THE WRITING PROCESS

“What is written without effort is read without pleasure.” – Samuel Johnson

What are your thoughts on writing? Try to look back and think of all the writing assignments that you did
then answer the following questions:

1. Do you find writing easy or hard? What makes writing easy? What makes it hard?
2. Do you follow a process when you write? Can you describe your writing process?
3. If you follow a writing process, which step in that process do you think is the easiest? Hardest?
4. What are your common writing practices? Are they effective? Why or why not?

Some think that writing is a gift to only a few people, but writing, just like cooking or driving, is a skill that can
be learned and improved. You cannot produce a paper all in one go; writing includes a step-by-step process
that you have to carefully follow. You have to be patient in following each of the steps in the process.

What is the goal of all writing? To communicate clearly your ideas to your readers.

The writing process has the following general steps: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
The process can be further broken down into their following sequence:

 discovering ideas by pre-writing;

 finding a thesis statement;
 developing a thesis statement with topic sentences and supporting details;
 organizing the details using an outline;
 writing paragraphs in the first draft;
 revising the draft;
 editing and proofreading; and
 publishing

THE WRITING PROCESS AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE:

The writing process is all about taking a course of action to create compelling content. The process of
writing is the creation and improvisation of content in an organized and systematic way. A writing process helps
you choose and define the writing methods, perfect your content, and impress your clients and readers with
impeccable quality.

Understanding the writing process can help improve your writing skills, because being aware of how each
part works can make writing more manageable. It also allows you to save time and be more confident as you
take on writing assignments.

Being a critical reader can help you become a better writer, but that is not enough. Being exposed to the
writing process and recognizing your own practices as a writer are ways in which you can bolster your writing
skills. Once you understand the writing process and figure out what works for you, you will be able to practice
more skilful writing and produce better compositions. Planning our writing helps us work more efficiently and
produce better outputs.

However, what happens if you do not follow the procedure prescribed for writing? Your content suffers, and
as a result, your readers do not take much interest in it. “What is written without effort is read without pleasure.”
– Samuel Johnson.

It is easy to think that writing is a one-step activity, but, in truth, it is a complex process which involves
preparation, planning, researching, writing, revising, and editing. Skipping one of these stages may be
detrimental to your written output. To successfully produce a paper, make sure to follow the writing process.
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 In writing academic papers, look for the perception of quality.

What constitutes a good paper? – relevant topic, in-depth explanation, logical organization of ideas, and
impeccable grammar.

What constitutes a bad paper? – disorganized explanation, shallow, and not direct to the point.

WRITER’S BLOCK – the inability to respond to writing task and put words on paper.

1. PREWRITING – “Thinking Stage”

Prewriting pertains to different techniques that help you discover ideas before writing the first draft of a
paper. In this stage, it is important to refrain from critiquing your ideas while they have not yet been fully
formed. You should approach it with a relaxed and open state of mind. The pre-writing stage allows you to
communicate with yourself so you can discover what you want to communicate to your readers.

Prewriting helps students to organize their thoughts. Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft of
your document. It includes thinking, taking notes, talking to others, brainstorming, outlining, and gathering
information (e.g., interviewing people, researching in the library, assessing data).

 Just start writing! Pretend you are talking to someone you know, and write everything that you can for
five minutes.
 Allow your thoughts to flow! You will be surprised at how many good thoughts you will be able to sift
from a burst of ‘scramble writing’.
 ALL writing can be edited, smoothed out, etc. But first, we need to write!

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IN PREWRITING?

