The 5 Components of the Writing Process
There are five components to the writing process, something every writer must grasp in order to write successfully. These components apply to everyone who writes including professional writers, bloggers, students, etc. Please keep reading and I promise I’ll share a surprise with you at the end.
Prewriting is the process that helps writers get ready to write. The student spends time gathering information, experimenting with ideas, and plotting a course. Time spent on prewriting is essential to the writing process.
Drafting is the stage of making choices as to what to write. This is the first link between the prewriting and writing that is intended to communicate with an audience.
Revising writing may be the most difficult step in the process. It also is the most important step. Revision is not just the correction of usage and mechanics errors, but the time to decide where or how the communication can be improved.
Editing occurs only after the writer feels satisfied with the content and organization of the writing. Writing must be free from errors that distract the reader.
Publishing provides a chance for students to complete a product, see themselves as “authors,” read with appreciation, and learn from others.
This is a pretty good explanation of the writing process isn’t it? I thought so.
Now for the surprise: This outline is what the parents of our school district’s first graders receive.1 Yes, from a very early age — just as they are beginning to write complete sentences — children are being taught the essentials of good writing.
I was amazed to see this covered so thoroughly, but happy that our school district is shaping our children to write properly from the very beginning. If you have children, how does (or did) your school measure up? As a parent, how have you helped your children learn to write?
1 Wake County Public School System, Instructional Services Division. “Writing Process.” Connections for School Success, (2007): 5.
Writing | Matthew C. Keegan, 20 Sep 07
By Dana Wallert, September 20, 2007 @ 6:11 pm
So in other words, everything I needed to know about writing I learned in 1st grade?
Seriously though, that is a great outline. One that probably wouldn’t hurt me to follow a bit more (no more mismatched urls and post titles)!
By Lillie Ammann, September 21, 2007 @ 12:11 am
This is amazing, Matt. This is great advice, and I’m surprised to hear it’s advice given to first graders.
By easymarketing, September 21, 2007 @ 12:20 am
Great point about the pre-writing. Before I write anything, I sit down and think about the main points. I write them down and think about how I will implement them.
While I didn’t learn this technique in 1st grade, I did learn it in high school debate competitions. The extemporaneous competitions I enjoyed gave you three topics to chose from a 30 minutes to come up with a well rounded speech.
By Matt, September 21, 2007 @ 5:56 am
Dana: I know that when I was in first grade we weren’t writing like that. By junior high (middle school) I remember English Composition classes which covered these points (who can forget writing outlines?) but certainly not much before.
Lillie: The schools must be responding to a critical need. I meet so many adults today who do not have even a rudimentary grasp on how to write. Learning at a younger age should mean that these students are better prepared for a life of communication excellence.
easymarketing: I think the pressure of putting your thoughts together in a certain amount of time is good, especially for older students. Although I usually don’t use detailed outlines for shorter articles, I will flesh out an outline for articles of 1000 words or longer.
By Costa Rica Real Estate Jack, September 25, 2007 @ 12:01 am
Wow! That was interesting. I bought some books about pre-writing then but it was more likely incomprehensible. Yours are accurate, simple and direct.
By Matt, September 25, 2007 @ 6:28 am
Jack, that is the beauty of this outline. It was written for parents of first graders and simplified by first grade teachers as they instruct our children.