1. Purdue University Writing Lab Finding Your Focus: The Writing Process A presentation brought to you by the Purdue University Writing Lab

2. Purdue University Writing Lab Everyone has a writing process. What is yours?

3. Purdue University Writing Lab Why do you need a writing process? It can help writers to organize their thoughts. It can help writers to avoid frustration and procrastination. It can help writers to use their time productively and efficiently.

4. Purdue University Writing Lab Writing process Pre-writing Drafting Revising Editing Publishing

5. Purdue University Writing Lab Pre-writing: coming up with your topic Brainstorming:  Freewrite  research

6. Purdue University Writing Lab Brainstorming: coming up with ideas that interest you Listing: Political apathy Animal abuse NFL instant replay Air pollution Telemarketing scams Internet censorship NBA salary caps Paper Topics Brainstorming

7. Purdue University Writing Lab Clustering: mapping out ideas ME Internet censorship telemar- keting scams NFL instant replay NBA political apathy three-party system salary caps sportsmanship animal abuse First Amendment Flag Burning Amend- ment

8. Purdue University Writing Lab Drafting Gathering ideas Locating and evaluating research Conducting interviews Get thoughts on paper

9. Purdue University Writing Lab Organizing: putting information in an outline OUTLINE I. Introduction A. Grab attention B. State thesis II. Body A. Build points B. Develop ideas C. Support main claim III. Conclusion A. Reemphasize main idea

10. Purdue University Writing Lab Drafting Give yourself ample time to work on your project. Find a comfortable place to do your writing. Avoid distractions. Take breaks.

11. Purdue University Writing Lab Revising: reviewing ideas Review higher-order concerns:  Clear communication of ideas  Organization of paper  Paragraph structure  Strong introduction and conclusion  Move text around

12. Purdue University Writing Lab Editing Review later- order concerns:  Spelling  Punctuation  Sentence structure  Documentation style

13. Purdue University Writing Lab Proofreading tips Slowly read your paper aloud. Read your paper backwards. Exchange papers with a friend. NOTE: Spell check will not catch everything, and grammar checks are often wrong!

14. Purdue University Writing Lab Publishing Turning your paper in. Make sure all errors are corrected. Use quality paper and ink. Type it or write in blue or black ink. This is the stage where others will read your paper.

15. Purdue University Writing Lab The Writing Process: Find Your Focus Pre-writing Drafting Revising Editing Publishing