The Writing Process:
Writing is a craft, which has a process consists of five stages, thus:
1) Prewriting
2) Drafting
3) Revising
4) Proof reading and editing
5) Publishing/Sharing/Presenting.
Further Tips and Explanations:
1) Prewriting: [Planning your Writing].
In the prewriting stage, you explore diverse ideas for your topic, choose a topic, gather information and organize your notes or material.
a) Exploring ideas.
Important questions to consider:
I) What is my general purpose, assignment or reason for writing?
II) Who are my targeted audience?
III) What will be the appropriate length of work, most suitable for my purpose and target audience?
b) Scanning for a topic:
I) Scan your memory for interesting personal experiences.
II) Pray to God, for an insight of topics.
III) Browse through a library catalogue.
IV) Brainstorm for topics with your study group.
c) Choosing a topic:
Questions to consider:
I) Does it fulfill my purpose, assignment or reason for writing?
II) Will it be appropriate for the length/pages, I intend to write?
III) Do I need to broaden or narrow this topic?
IV) Do I have enough information about this topic? Or can I find enough information for this topic?
d) Gathering information:
I) Brainstorming:
Discuss the topic with study group. Take notes of Insights and great ideas, as they flash into your mind.
II) Freewriting:
Write down everything that comes to your mind about the selected topic.
Write non-stop for one to ten minutes, then read all you have free written and search for the best ideas, for your first draft.
III) Clustering:
Write your topic in the middle of a piece of paper and circle it. Then write all the ideas related to your main topic in circles, around the main topic.
Connect smaller circles with lines that shows how your ideas or sub-topics, emanates from your main topic.
IV) Analyzing:
Divide your topic into separate parts.
Make notes about each part.
Then, study how the parts are related both to each other and to the main topic.
V) Questioning:
Outline a list of questions about the chosen topic.
Begin your question with words like; who, what, where, when, why and how.
Then answer the questions by doing research to find the information you need.
VI) Using external sources:
Use library resources, such as books, magazines, newspapers, documentary and informational videos and the internet.
Conduct formal interviews with people knowledgeable about your topic, such as teachers, professionals and specialists in your topic, members of Organizations and people from a pertinent culture or people who lived through an era important to your chosen topic.
e) Organizing your notes or material.
Tips for Organizing:
• Chronological or Time Order:
Organizing your notes in order of occurrence (from former to later, earliest to latest). For example, in writing a biography or historical events.
• Spatial order:
Organization by position in space (from left to right, near to far, low to high).
For example, in descriptive writing.
• Degree order:
Organization by amount, size or intensity(from coldest to warmest).
For example, in scientific report writing.
• Priority order:
Organization by value, usefulness, importance or familiarity (from worst to best).
After considering the best order, most suitable for your writing and selected topic, then make a simple list including headings and sub-headings, appropriately.
©Gabriel Udensi 2021.