 Decide on a topic to write about. The topic is the subject or the specific issue that your paper will discuss.
It is always best to limit your topic, because if you write about a broad subject, your essay will lack focus.
Your topic must be something that you know or are willing to learn more about, since you must establish
your credibility by showing you have enough knowledge on your topic. Just keep in mind that your
writing topic should be:

1. one that interests you, so that you can be passionate, personal, and comfortable when writing
about it; and
2. one that you know so well that you can be credible and convincing to your audience with your
message

 Consider who will read or listen to your written work. Think of people who will possibly read your paper.
Try to envision who they are, what they know about your topic, what they need to know about your
topic, how they feel about your topic, what their attitudes are toward your topic (are they against, for,
or neutral?), and what would be the reasons they would read your paper. Why is it important to know
your readers or your audience? The knowledge, interests, attitudes, and needs of your readers will give
you an idea as to how you will organize your points and claims in such a way that you can establish a
common ground with your readers. Remember that reading is engaging in a dialogue with the writer of
the text. In order for you effectively engage in a dialogue with your readers, you have to make sure that
you consider them when you write. Knowing your audience will help you adjust your language, tone,
and style in writing. This is called audience analysis. This will make it easier for you to convince them and
sustain their attention.

The result of your audience analysis, in a way, will dictate the tone of the paper. Tone refers to
the general mood of the essay. This also refers to the attitudes and feelings you want your writing to
reflect toward your purpose, topic, audience, and yourself. If you are writing for an audience who are
experts, you have to be careful and use a formal tone—one that will convey your knowledge and
expertise-in order to set the tone that is appropriate for them. If you are addressing an audience whose

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 knowledge is not that vast, on the other hand, you have to be informative and avoid using technical
words that will sound intimidating to them.

 Purpose - Ask yourself “Why am I writing this?” Understand why you are writing the paper. Pinpoint your
goal for writing the paper. Purpose in writing is answered by these questions: 1) What do you want to
accomplish?, 2) Why are you sending this message? Broadly speaking, your purpose may be to inform,
explain, to describe, to argue, to enlighten, to persuade, or to entertain. Your purpose may also be
reflected in the mode of paragraph development that you choose for your writing.

 Persona – Ask yourself “Whose stand point are you going to use?” Once you identify your purpose, you
need to specify your persona as a writer. Will you be a columnist, an activist, a politician, or a lawyer?
This will set the tone, language, and level of formality in your paper.

 Brainstorm ideas about the subject. This can be through freewriting and clustering or mapping.

 List places where you can research information—do your research. Look for sources that will help you
expound your topic. You can go the library, surf the Internet and find online articles and journal articles
that are relevant and related to your topic. Gather as many sources as you can so you will have a lot to
write in your paper later on. You need to make sure that the assumptions that you have about your
topic can be supported by evidence, data, and concrete examples. This can be done by making sure
that you have enough resources on your topic. Make sure that you take note of the complete
publication details for citation purposes.

Below is an example of a prewriting template:

Topic: Elections
General purpose: To inform
Specific purpose: To make the audience more familiar with the processes related to the elections
Target output: Article in a brochure
Audience: Senior high school students
Writer’s persona: COMELEC representative
Level of formality: Semi-formal

Modeling – is the process by which you, the writer, look at different works which are similar in nature with the
paper you are about to write. For instance, if you will write an argumentative paper, you can check at least
two samples of argumentative essays. Analyse the features such as the organization, structure, and language
use of the sample texts to determine how they achieved their purpose.

Although prewriting is the first activity you engage in, generating ideas is an activity that occurs throughout
the writing process. Writing is known as a recursive process. While you are revising, you might have to return to
the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas.

GENERATING IDEAS

To come up with ideas, you can do any of these prewriting activities: brainstorming, clustering,
freewriting, or asking the journalists’ questions. As you already know, brainstorming is the process in which you
list as many ideas as you can think of without censoring them. Brainstorming aims to generate as many
topics/ideas as you can in 10 to 15 minutes so that these random topics can be made into a focused topic
later on. The aim of a brainstorming exercise is not to produce a logical flow of ideas but to provide yourself
with as many choices for your topic as possible.

