, I will give you about

three minutes

Brainstorm Example

In the next three minutes, complete a brainstorm about the following topic:Movie Titles!

Ideas: Freewriting

A free write is where you just sit down and write. You write sentences, but don’t worry about spelling and grammar. The point is to keep your pencil going at all times.

Underneath where you completed your brainstorm, label the next section “Free Write”.

You will have about three minutes to complete this section.

Free Write ExampleIn the next three minutes, complete a free write about the following topic:Friday!

Ideas: Clustering/Webbing/Mapping This is useful when you already have a main

idea chosen, but need to come up with the details.

Writing down an idea in a center circle, then coming up with connecting/similar ideas.

Underneath where you completed your Free Write, label the page “Web”

You will be given 3 minutes to complete a web.

Main Idea

Web ExampleIn the next three minutes, complete a web about the following topic:Fads! (what is currently popular in our culture. Consider clothes, music, things we say, celebrities, technology, brands, cars, etc. Think about what is on the news and television.)

Pre-Writing Continued…Narrowing/Widening your

topic! Once you have determined your purpose, form, audience and ideas, it is often necessary to narrow or widen your topic.

You have to consider the length of the essay you are writing. If you only have five paragraphs, you need to think about whether or not your topic will fit. Narrow your topic: make your topic more specific if your

topic is too broad! Widen your topic: add more to your topic if you don’t have

enough to talk about.

Pre-Writing: Narrowing your topic More often than not, students need to narrow their topic.

For example: the topic Soccer is very broad. You could not cover the entire sport in five paragraphs.

In this case, you must narrow your topic to make it more manageable.

Soccer

____________________________________Positions on the soccer team:

goalie

_______________________________Skills needed to be a goalie

Pre-Writing Continued: Key PointsOnce you have decided on a

topic for your essay, the next step is to choose your key points.

How many key points are there in a 5 paragraph essay?

Key PointsThere are THREE key points in a five paragraph essay.

This is the same number as body paragraphs!

Key Points ExampleExample: Lets look back at the topic

we narrowed! Skills needed to be a goalie.

On your piece of paper, underneath where you wrote your map, label your page “Key Points”

In the next three minutes, come up with three key points for the topic of “skills needed to be a goalie”

Pre-Writing: Thesis StatementA thesis statement: one sentence that

summarizes the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, etc., and is developed, supported, and explained in the text by means of examples and evidence (the key points).

To write your thesis statement, you will combine your topic with your three key points into one sentence.

Thesis Statement ExampleOn your example paper, label the

next section “Thesis Statement Example”

In one single sentence, combine the topic “skills needed to be a good goalie” with the three key points you came up with.

Remember, this is ONE SENTENCE!

Thesis Statement Practice Label your paper where you left off with

“Thesis Statement Practice” In the next 5 minutes, choose one of the

following topics, and then come up with 3 key points and a thesis statement! Homework Parents Television Birthdays Camping

ONE FINAL STEP: The Pre-Writing Plan!To bring this all together, you will

complete a Pre-Writing Plan! This is made up of all of the parts we just discussed!

Once you have your Pre-Writing Plan written, the actual process of writing your essay is easy!

Really! It is!

Pre-Writing Plan Outline! 1.

Purpose: __________________________________________________________________________

Form: _____________________________________________________________________________

Audience: ________________________________________________________________________

Ideas: ____________________________________________________________________________

2. Brainstorm/Free Write/Map: ________________________________________________

3. Narrow/Widen your topic: __________________________________________________ (If your topic doesn’t need this step, just write “My topic does not need to be

narrowed or widened.)

4. 3 Key Points: 1.________________________________________________________________________________

2.________________________________________________________________________________

3.________________________________________________________________________________

Thesis Statement: _____________________________________________________________

After the Pre-Writing Plan is complete, you will move on to the Rough Draft!

The Rough Draft! Finally! Rule Number One: SKIP LINES!Rule Number Two: Get your ideas down on paper; don’t try to make them perfect during this step of the writing process. The more you get down on paper, the easier the rest will be!

IntroductionThe intro paragraph states the topic of the essay and includes the thesis statement in an interesting and informative way!

Introduction: Things you SHOULD doDO mention to the reader what

you are writing about- Introduce your topic!

DO capture the reader's attention- be interesting!

Introduction: Things you SHOULD NOT doDo NOT introduce yourself as

the authorDon’t say “My name is bob and…..”

DO NOT begin with “I am going to write about…”

Introduction: The paragraph should be represented as follows

Introduce your subject (generally) and get your reader’s attention

Gradually narrow down the subject, getting more specific. Lead them into your thesis statement.

Use the thesis statement from your Pre-Writing Plan as the last sentence in this paragraph!

