Understanding Writing as a Process
The Second-Level Writing Handbook // Creating and Implementing Effective Writing Assignments // Responding to Student Writing // In-Class Writing Activities // Peer Response // Preventing Plagiarism // OSU Resources.
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Pre-Writing
There is a process of selecting ideas and developing a sense of direction that happens almost instinctively when the writer writes. It is the same part of the brain that thinks about items on a mental grocery list or that decides whether to mow the lawn by going around the contour or by cutting on a diagonal. Our brain is in a constant state of rehearsal. Pre-Writing activities harness that ability and use it intentionally as a tool for developing ideas, expanding possibilities, focusing goals, and so on. While anything that contributes to a piece of writing prior to actually writing the draft is considered prewriting, some of the more popular prewriting activities are: brainstorming, webbing, free writing, listing, drawing, outlining, diagramming, and talking. Each of these activities can be revisited throughout the writing process as necessary to shape ideas. It is inappropriate, during this stage, to put undue emphasis on mechanical and grammatical issues.Writing
Writing refers to the drafting process - and the shaping of the draft. Unfortunately, many writers see this step as the all-in-all of writing; the entire writing experience sometimes goes no farther than starting at the top of the page and writing until the page requirement has been met. In the ideal world, the draft is preceded by a period of idea development which focuses the writing (to some extent, at least) prior to drafting. During the writing process, students stir together the ingredients generated during their various pre-writing experiences. It is appropriate to attend primarily to content and clarity issues, while still de-emphasizing focus on surface features (spelling, homonym use, etc).Once a draft has been produced, it is appropriate and effective for writers to engage in peer response conferences and to make revisions accordingly. As the writer "tests" her work on a real audience, she is able to better evaluate the effectiveness of her writing.
