Lesson 8:

The Writing
PROCESS
 INTRODUC
TION

You think that a blank sheet of paper or a blinking cursor on the computer screen is
a scary sight, you are not alone. Many writers, professionals, employees and
students, find that beginning to write can be intimidating. When faced with a blank
page, however, experienced writers remind themselves that writing, like other
everyday activities, is a process. Every process, from writing to cooking, bike
riding, and learning to use a new cell phone, will get significantly easier with
practice.
In other words, writing is a process that requires following steps and using
strategies to accomplish your goals. This chapter can help you overcome the fear of
the blank page and confidently begin the writing process.

OBJECTIVE
S
By the end of the lesson, you will have been able to;
 identify the different stages in the writing process
 apply the strategies in generating and organizing ideas and revising a paper
 edit and proofread a paper using appropriate symbols; and
 apply the writing process in writing a paper.
 PRELIMINARY
ACTIVITY

Study the picture below. For 3 minutes, generate many ideas as you can about the
importance of writing to our lives based from the picture below. Write your
answers inside the box.

Great job! Let us discuss the key points/ideas that you have generated about
writing and see if your answers are elements of the writing process.
 DISCUSS
ION
The writing process consists of different stages. It is not as easy as you think. As
you write, whatever you are about to write, the
process must be followed or else, your ideas will
be all over the place.

1. Preparation
You need to establish your purpose. Why do you
want to inform, entertain, or persuade the readers
about your topic? Once you identify your purpose,
you need to specify your persona as a writer.

2. Modeling- the process where the writer looks at different works which are similar in nature
with the paper you are about to write. For example, i9f you are about to write an argumentative
paper, you can check at least 2 samples of argumentative papers. Analyze the structure and how
the paper achieved its purpose.

3. Generate Ideas
As a writer, you need to determine the topic and narrow it depending on the purpose and target
audience. Freewriting, brainstorming and clustering are the most common ways to generate
ideas in writing.

a. Brainstorming - is the process of coming up with as

many ideas as possible about a topic without being worried
about the feasibility or whether an idea is realistic or not. A list
format is often the easiest to organize. This can be done
individually and then shared with the class or done as a group.
 b. Freewriting - The free write strategy is when you write
whatever comes into your mind about the topic at hand for a
specific amount of time, like 10 or 15 minutes. In a free write,
you should not worry about grammar, punctuation, or spelling.
Instead, you should try and come up with as many ideas as
you possibly can to help you when you get to the writing
process. 

c. Clustering, also called mind mapping or idea

mapping, is a strategy that allows you to explore the
relationships between ideas. Clustering is especially useful in
determining the relationship between ideas. You will be able
to distinguish how the ideas fit together, especially where
there is an abundance of ideas. Clustering your ideas lets you
see them visually in a different way, so that you can more readily understand possible directions
your paper may take.

 Put the subject in the center of a page. Circle or underline it.

 As you think of other ideas, write them on the page surrounding the central idea.
 Link the new ideas to the central circle with lines.

4. Focusing on a Topic
The next thing you should do with your general topic is to narrow it down. Focus on a topic by
thinking of a question related to your specific purpose that would make as your thesis statement.
Review the steps in writing, a good thesis statement and refine your initial statement.

5. Organizing Ideas
Outline is also a tool for organizing ideas. It is a plan for or a summary of a writing project or
speech and are usually in the form of a list divided into headings and subheadings that
distinguish main points from supporting points.
It may be either informal or formal, decimal or
alphanumerical format.

Topic outline arranges your ideas

hierarchically (showing which are main and
which are sub-points). As the name implies, it
identifies all the little mini-topics that your
paper will comprise, and shows how they
relate.

Sentence outline does all of this, it shows exactly

what you will say about each topic. Each sentence,
it expresses the specific and complete. To further
understand the difference between the two, take a
look at the example below and always remember
that a topic outline lists words or phrases and a
sentence outline lists complete sentences.

