The Writing Process Language Arts

A Five Step Process All steps are necessary to produce Step 1: Pre-writing . . . Organizing ideas for writing Step 2: Drafting . . . First putting ideas on paper Step 3: Revision . . . Reviewing to “fix up” writing, if necessary Step 4: Editing . . . Correcting grammar, punctuation Step 5: Publication . . . Sharing work with others All steps are necessary to produce quality pieces of writing!

Step 1: Prewriting This is the most important step in the writing process. Think of it as the chance to “shop” for as many ideas as you can to include in your writing. Before you start writing, you must generate and organize ideas – it is always easier to work with a plan! First step is to clarify your task – make sure you understand what you have been asked to do. Use this as the beginning of your master plan for writing. The best way to clarify your task is to use RAFTS. What is RAFTS, you ask?… let’s find out!

Prewriting - RAFTS R = Role: who are you writing as? A = Audience: who are you writing for? F = Format: what type of writing do you have to write? T = Topic: what have you been asked to write about? S = Strong Verb/Action Word (to ________): what is your purpose for writing?

Let’s try one together Let’s say you are given the task of writing a descriptive paragraph about your favourite holiday. To begin writing, fill in the RAFTS chart on this page to help clarify your topic. R ole: A udience: F ormat: T opic: S trong verb: to R= myself F= descriptive paragraph S= to explain, to describe A= my teacher/classmates T= My favourite holiday

Prewriting continued: Gathering Ideas Once you have finished your RAFTS chart to clarify your purpose, you can begin gathering ideas. This is a very important step in the writing process – as mentioned earlier, think of it as “shopping”. There are a number of different ways to gather ideas. What is important to remember is that you should: - write down as many ideas as you can think of – don’t worry about whether or not you will end up using them - write down anything that comes to your mind - don’t worry about grouping or ordering ideas now – that will come later - remember that the more ideas you have, the more you have to choose from.

Gathering Ideas There are many ways you can gather ideas: Brainstorm a web Talk to an expert Discuss it with family, friends and classmates View a picture or movie about the topic Read some research ** This step provides you with ideas for your supporting details for the content of your writing – make sure you do it well!!!

Let’s go back to our example… Example: write a descriptive paragraph about your favourite holiday. I could… - look at pictures of my holidays - talk to family/friends/classmates - create a brainstorming web My favourite holiday

Gathering ideas is crucial to your success The ideas are the content of your writing! They are the key to your writing success!

Prewriting continued… Now that you have completed your RAFTS chart to clarify your task & you have gathered ideas by brainstorming, you are ready for the last step of prewriting … choosing and organizing your best ideas. This is where “shopping” with your ideas is going to pay off because the more ideas you have, the more choice you have in choosing and grouping them. If you did not come up with enough ideas, you will have a hard time choosing which ones fit your topic and adding detail to your writing!

I get it! Create a picture in the reader’s mind! The best ideas… I get it! Create a picture in the reader’s mind! Are on topic Are concrete and specific Often appeal to our senses Help us picture the topic

Organizing Your Ideas There are a few different ways to organize your ideas. You should choose the one that works best for you. For example, you could: - underline similar ideas with different coloured pens - rewrite your ideas into categories Once you have organized your ideas, you are ready to begin writing. Use your organized ideas as the plan for writing – just turn your ideas into sentences – and your sentences into the required writing format. You are ready for Step Two of the Writing Process Your organized ideas are the pieces to your writing puzzle – you have to put them together to form a whole piece of writing.

Step 2: Drafting The next step of the Writing Process is Drafting. This involves taking your ideas and turning them into sentences to form the required writing format. Similar to brainstorming, when writing a draft, let your ideas flow! Focus on writing what you want to say about the topic – do not worry about any errors. We use revising and editing for that purpose. Your draft will be read by others to help point out any corrections that are needed. Remember that it will take at least one or two drafts to get a piece of writing that you are satisfied with – do not expect perfection with your first draft. You will want to add or remove words, sentences, and/or ideas before you have the piece of writing you are looking for. I see! I need to continuously improve my writing before it will be what I want it to be.

Step 3: Revising This step is where you try to improve on what you have written. Based on your evaluation of the writing &/or responses and suggestions of others, you may want to make changes in the content and organization of the writing. You may want to: - add or take out information - change the order or your sentences or paragraphs - replace words with stronger vocabulary Don’t worry about grammar, spelling & punctuation yet…that is the next step. Doing revisions on your own is always important – but it is very helpful to have the input of others to help you clarify ideas, strengthen vocabulary, and to make sure that all ideas are on topic!

Step 4: Editing (proofread) Now that you have checked & revised your writing for content and organization, you can move on to Step 4. This is the step where you check your writing for errors in: - spelling - punctuation - capitalization - grammar In this step, you look for and correct any final errors before making your final draft. Like Step 3, it is a good idea to check over your own writing and have someone else check it for you as well. Spelling Punctuation Capitalization Grammar

After 4 steps & a lot of work, my writing is ready to be published! Step 5: Publication This is the final step of the writing process. In this step, you get to share your writing with an audience. This can mean presenting it to your classmates, reading it to your friends & family, or handing it in to your teacher. If you take the time to go through the first 4 steps carefully and thoughtfully, you will have a piece of writing that you are proud of to share with others! After 4 steps & a lot of work, my writing is ready to be published!