In freewriting, you let the ideas flow freely by writing them down in sentences. Note that there is little
need to pay attention to grammar and logic at this point; simply let the ideas run. Freewriting involves writing on
the computer or paper for five to ten minutes; even only nonsense comes out. Freewriting is writing down your
thoughts nonstop. The act of nonstop writing enables the writer to get started. Furthermore, the key to using this
method successfully is speed; you write as quickly as you can to create constant momentum for your thoughts
to keep on flowing. The rules of grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and style do not matter here.

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 After you have finished freewriting, look back over what you have written and highlight the most
prominent and interesting ideas; then you can begin all over again, with a tighter focus. You will narrow your
topic and, in the process, you will generate several relevant points about the topic. You will be amazed at how
much distance your writing mind will cover with this exercise. If you experience writer’s block, consider
incorporating freewriting into your writing process.

Also known as idea/mind mapping, clustering is a technique that uses visual/graphic representations to
show connections between ideas. Clustering is a strategy that allows you to explore the relationships between
ideas. The process of clustering uses the same steps in making an idea map: start by writing a main thought
inside a circle, and then link related concepts (subtopics) to it until you create a cluster of interrelated ideas.
The beauty of this pre-writing method is that it teaches you how to dissect an idea, or how to develop it further.

The Journalists' Questions

Journalists traditionally ask six questions when they are writing assignments, 5 W's and 1
H: Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?, and How? You can use these questions to explore the topic you are
writing about for an assignment. A key to using the journalists' questions is to make them flexible enough to
account for the specific details of your topic. For instance, if your topic is the rise and fall of the Puget Sound
tides and its effect on salmon spawning, you may have very little to say about Who? if your focus does not
account for human involvement. On the other hand, some topics may be heavy on the Who?, especially if
human involvement is a crucial part of the topic. Possible generic questions you can ask using the six journalists'
questions follow:

Who? Who are the participants? Who is affected? Who are the primary actors? Who are the secondary actors?

What? What is the topic? What is the significance of the topic? What is the basic problem? What are the issues?

Where? Where does the activity take place? Where does the problem or issue have its source? At what place is
the cause or effect of the problem most visible?

When? When is the issue most apparent? (past? present? future?) When did the issue or problem develop?
What historical forces helped shape the problem or issue and at what point in time will the problem or issue
culminate in a crisis? When is action needed to address the issue or problem?

Why? Why did the issue or problem arise? Why is it (your topic) an issue or problem at all? Why did the issue or
problem develop in the way that it did?

How? How is the issue or problem significant? How can it be addressed? How does it affect the participants?
How can the issue or problem be resolved?

The journalists' questions are a powerful way to develop a great deal of information about a topic very
quickly. Learning to ask the appropriate questions about a topic takes practice, however. At times during
writing an assignment, you may wish to go back and ask the journalists' questions again to clarify important
points that may be getting lost in your planning and drafting.

Now that you have learned different pre-writing strategies, you may want to use a writing journal to
record your ideas. A good way to sustain writing practice is the habit of journal writing. The Merriam-Webster
defines a journal as “a book in which you write down your personal experiences and thoughts.” A lot of writers
keep journals for indefinite periods of time because they always find something interesting in their lives to talk
about.

The only things you will ever need for journal writing are: your favourite pen, a nice, clean notebook,
and the drive to keep on writing. The drive to write is the most important, because a journal is no good to a
person who does not write at all. To start the habit, you will need to schedule journal writing during a particular
time of the day that you are free. It can be that 15-minute morning wait for the school bus to pick you up, the
school lunch hour, or the 20 minutes before your sleeping time. After setting up your schedule, determine how
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much writing you would like to achieve within that time period. Try stretching your writing goals a bit to
challenge yourself, yet keep it realistic at the same time. (For example, if you know your actual limit is three
paragraphs a day, then aim to write four paragraphs a day. Do not aspire, though, to write 10 paragraphs or
more a day.)

Finally, work that pen! Sit down and write down any thought that comes to your mind. Get yourself used
to the habit of finding something to talk about, so that it comes naturally to you one day. Surely, you know
more about the world around you than you probably give yourself credit for.