6. Drafting, during this stage, the writer puts his

ideas into complete thoughts, such as
sentences and paragraphs. The writer
organizes his ideas in a way that allows the reader to understand his message.  He does this
by focusing on which ideas or topics to include in the piece of writing. During drafting,
 the writer will compose an introduction to the piece and develop a conclusion for the
material. At the end of this step of the writing process, the author will have completed a
“rough draft.”

7. Feedback is a response to the written work which focuses on all aspects of writing. Feedback
can be classified into 3: self-feedback, peer feedback and teacher feedback. Asking for a
specific kind of feedback can be the best way to get advice that you can use.

Think about what kinds of topics you want to discuss and what kinds of questions you
want to ask:

 Understanding the assignment: Do I understand the task? How long should it be?
What kinds of sources should I be using? Do I have to answer all of the questions on
the assignment sheet or are they just prompts to get me thinking? Are some parts of
the assignment more important than other parts?

 Factual content: Is my understanding of the course

material accurate? Where else could I look for more
information?
 Interpretation/analysis: Do I have a point? Does my
argument make sense? Is it logical and consistent? Is it supported by sufficient
evidence?

 Organization: Are my ideas in a useful order? Does the reader need to know anything
else up front? Is there another way to consider ordering this information?

 Flow: Do I have good transitions? Does the introduction prepare the reader for what
comes later? Do my topic sentences accurately reflect the content of my paragraphs?
Can the reader follow me?
  Style: Comments on earlier papers can help you identify writing style issues that you
might want to look out for. Is my writing style appealing? Do I use the passive voice
too often? Are there too many “to be” verbs?

 Grammar: Just as with style, comments on earlier papers will help you identify
grammatical “trouble spots.” Am I using commas correctly? Do I have problems with
subject-verb agreement?

 Small errors: Is everything spelled right? Are there any typos?

8. Revising- is the act of improving the original paper by applying changes based on the
feedback but before doing so, you need to evaluate the comments on your paper. You do
not have to accept all the comments if you have valid reasons for doing so.
9. Editing is the last phase of writing process. These stages are editing and proof reading.
Editing focuses on grammar and language used, proofreading focuses on typography and
mechanics.
 10. Publishing- after exerting effort in writing a good paper, you have to showcase your
work to other people. This stage is known as publishing. One way to publish your work
is by posting in on social networking sites such as blogs or Facebook and more reputed
research-sharing websites.

Enrichment Activities
Develop you writing skills by answering the exercises in the following links.
Steps in process writing
http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eap/steps-in-process-writing.htm
The Writing Workshop
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/writing/tguide/index.asp?topic=WWII
The Writing Process
http://aeo.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/Files/The%20Writing%20Process/The%20Writing%20Process.html
 ACTIVI
TY
Directions: Do the following
A. Choose one topic about any social issues (e.g., teenage pregnancy, traffic management in
Metro Manila, Healthcare etc.) that interests you. Start the writing process by specifying
the writing context.

Topic :____________________________________________________
General Purpose :____________________________________________________
Specific Purpose :____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Audience :_____________________________________________________
Writer’s Persona :_____________________________________________________
Level of Formality :_____________________________________________________

B. Select two articles/essays that are the same time with the paper you are about to write.
Write the titles or links of the articles here:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
C. Generate as many ideas as possible about your topic through any of the pre-writing
methods. Write these ideas in the box.
 D. Proofread the following paragraph using the basic proofreading symbols introduced to this
lesson.

The Filipino time is more than an idiom especially in terms of regiwstrations and applications.

This is evident when the election period comes as many Filipinos wait until the last minute to

registerasvoters. The commission on electins coe has long observed thispeno menon. it

has proposed a solution in the form of the early registrationperiod this solution aims to give

voters enough time to register. It was also organized in the hopes that more filipinoS will be able

to register and vote come election period

Good work! I hope that whenever you write an

output, you will always apply the writing
process discussed above. It will be very helpful
for you and makes the writing process easier. 😊