1. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro1 The Writing Process

2. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro2 WRITING AS PROCESS: AN OVERVIEW Think of writing as a process: a set of activities you go through to produce a finished product. This process has three distinct stages: Planning and Shaping, Drafting, and Revising/ Editing.

3. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro3 PLANNING AND SHAPING Find a focus that fits your purpose and audience before you start. Gather ideas: –Keep a journal. –Brainstorm or jot down lists of ideas. –Free writing - let your mind go. –Mind mapping / idea trees. –5 Ws - (Who, What, When, Where, and Why) –Outlining

4. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro4 WRITING OR DRAFTING Getting your ideas into visible form: –Prioritize your ideas. –Write complete sentences. –Divide text into paragraphs. –Organize paragraphs into Introduction, Body and Close.

5. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro5 EDITING: EVALUATING YOUR DRAFT CRITICALLY AND MAKING CHANGES Large-scale changes: adding text, cutting, replacing words/phrases, rearranging parts. Editing: checking the correctness of grammar, spelling, punctuation and mechanics. Proofreading: are there any typos?

6. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro6 WRITING AS PROCESS: LET’S COMPARE METHODS Think of the most unusual or eccentric person you have ever met. In 20 minutes, write a paragraph describing this person to your classmates. Concentrate on getting each sentence right as you go. Do not rewrite your paragraph.

7. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro7 PLANNING AND SHAPING: PART I About your person, answer these questions: When/where did you meet? What does he or she look/sound like? Face/ clothing/ hair/ body/ language/ accent? What are his or her tastes in movies/ books/ music/ food/ cars? How did he or she surprise/ teach/ inspire you? Why should your classmates be interested in him or her?

8. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro8 PLANNING AND SHAPING: PART II Close your eyes and imagine “X” doing something he or she typically does. Imagine every detail. Freewrite for 5 minutes about your image. –Write quickly. –Don’t edit as you go - just put down the words as fast as you can. –If you get stuck, just write “I’m stuck, I’m stuck…” until you think of something.

9. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro9 DRAFTING FOCUSING: –Look at your free writing paragraph. –Take a new page and write down in one sentence “X”’s single most striking/ unusual feature. DRAFTING: –Write a paragraph developing the idea you just wrote down. –Use any relevant details from your list or free writing.

10. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro10 REVISING & EDITING REVISING: Your classmates are the audience. Will you need additional detail for them to visualize what you mean? Make those additions now. EDITING: Check your paragraph for correctness of sentence structure, grammar, spelling and punctuation and correct errors now.

11. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro11 COMPARISON Reread the paragraph you wrote without going through the process and compare it to the “processed” one. How do they differ? Which one is better? If the “processed” paragraph is better, which phase of the process helped you most? How will you use this information when you write?

12. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro12 GRANT WOOD’S AMERICAN GOTHIC

13. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro13 AMERICAN GOTHIC: WRITING AS PROCESS EXERCISE Look carefully at the picture provided of American Gothic, the famous painting by artist Grant Wood (1892-1942). Notice the details and mood of the composition. Prepare to use the four process steps to write about the painting: –Planning and Shaping –Drafting –Revising –Editing

14. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro14 PLANNING AND SHAPING Use single words or phrases to describe the following aspects of the painting: –Background/ sky/ house/ shed –People/ facial expressions/ hair/ eyes/ pitchfork/ hand –How are the people similar? Different? What is their relationship to each other? Review your list of details. Answer this question in a single complete sentence: –What central impression do the details seem to convey?

15. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro15 DRAFTING Write your sentence out at the top of a new sheet of paper. Write a draft of a paragraph supporting your sentence. Include as many details from your list as you can.

16. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro16 REVISING DETAIL: How have the details you mentioned help create the central impression of the painting? ORGANIZATION: Is your paragraph organized? Coherent? Does it support your core sentence? WORD CHOICE: Are your words precise? Replace any fuzzy words with more precise ones.

17. © 2003 Prentice Hall wpro17 EDITING Review your paragraph for correctness of sentence structure, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Make any necessary changes.