The Writing Process

      To write a good academic paper, it is important to follow the writing process. There are several steps in the writing process. The steps can be divided into four parts; pre-writing, writing, reviewing and revising. First, previewing involves thinking about your topic, brainstorming, writing down your thoughts, and organizing your thoughts into an outline. Good writing, like everything else in life always starts with thinking. Second, you write the first draft using your outline. Third, you have someone read your first draft and tell you what they liked and how you can improve your writing. This is called peer review. You review their comments and decide how you are going to change your paper in the second draft.  Finally, you revise your paper and write the second draft,  taking the peer review comments into consideration and your own ideas about how to improve your paper. Then you proofread your paper for any errors in format, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, Now you have finished your second draft and your paper is ready to submit to your instructor. In conclusion, if you have followed all these steps in the writing process, from pre-writing to revising, you will write a good paper that will receive a good grade. Good luck!

Writing: Get everything involved

     When you write anything, the time you spend on pre-writing will pay off in much better writing. Once you've decided on your topic and focus (thesis statement), spend time thinking and writing down what you already know about the topic, read about your topic, draw some pictures about your topic, talk to people about your topic and tell them what you're going to write about, ask their opinions about your topic, watch any YouTube videos you can find related to the topic, and watch a movie or listen to a presentation on TED.com about your topic. Then let all of this percolate in your mind (think "brainstorm") for a while. Sleep on it and let your unconscious mind do its job. Then you will be ready to write down all your ideas in a well-organized outline to begin writing.

Thinking about writing, writing about thinking

Everything begins with a thought.  This is what my mother used to tell me. Anything we do in life first starts in our heads as a thought, idea, or concept.  Some of these thoughts become reality when we act on them and do or make something. A house, a vacation, an academic degree, a new car:  all of these things began in the mind as thoughts.  It is the same with writing. No matter what kind of writing it is--a letter, an email message, an essay, a blog post, an article, a tweet, a book--they all began in the mind.  When you have a writing assignment in school, first spend some time thinking about what you are going to write before you start writing. If you do the thinking step first, the writing will be better. Fred Rogers used to have a children's show on television called Mister Rogers. Maybe you used to watch  it when you were a child.  He talked about thinking, creating, imagining, and being curious. He called it "the garden of your mind."  I am attaching a video remix of Mr. Rogers for you at the following link:  Mister Rogers Remix

Writing Basics: Writing an essay in one hour

When you apply to a college or university, you will probably be asked to write a five-paragraph essay as part of the application process. They want to know how well you write, since strong writing skills will be such an important part of your success in college and career after college. They also want to know if you can write under the pressure of a deadline, so they will probably give you 45 minutes to an hour to write the essay. When you are given the topic for the essay, the clock starts ticking. First, take a few minutes to read the topic and make sure you understand it. Then think about the topic and organize your thoughts on what you want to write about the topic and what your thesis statement will be. Take a minute to write a five- point outline. Only then begin to write the essay, and you will find that writing will go very quickly. Finally, give yourself a few minutes to review and proofread your essay and make any necessary changes. You will write a great, well organized essay in a short time if you follow these steps. Good luck!

Writing Basics: Easy as 1-2-3

Throughout history, many people in different cultures have attributed special, even mystical powers to the number three. Numerologists call it a powerful number. Maybe they are right. Think of all the different places that three pops up: triangles, pyramids, ABC, the trinity, and so on.

In writing, three is an important number. When you write, you need to keep this principle in mind. The basic unit of writing is the paragraph, which has three parts; introduction, body and conclusion. Essays also have the same three parts. Many colleges ask students to write a five-paragraph, three-part essay as part of their application, with an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. So you see, writing is as easy and one, two, three!

Henry David Thoreau, the great American author and naturalist, wrote, "I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society."

Writing Basics: The power of proofreading

Proofreading your own writing is important. After you have written something, don't submit it to the teacher if it is an essay, hit the the send button if it is an e-mail message, or "publish" it as I will do after I finish this post and hit the "Publish" button until you have re-read your writing, checked for meaning, grammar, and punctuation, and run the spell-check to check for spelling mistakes. Sometimes, especially if the written piece is very important, it's a good idea to have some else read it and give you feedback and suggestions for possible changes. Be sure to ask someone who will be honest and tell you if they see any mistakes or things that need to be changed. A second pair of eyes can be very valuable. Don't be in a hurry. If you have time, lay your draft aside and come back and read it the next day with fresh eyes. You might spot an error you missed the first time, or decide to change the wording for better clarity. Now you are reading to finalize your draft and submit it.

Writing Basics: Comparison-Contrast Essays

One common type of essay is the comparison-contrast essay. You can always find similarities and differences when comparing any two things, countries, people, and so on. Comparison-contrast writing lends itself to a six-paragraph essay with the following paragraphs; introduction, first difference, second difference, transition sentence introducing the similarities, first similarity, second similarity, conclusion. An outline for an essay comparing and contrasting the U.S. with another country might look like this.

I. Introduction
Thesis Statement about differences

II. Body
A. Differences
1. Culture
2. Language

II.i Transition statement about similarities

B. Similarities
1. Political Structure
2. Economies

III. Conclusion

Writing Basics: Cause and effect writing

Cause and effect writing is used to express the cause(s) of something, the effect(s)of something, or the cause(s) and effect(s) of something. For example, you could talk about the causes and effects of smoking. The causes could be: nervousness, anxiety, needing to do something with your hands, the feeling you get when you smoke. The effects could be: smoker's breath, yellow teeth, coughing, respiration problems, high blood pressure, enphysema, and cancer of the mouth, throat and lungs.

