College Writing Skills: The Writing Process

This is dedicated to my students in the College Writing Skills program at ESC, though any writer--or student--will find it helpful. When I began teaching writing at the local college, I created a weekly sheet to help freshman students learn to manage the syllabus. It evolved into a "newsletter" of sorts complete with articles, study tips, and motivational quotes. I'll now post those on my blog (and use the online course page for updates and homework/assignment due date reminders). 

Whether we are aware of it or not, all writing goes through a series of stages from the initial idea to the completed product. It helps to relate the process of writing to what you know. A process is simply breaking something into steps. Many things we do daily follow a process. Think about the steps used to do daily tasks, enjoy your hobbies, or improve skills such as dance, music, sports, and so on.
Prewriting is the first step in the writing process. It  includes brainstorming ideas, settling on a subject, and selecting a topic. Brainstorming is accomplished in several ways. Making lists, creating a cluster or bubble outline (sometimes called a mind map), or journaling all help in focusing the topic.
  Prewriting also includes planning and organizing. Deciding on audience and purpose takes place during this stage. The method used for brainstorming is then turned into an outline or plan for our writing. When you complete your assignment to poll 12 people to ask whether they use prewriting, note whether they are still students or working adults. Many people who have been in their occupations for awhile and writing emails, business letters, and reports do not realize that they "prewrite" because they plan in their heads what they will say and how they will say it.
Drafting is the next step. The purpose of this stage is to get thoughts onto paper. In elementary and secondary school your teachers may have referred to the “sloppy copy.” This is the messy draft. DO NOT ever try to turn in your draft to a college instructor. They expect your papers to have gone through at least one round of revision and editing. Keep in mind, professional writers will do this many, many times before submitting it to their editors to make it as perfect as possible.
Revision is the rethinking step. At this point you will review your draft for clarity, supporting details, and move and/or cut sections to better express your point. This stage should not be confused with editing. (That is not about rethinking your approach.)
Editing and Proofreading is the final step. The purpose of this stage is to check for flow, grammatical and spelling errors, correct format, and so on.
Keep in mind that the entire process is recursive. (This word will by on your vocabulary quiz!) This means that it is not necessarily a chronological process. At any point you can go back to a previous stage to improve the overall product. Unlike say, baking a cake, in which it would be ineffective to add the forgotten baking soda once the cake is in the oven, in the writing process you can go back to prewriting and add to your plan even as you are drafting.
  Though not part of the writing process, prioritizing is vital for your academic career (and beyond). Prioritizing means setting both goals and the action steps to achieve those goals.
Breaking tasks into smaller steps creates manageable pieces. This helps in prioritizing schedules. Create goals and then set action steps to complete each goal. Remember, we eat an elephant one bite at a time; we write essays one word at a time.

Create a Routine

A version of this entry appeared on January 19, 2013 at "Wonderings & Wanderings," my blog about living the writer's life. 

A regular writing routine sets a career in motion. Finding time is tough at first, so once you've set a schedule, it’s frustrating when life messes with it. It’s okay if the schedule is sporadic from time to time. It will settle back into place when the timing is right. Until then, try to write everyday – for at least 20 minutes. For several years this was the only way I accomplished any writing. I call it "writing in snippets of time." The time adds up. So does the writing. In six days you’ll have 2 hours’ worth of work. You’ll be amazed what you might accomplish. 

If family interruptions stifle your writing plans, it’s even more important to set a regular writing schedule. Not only will it help your family realize you're serious about your writing (and if you want to receive payment, it is at least a part-time job) but it helps you take your writing seriously. 

One woman I know posted “office hours” to help family get the point. Another made a “mailbox” by taping a file folder to the door. If the kids wanted to ask her something, they wrote it on a slip and put it in the mailbox, which she checked several times a day. Only emergencies warranted interrupting. 

If you have small children, they won’t understand that you’re “working” so you may have to focus on adding up paragraphs instead of minutes. Target writing one paragraph during nap time. They’ll build to a story or article in a few days. Every little bit helps. 

Make Your Clay

Earlier this week I finally had a chance to catch up with a dear friend. We went for a walk on the beach and talked about writing. Since she has taken my writing classes in the past (that’s actually how I met her), she reminded me about something I tell my students at all levels: "make your clay and then worry about details later."

What do I mean by this? A writer’s draft is the medium of our craft which we shape and refine during revision. The real work of writing comes during revision. As writers we need to make our clay, meaning getting the words out of our heads and onto paper where we can then work and rework those words into a finished manuscript. If we were painters, we would have brushes, paints, palette, and paper or canvas to use to create our work. If we were potters, we would begin with a lump of clay and mold, shape, and work in details.

Writers, too, need something to work with--something to shape, trim away excess, add in detail, refine and illuminate. So I encourage all my writers to finish (or nearly finish) a draft before they focus on revising. Why? It’s easier to trim away the excess and add in details, develop a character, refine a plot line, and so on, if you have your basic three-part structure in place. It’s not set in stone. Word processing programs make it (thankfully) easy to move, cut, and add (and return to a previous version if necessary). But, once the words are in black type on white paper or screen, it gives the writer something to see and work with, much like the clay used by potters and sculptors.

Having something concrete to shape takes away the tension of revision for newer writers. Viewing the draft as something that includes debris or flaws to pick out takes the pressure off of creating a "perfect" first draft. The key word is "first," since many writers create multiple "drafts" before a polished piece is sent to an editor. Incidentally, the editor then refers to that much-revision MS as the “first draft,” since it is his or her first go-round in editing it.