Instead, write as quickly as you can without stopping. Try not to worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. During the time limit, you may jot down any thoughts that come to your mind. FREEWRITINGįreewriting is an exercise in which you write freely about any topic for a set amount of time (usually three to five minutes). As you continue to follow the writing process, you will see how Mariah uses critical reading skills to assess her own prewriting exercises.
Reading prewriting exercises (and outlines and drafts later in the writing process) will further develop your topic and ideas. Prewriting strategies depend on your critical reading skills. The more you plan in the beginning by reading and using prewriting strategies, the less time you may spend writing and editing later because your ideas will develop more swiftly. The steps in the writing process may seem time consuming at first, but following these steps will save you time in the future. If this step already seems daunting, remember that even the best writers need to use prewriting strategies to generate ideas. When you judge the author’s argument, you discover more about not only the author’s opinion but also your own. While reading almost any document, you evaluate the author’s point of view by thinking about his main idea and his support. Or maybe a novel’s courtroom drama sparks your curiosity of a particular lawsuit or legal controversy.Īfter you choose a topic, critical reading is essential to the development of a topic. This cover may interest you, and you may consider global warming as a topic. For example, a magazine advertising the latest research on the threat of global warming may catch your eye in the supermarket. Different kinds of documents can help you choose a topic and also develop that topic. Reading plays a vital role in all the stages of the writing process, but it first figures in the development of ideas and topics. These can all provide inspiration for your writing. Have you seen an attention-grabbing story on your local news channel? Many current issues appear on television, in magazines, and on the Internet. These notes help writers discover what they have to say about their topic. After writers think about their experiences and observations, they often take notes on paper to better develop their thoughts. Even everyday observations can lead to interesting topics.
When selecting a topic, you may also want to consider something that interests you or something based on your own life and personal experiences. My audience: _ USING EXPERIENCE AND OBSERVATIONS Write your purpose and your audience on your own sheet of paper, and keep the paper close by as you read and complete exercises in this chapter. The first important step is for you to tell yourself why you are writing (to inform, to explain, or some other purpose) and for whom you are writing. You will also be planning one of your own. In this chapter, you will follow a writer named Mariah as she prepares a piece of writing. A good topic not only covers what an assignment will be about but also fits the assignment’s purpose and its audience. Sometimes your instructor will give you an idea to begin an assignment, and other times your instructor will ask you to come up with a topic on your own. In addition to understanding that writing is a process, writers also understand that choosing a good general topic for an assignment is an essential step. Later you will learn more prewriting strategies that will narrow the focus of the topic. Although prewriting techniques can be helpful in all stages of the writing process, the following four strategies are best used when initially deciding on a topic:Īt this stage in the writing process, it is OK if you choose a general topic. Prewriting is the stage of the writing process during which you transfer your abstract thoughts into more concrete ideas in ink on paper (or in type on a computer screen). Using the strategies in this chapter can help you overcome the fear of the blank page and confidently begin the writing process. Although many more prewriting strategies exist, this chapter covers six: using experience and observations, freewriting, asking questions, brainstorming, mapping, and searching the Internet. This chapter will give you the chance to work on all these important aspects of writing. These are the five steps in the writing process:Įffective writing can be simply described as good ideas that are expressed well and arranged in the proper order.