Prompt 1: Discuss how
the writing process can be helpful to writers. How can it help a writer not be
overwhelmed with a writing task? How can it help a writer become more
confident? Could the writing process help prevent plagiarism? Why/Why not?
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I’m a big believer in the Writing Process. I teach it to all my English courses. There’s one day/lesson focused on the Writing
Process.
Here are the steps:
1. Prewriting – planning, outlining, and researching
2. Drafting - writing
3. Editing - looking for errors in capitalization, grammar, and
spelling
4. Revising - listening for how your words, sentences, and paragraphs
flow
5. Publishing - letting someone read your work
These steps are vital because they break the writing up into
smaller parts, helping the writer see the project in sections instead of as a massive
project. Writing a 25-page paper can be overwhelming,
but when you break it down into chunks, it’s not as scary.
As a writer goes through the steps, they will see their work
develop and grow, therefore gaining confidence.
With each project, the steps will become second nature, and writing projects
will get easier because a routine is established. Whether we want to admit it or not, routines
help life flow easier. Seeing growth is
the best motivation for a writer.
The writing process can help with plagiarism because the
first step, prewriting, sets up the writer to know their source material from
their material. It’s to keep track of
your research, so by getting things set up in the beginning stages of a writing
project, there’s less likelihood that plagiarism can occur.
All writers must remember that the Writing Process is
recursive. That means you can go through
the first four steps multiple times before publishing. You could even go back to a previous step
after publishing. (I had to do this
recently. It was aggravating, but
necessary.)
The Writing Process is a valuable tool for a writer to have,
to know, and to use.
