1. SIX STAGES OF THE WRITING PROCESS Prewriting, Drafting, Sharing and Responding, Revising, Editing, Publishing

2. Stage 1 – Prewriting  Writers consider what they already know and need to know in order to guide the exploration of a topic.  Writers consider their purposes and goals for writing, identify possible audiences, and understand how genre guides decision making.  Writers generate, select, connect, and organize information and ideas.

3. Stage 1 – Prewriting  In summary, this stage is all about identifying audience, purpose for writing, topic/focus of writing, and about gathering and organizing information.

4. Stage 2 - Drafting  Writers generate texts to develop points within the preliminary organizational structure (chronological order, argument/support, cause/effect, main idea/details, etc.).  Writers make stylistic choices with language to achieve intended effects.

5. Stage 2 - Drafting  In summary, drafting is all about turning your ideas into a flowing work.

6. Stage 3 – Sharing and Responding  Writers seek response from peers and the teacher to guide choices in revision.  Writers evaluate the response and make appropriate revision choices.  Writers read or listen to the writing of others and offer suggestions, share techniques and strategies, and encourage the writers.

7. Stage 3 – Sharing and Responding  In summary, stage 3 is all about listening to the help of others and offering others help to make the written piece better.

8. Stage 4 - Revising  Writers evaluate their drafts for clarity of focus, progression of ideas, and organization.  Writers use strategies (adding, deleting, rearranging, and substituting) to refine text, to provide clarity and coherence, or to enforce style.  Writers take the opportunity to rethink their initial ideas and improve their drafts.

9. Stage 4 - Revising  In summary, this stage is all about improving the content of your writing through a variety of techniques.

10. Stage 5 - Editing  Writers review the draft multiple times to edit for conventions.  Writers proofread and consult resources to correct errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

11. Stage 5 - Editing  In summary, stage 5 is all about correcting mistakes in your writing.

12. Stage 6 - Publishing  Writers create a publishable text that is properly formatted for the appropriate genre and engages an audience.  Writers explore publication opportunities to share their work with an appropriate audience.

13. Stage 6 - Publishing  In summary, publishing is all about producing a completely error free, correctly formatted copy of your writing.