How do we get the reader’s attention? Begin with an amusing tone State with a simple fact that will be important in the essay

later Use a startling fact Use a confession Use a quotation Hint at what is to come Open with a bold statement Open with a challenge Open with a personal experience Begin with how you felt at a specific moment in time

Now, let’s go ahead and write our intro On a clean sheet of paper, label it “Rough Draft” In the margins at the top, write yourself a reminder

to skip lines Get out your Pre-Writing Plan Make sure you skip lines and indent at the start of

the paragraph! Remember to start off with a hook- get the reader’s

attention. Slowly narrow your topic down toward your thesis

statement. Your thesis statement will be the last sentence of

your introduction paragraph.

The Body/Supporting Paragraphs There are 3 paragraphs in the body of a 5 paragraph essay! This is the same number as the number of key points!

You will write a paragraph for each of the key points you mentioned in your thesis statement.

In each paragraph, ONLY discuss that key point. The entire paragraph should revolve around the key point and support what it is saying.

These paragraphs support and explain your thesis statement in detail.

The length of these paragraphs will vary based on how much information you are including.

The body of the paper could be represented like this:Paragraph 1: Topic sentence/key point, followed by supporting details

Paragraph 2: Topic sentence/key point, followed by supporting details

Paragraph 3: Topic sentence/key point, followed by supporting details

Body Paragraphs: Writing TipsUse transitions: these show how idea

relate to each other. This can be from sentence to sentence or paragraph to paragraph.

Include a topic sentence at the beginning of each one. This means bring up your key point.

Follow your topic sentence with supporting details. These should give evidence and information to support the key point.

Body Paragraphs: Writing TipsHave you ever heard anyone speak in a

monotone? Boring, right?

This is what your writing sounds like when you lack sentence variety. In order to combat this, we need to use sentence variety.

Sentence variety:Include different lengths of sentencesInclude varying words. Be sure not to use

the same pattern of words or specific words.

Now, let’s write our body paragraphs! On the Rough Draft paper that you already wrote your Introduction on, we will add our body paragraphs.

Remember to skip lines! Indent at the start of new paragraphs Use your three key points from your Pre-Writing

Plan as a guide for what to include in each paragraph.

Start each one with a topic sentence. This sentence should bring up your key point.

The other sentences in the Body Paragraphs should support your key points.

Remember, this is a rough draft. Get as much down on paper as you can. We can improve it later!

After you have written the Body Paragraphs…Highlight the topic sentences in each of the

Body Paragraphs.Circle the supporting details.Do you need to add more for the details to

make sense?Do you have sentence variety? Check that

all sentences are different in length and word choice.

Check for errors. FIX THEM!Don’t you just love writing essays?

Writing the ConclusionThe Conclusion should:

Restate the main idea of the essaySignal an end to the reader.

When you read or view something that ends abruptly, you probably feel a little let down or confused. You can avoid this by having a clear

conclusion.

Conclusion

1.Restate your thesis. This should have the same details, but be said in a different way.

2.Broaden the subject out to more general ideas or look to the future.

3.Sum up what you have said in a general and interesting way, but don’t just repeat exactly what you have already said.

4.Make sure that the introduction and the conclusion tie together.

The Conclusion could be represented like this:

Restate the thesis in different words.

You don’t have to mention every single key point again.

Broaden the topic back to more general ideas.

Lead your readers out of the paper.End the paper with a powerful statement,

something that shows

the end of the paper. Leave the reader with a strong

statement, get them to apply the essay to their own life.

Revise and Edit…Aren’t they the same thing?Revise: Large changes in the overall

organization, structure and phrasing of your work.

Edit: Changes in the word by word aspect of your work. Edits are more focused on fixing errors in spelling, capitalization, grammar, punctuation, etc.

Revise and Edit Roadmap Using the Revise and Edit Roadmap I have printed for you,

you will proceed to make changes to your essay. You must do EVERY SINGLE STEP. If you are doing what you need to and putting forth effort,

this should take more than one class period. MAKE AN EFFORT. I can tell who really tries to improve their

essays when I read the final draft. It makes a big difference. The final step of this roadmap is having Mrs. Heinze (me)

check your work. All of the other steps must be completed first.

You will be writing multiple drafts of all essays. Be sure to make significant changes and improvements.

THE FINAL DRAFT! WOOOHOOOO!This is the final step in the writing

process. There are specific rules for this step!

1.ALL FINAL DRAFTS MUST BE WRITTEN IN BLUE OR BLACK INK, OR TYPED AND PRINTED OUTSIDE OF CLASS!

2.YOU MUST SKIP LINES/DOUBLE SPACE! ALSO, FOLLOW MLA FORMAT!

Hand Written Final DraftsMust be legible. If I can’t read it, it might as well not be on the page!

Must be in DARK BLUE or BLACK pen.

DO NOT WRITE ON THE BACK!!!Skip lines!Follow MLA formatting rules!Indent at the beginning of each paragraph.

Typed Final Drafts MLA Format Double spaced Font has to be Times New Roman, 12 pt. font 1 inch margins Make sure your header has the same font as the

rest of the paper (Microsoft word has the default set so the header isn’t the same font as you choose for the rest of the document)

Indent the first line of each new paragraph DO NOT BOLD OR UNDERLINE THINGS! And no

emoticons