2. DRAFTING – “Writing Stage”

Drafting occurs when you put your ideas into sentences and paragraphs. Here you concentrate upon
explaining and supporting your ideas fully. Here you also begin to connect your ideas. Regardless of how much
thinking and planning you do, the process of putting your ideas in words changes them; often the very words
you select evoke additional ideas or implications.

At this stage, focus on the content and organization of your paper. Do not pay attention to such things
as spelling and grammar at this stage. Moreover, you have to build your paper’s credibility by using reliable
and valid sources. Make sure to employ the criteria in evaluating sources: relevance, authority, currency,
accuracy, and location of sources.

The following are considerations you have to note of when drafting your paper:

 Focus on getting COMPLETE sentences down on paper. It is more important to get your ideas down in
sentence form.
 Write sentences and paragraphs even if they are not perfect. You will return to the document and
make the necessary changes later. You can (SHOULD) modify the document later.
 Put the information you researched into your own words. Incorporate summaries, paraphrases, direct
quotations, and syntheses. Give proper credits to your sources.
 Show it to others and ask for suggestions. Seek feedback for improvement.

FEEDBACK

Feedback is an important component of the writing process. It is a response to the written work which
focuses on all aspects of writing. During the drafting stage, the feedback focuses more on the content,
structure, organization, and clarity of the message. Feedback can be classified into three: self-feedback, peer
feedback, and teacher feedback. Below are some of the questions that can be used during the feedback
stage.

Ideas/Content

1. Does the paper achieve its purpose?

2. Is the opening statement interesting?
3. Is the thesis statement clear?
4. Does each paragraph have one focus or main idea?
5. Do the supporting details support the main ideas?
6. Are the supporting details sufficient?
7. Does the concluding paragraph restate the main ideas?
8. Does the essay end with impact?
9. Does the paper provide sufficient examples and description?
10. Are your in-text citations formatted properly?

Organization

11. Does the paper use an appropriate organizational pattern and

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 structure?
12. Does the paper use effective cohesive devices?
13. Is the paper free from out-of-place ideas?
14. Are the ideas clustered logically?
15. Are the ideas sequenced properly?

Style

1. Is the word choice appropriate?

2. Does the paper showcase the writer’s voice?
3. Does the paper use different sentence structures?
4. Does the paper use an appropriate tone and level of formality?
5. Does the paper use an effective language style?

POST-WRITING STRATEGIES

This part entails looking over your draft critically, paying attention to content, organization, and mechanics
by using techniques like revising, editing, and proofreading. While revising, editing, and proofreading are
among the last things you do when you finish writing a paper, they are not always the easiest. In fact, many
students may take this part for granted – they think that once they have finished researching and writing their
papers, their work is complete. That is far from the truth. In fact, post-writing is where the hard work of adding to,
deleting from, rewording, and reorganizing your essay happens. Instead of being daunted by the task, you
should take this as an opportunity to improve your essay—after all, the post-writing stage is an opportunity for
you to discover new ideas and better ways of communicating those insights.

3. REVISING – “Improving Stage”

According to Murray (2005), “Writing is revising.” Columnist Ellen Goodman (quoted in Nadell, Langan,
and Comodromos, 2005) seems to echo that statement when she said that “What makes [her] happy is
rewriting… It’s like cleaning house, getting rid of all the junk, getting things in the right order, tightening up.”
These are professional writers, yet they acknowledge the necessity to review and revise their work.

Just like Murray and Goodman, you also have to keep in mind that writing is a work in progress; it
cannot be perfected all at once. You have to go through the process of writing.

Revision is the act of improving the original paper by applying changes based on the feedback. You
also need to apply critical thinking and evaluation skills when considering the comments on your paper. You do
not have to accept all the comments as long as there are valid reasons for doing so. You should not do the
revising all in one sitting. If time permits, give yourself two to three days before starting your revision because
having a break allows you to have a fresher look at your paper.

