The Writing Process

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The Writing Process

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 As you write your essay, remember the five general stages in the writing process recommended by the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University. Following these stages will help you write your best essays.
  1. Understand the requirements and expectations of an assignment: When your instructor gives you a writing assignment, read it carefully to under- stand the purpose and the audience of the assignment. If you are confused about the assignment, it is always a good idea to speak to the instructor about what s/he expects from you as a writer.

  2. Generate ideas: There are several ways you can generate ideas before you write the first draft of your essay. You can read source materials, take notes, make an outline or list bullet points, read more on the topic, and talk to friends about your ideas for the essay. Generating ideas will give you a sense of what you want to say about the topic. No matter what you do, it is important for you to keep taking notes and writing a little bit every day. This will give you much-needed fodder for thought before you begin to write the first draft.

  3. Draft: Now that you have generated ideas for your essay, write the prelimi- nary draft at least a week before the essay is due. Remember that nobody ever writes a perfect first draft, so it is important that you give yourself some time to revisit your first draft and do the necessary revisions.

  4. Revise: If your first draft is shorter than the required length, you need to provide more information by adding new ideas and by clarifying any points your reader may find confusing. If you have written more than the required length, spend some time paring your essay down by reorganizing ideas and cutting redundant information.

    Take time to check that you have a clear thesis statement, your topic sentences support your main idea, and each paragraph contains sufficient evidence to support the topic sentence. You may need to add, cut, move, and rewrite content to create a final draft.

  5. Proofread: Leave sufficient time for proofreading. Read your essay several times and focus on only one type of error each time you read it. For exam- ple, you may focus on spelling errors the first time and look for punctuation errors the second time and so on.

    Rather than going through these stages sequentially, you can cycle through the process until you determine that your essay is ready for submission. In other words, you may write your first draft and generate more ideas, revise the first draft, proofread it, and revise it again if you deem it necessary. Engaging in the process to continually write, revise, and proofread your essay will lead to greater success. 

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