The Writing Process
This video looks at the essential steps in the writing process. Research has shown that there are five steps to writing a good text:
- prewriting
- drafting
- revising
- editing
- publishing
Prewriting
Step 1 is prewriting. This refers to what you do before you write. It is a very important step that good writers do not skip.
First, you should look carefully at the task and the marking criteria (sometimes called the ‘rubric’) to make sure you understand what you have been asked to do. If something isn’t clear, ask the lecturer or tutor straight away - don’t leave it until just before the assignment due date.
At the prewriting stage you need to review your lecture notes, textbooks, journal articles, and other resources to gather ideas. You should also consider the reader and purpose of the text. Who is it for? And what is it for?
Next you should brainstorm ideas to answer the task question. ‘Brainstorm’ means write down all and any ideas that you have. It implies creativity without limits, like having a ‘storm’ in the ‘brain’.
Then choose which ideas are best to use. Don’t use all of them or just the first ideas that come to mind. Organise the best ideas into a sensible, logical order to create an outline of the text that you want to write. Once you have an outline, you have finished the prewriting stage.
Drafting
Step 2 is drafting, which means writing the first version of the text. From your outline, you should develop your ideas into paragraphs. Your tutor or lecturer may give you feedback on your draft. Other students could also be asked to give you feedback, or you could make an appointment to visit a learning adviser such as EnglishHELP.
Revising
Step 3 is revising. Your first draft should not be the final version of your text. It is like oil versus petrol: oil is the raw product - you can’t use it in your car until it has been refined into petrol or diesel. Likewise, you need to refine your writing because you don’t want to give a raw product to your lecturer or tutor.
The revising stage involves adding, improving or deleting ideas. It also means considering the organisation and order of your ideas and you will probably move parts of the text around. The best way to do this is to take regular breaks and come back to it several times with ‘fresh eyes’. Now you have finished revising.
Editing
Next you need to edit your text to finalise it for publication. Here are some tips:
1. Take a break and read your text again with ‘fresh’ eyes.
2. Refer back to the task: have you answered all parts and stayed on topic?
3. Refer back to the marking criteria: have you addressed each area?
4. Look at your paragraphs: Does each have one idea and a topic sentence?
5. Look at how your paragraphs fit together: Are they logical and are linking words appropriate?
6. Look at your language and proofread it the text for grammar, spelling, punctuation and appropriacy of vocabulary.
7. Look at your referencing. Does it follow one reference style? Does your text meet the requirements of academic integrity? See the videos on referencing and paraphrasing.
Publishing
The final step is ‘publishing’. At university this usually means submitting your assignment, perhaps via an online submission point. Make sure you check the requirements, rules and due date for this. If you are publishing to a journal or book, there will be strict guidelines to meet. Make sure you pay attention to what the publisher expects, or your submission may be rejected.
Summary
It takes time and practice to build our expertise as writers in English. The best way to improve your writing is to read examples of similar text types by expert writers in our field because each language and discipline has a different approach to writing. Try to 'mimic' the style of experts but make sure you don’t copy them word for word as that would be plagiarism.
In this video, we have considered five key steps to writing. Now complete the exercises below to see how much you have understood.