Revision helps a piece of writing conform to its purpose. Revision is when authors get a real workout.
Most of the important activities involving critical analysis and audience awareness occur during revision. In this
stage, the writer has to make sure that every idea is in its right place. Revision is an opportunity, not an
impediment. It gives you a chance to look at the piece of writing for a second time, allowing for perspective,
feedback, and new ideas to enhance what you started.

Revision is the key to effective documents. Here you think more deeply about your readers’ needs and
expectations. The document becomes reader-centered. How much support will each idea need to convince
your readers? Which terms should be defined for these particular readers? Is your organization effective?

At this stage you also refine your prose, making each sentence as concise and accurate as possible.
Make connections between ideas explicit and clear. In this stage, we refine and polish our writing’s content.

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 It is important to note that student writers can ask others of their opinion about the content. Seek
feedback.

Coherence is important in revision. Read your writing aloud to be sure it flows smoothly.

A.R.R.R. is an acronym all writers should remember during revision:

 Adding - Is there any other information that the reader needs to know?
 Rearranging - Is the information presented in the most logical order?
 Removing - Are there any unnecessary details? You may need to eliminate passages that do not quite
fit.
 Replacing - Could I change anything to make my expressions stronger? Ask friends or fellow writers to
take a look and give you feedback, and if something is not working, rewrite it and replace it.

Revising is about deciding which sentences to keep, which to change, and how to structure your
paragraphs so that the sentences ‘flow’ together in a meaningful way.

For example: Sometimes we do not start our paragraphs with the main idea. When we revise, we should
make sure that every sentence has a strong topic sentence to build on!

ESSAY REVISION CHECKLIST:

Still lost on how and where to start revising? Below is a handy, constructive checklist you can refer to in
whenever you write. This checklist is here to help you weed out any remaining problems you may have missed
out on.

 Do I have a big idea I want to express, an important message to send out? Do I have an audience who
will listen to me? Who is my audience?
 What is my purpose for writing? Have I achieved it?
 What language and tone do I take in my writing? What point of view and voice? Are all these
appropriate to my purpose for writing, and the audience I am speaking to?
 Do I have enough credibility to speak on my chosen subject? Can I back up all of my discussions on the
subject with confidence and sufficient knowledge?
 Does my draft make a central point? Have I defined the limits of my paper’s content well, so that only
essential information is included? Is the context of my draft established?
 Does the beginning of my draft draw/attract the readers in? Does it introduce my subject to the reader
well?
 Does my succeeding points support my beginning statements? Does each idea connect to the next
one? Do all the sections of my draft move my discussions on the subject forward, toward the
conclusion?
 Does the conclusion make the reader think? Does it answer all the readers’ questions on my subject?
 Is the pace of my draft just right? Is it slow enough so the reader is not left behind my discussions? Is it
fast enough so the reader’s interest still stays with me?
 Does the draft read smoothly and coherently overall?
 What are the strengths of my draft? How can I make these stand out more?
 What are the weaknesses of my draft? How can I improve on these?
 Does it all make good sense?

4. EDITING – “Correcting Stage”

Editing is the more meticulous process of clarifying meaning by revising each words and line of your
draft. While editing focuses on grammar and language use, proofreading focuses on typography and
mechanics. During this stage, you need to use the standardized editing symbols to note the corrections. These
symbols are very helpful because they give the writer an idea of how the specific error should be corrected. For
your reference, below is a list of common editing symbols. Study them at your own time and pace, and

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practice using them on your drafts until you feel you have mastered them already. This will also help you
understand any markings that your teachers or classmates may use when giving comments on your work.

When you edit, you become a critical reader of your document. You can do that by placing time
between yourself and the document. When you return to it, you will bring the eyes of a reader rather than of a
writer. Nobody wants to read a book that is full of mistakes. In addition to using your eyes differently in order to
re-see your document, listen to it. Sometimes what may look fine on the page sounds awkward to the
ear. Read your paper out loud. This practice is especially important if what you have written will later be
presented aloud.

Never make the mistake of editing your work before revising the content. Do not edit your writing until
the other steps in the writing process are complete. This is common among most students and teachers
nowadays: To start the rewriting process by attacking grammar and form first, and then content. It will never
work, since there is no use in editing a draft whose meaning was not even clear or developed in the first place.
Always make sure that content is clear first before you start editing.

As in revising, you also be required to do multiple re-readings of your draft in editing with each re-
reading having a different editing focus from the last, so you can spot errors more accurately. You may need to
make as many re-readings as you can to minimize the risk of error in your draft. Take as many re-readings as you
can until you are sure that all possible errors have been addressed. This may take some time on your part, but
rest assured there is nothing more satisfying than turning in a final draft that reads effortlessly.

Check for such things as grammar, mechanics, and spelling. The last thing you should do before printing
your document is to spell check it.

Editing can happen in two ways: self-editing and peer editing.

The following are the elements that you have to deal with in this stage: 1) grammatical principles
(grammar, sentence structure, subject/verb agreement, pronoun usage, prepositions, sentence transitions
(cohesion), word usage); and 2) typographical matters (spelling, capitalization, and punctuation). Carelessness
here undercuts your credibility and casts doubt on the quality of your work.

 What’s the difference between EDITING & REVISING?

Revision focuses on the bigger picture of your draft so you can resolve any significant issues on content that
may have otherwise been hidden while you were writing. On the other hand, editing focuses on your essay’s
finer details.

Whether you are editing or revising, it is important for you to revisit your work with an analytical eye so you
can turn in a satisfying final draft with minimal errors. Only then will your paper be ready to face your readers.

 PROOFREADING

"Proofread" means to read for errors. Now that you have edited your writing it is time to look for errors and
correct them. During the revising and editing process you may have corrected some. It can be very helpful to
take another break from your writing before you start to proofread. Finally, if you can, ask someone else to read
your paper to you out loud so you can hear for yourself how it sounds. Remember, even professional writers
have someone else's help with this part of the writing process.

5. PUBLISHING – “Sharing Stage”

After exerting effort in writing a good paper, you have to showcase your work to other people and to
the world. This stage is known as publishing. To publish means to make public, or share. One way to publish your
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work is by posting it on social networking sites such as blogs or Facebook and more reputed research-sharing
websites such as academia.edu. You can also publish your work collectively by coming up with a book or
magazine out of your essays or by creating a blog which will feature all of your works. Publishing your work, as
they say, is your “glory story” as it is the celebration of your writing.

The following are some guidelines in publishing your work:

 Use blue or black ink or word processor.

 Center title on top line with a line space that follows.
 Indicate your name, class, and date in top right hand corner.
 Writing format should be double spaced.
 Be neat—no scribbles or overuse of liquid paper.
 Make sure to staple in top left hand corner.
 You may want to include illustrations on your work for visual appeal.
 Be certain to include all your references for citation.
 Remember that the final product is a quiz grade. DO YOUR BEST.

Overall, you, as a writer, has to make sure that the entire content is cohesive and coherent, meaningful and
useful, relevant and resourceful, and engaging and interesting.

When your content is ready and published, and people like it, your efforts are paid off by reading their
wonderful comments. What more would a writer want?

The writing process of different writers may show different patterns, but it all starts and ends with the same
steps.

OVER TO YOU:

In this lesson, you learned that writing is a process. Hopefully, knowledge on this will make you feel less
alienated to the idea of writing and make you more confident to write. Remember, writing is a journey – you
need to take the first step. With constant practice and unwavering determination, you are on your way to
becoming a great writer. Start writing! Good luck!

SOURCES:

Barrot, J. S. (2016). Academic reading and writing. Quezon City, Philippines. C & E Publishing.

Barrot, J. S., & Sipacio, P. F. (2016). English for academic and professional purposes. Quezon City, Philippines. C
& E Publishing.

Tiongson, M. A., & Rodriguez, M. C. (2016). Reading and writing skills (1st ed.). Manila, Philippines: Rex Publishing.