When you do cause and effect writing you will use certain words: because, due to, since, as a result of, and so on. You can organize your writing in different ways, to focus on the cause(s), effect(s), or both cause(s) and effect(s).

Writing Basics: From paragraph to essay

If you have been writing paragraphs, and your writing instructor asks you to write an essay, you might try the following method. Think of an essay as an expanded paragraph. Like a paragraph, an essay has an introduction, body and conclusion. In a paragraph those parts are sentences. In an essay those parts are paragraphs; an introductory paragraph, two or more body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. In an essay, the introductory paragraph usually begins by "setting the stage" about your topic, provides interesting information to grab the reader's attention, and ends with a Thesis Statement, which tells the reader what your essay is about and your perspective on the topic. Essays usually range from four to six or seven paragraphs, depending on how many body paragraphs your essay will have.

Essays can be fun to write if you take the time to think about what topic you want to write about and what you want to write about that topic. Many colleges require students to write a five or six paragrph as part of the application processs. They want to find out how well you write since writing is such an important skill for academic wrrcess.

Writing Basics: Process writing

Process writing is an important type of writing used for different purposes: how-to manuals, describing how to do or make something, processes and procedures. In process writing, you write about steps in chronological (time) order. Many things you might purchase that require assemmbly will come with assembly instructions; this is process writing. When you buy a new car, it will come with a User's Manual, which describes how to operate the car and how to fix little things that don't work.

Whether it is a paragraph, recipe, essay or manual that you are writing, you will use process writing. As always, you will begin with an introduction, then describe the things (ingredients, utensils, tools, parts, etc.) needed, and then describe the steps to the reader or user. You fill use signal words, like first, second, third, before, then, after that, finally, to help the reader follow the steps of the proces you are describing.

This is an important type a academic writing and many types of professional writing. Imagine writing a report on the steps and results of a chemistry experiement, or of how to operate a new machine in a work shop. Process writing.

Writing Basics: To Improve your writing, write

Writing is similar to any other language skill (reading, speaking, listening); to improve the skill, you need to practice the skill. For writing, that means writing as much as possible, different types of writing, as often as possible. That's why many writing/composition teachers ask their students to write in a daily journal. It gives students a reason to write every day, about something, whatever they want to write about. And the journal is usually not corrected, or corrected very lightly, by the teacher. If you want to play the piano, practice every day playing the piano. If you want to write well, practice writing every day. And work on improving your writing a little every day, using new words, grammar, expressions, that you have learned. Read what you have written and ask yourself how you could have written it better. Re-write what you wrote making necessary changes. Ask a native speaker to read your writing and give you some feedback about it, and how you could have written it better. To write better, write more often.

Writing Basics: Writing resources

Writers have many resources to help them improve their writing skills. At Ivy Tech Community College, students can go to the new Learning Resources Center for free help with their writing from a qualified writing tutor or instructor. After spending some time with a tutor, students can go to the new library only a few steps away to check out a book, read a newspaper or magazine, or just find a comfortable place to relax and hang out.

One of the best online resources for writers is the Online Writing Laboratory (OWL) from Purdue University, OWL where many resources to help writers can be found. Click on the ESL link on the left-hand side of the homepage to access the ESL resources. Check it out!

Of course, one of your best resources is your writing instructor, who will always be eager to help you improve your writing skills.

Writing Basics: Write about what you don't know

If you are an ESL student, when you first start writing in English, it's good for you to start writing about what you know: your country, classmates, experiences, job, family, and so on. After you become used to writing in English, start writing about what you don't know. Why? This will help you learn to do research, it will help you gain new and valuable knowledge, and it will be fun. It's fun to learn new things, right? And, you will get better grades in your classes!

An easy way to start doing research on a subject that you don't know about, or don't know much about, is to use the Internet. We all have access to the Internet. There is so much information there. But be careful. Not everything that is on the Internet is true or even factual. So choose your sources carefully. Make sure that what you have found on the Internet is not just someone's opinion. If you do use some information you have found on the Internet in your writing, be sure to give the reference so your readers can find where you got the information on the Internet.

Keep on reading, writing, and learning!

Writing Basics: Sleep on it

Here is a suggestion for the thinking/pre-writing step of writing. Before you go to sleep, think about what you want to write and write your thoughts down. All of them. Then go to sleep. While you are sleeping, your subconscious mind will think about what you wrote down. You may even dream about it. When you wake up the next morning, you will be able to write about you subject, because your mind has been thinking about it for eight hours, or however many hours of sleep you are able to get. You may even wake up suddenly in the middle of the night with a brilliant idea. Keep your list and a pencil by your bedside so you can write down the idea because you may not remember it in the morning. A brilliant idea is a terrible thing to waste!

Writing Basics: Thinking and writing

Thinking is the first step of the writing process. Everything (including writing) begins with a thought. This stage of writing is sometimes referred to as pre-writing or brainstorming. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before you start writing, and have clear answers in your mind. This will make the writing go much better. Don't hurry or skip this step.

What is my topic?
What am I going to write about that topic?
What do I already know about the topic and what research do I need to do?
Who are my readers? Who is my audience?
What do my readers already know about the topic and what might they be interested in learning from me?
How can I grab my readers' attention from the very beginning, whether I am writing a paragraph, essay, article, or book?
What unique perspective can I bring to the topic based on my own knowledge and experience?

After you have answered all these pre-writing questions and jotted down some notes to capture your thoughts, you are ready to start organizing your thoughts in the form of an outline.

An Opinion Paragraph

Here is an example of a paragraph that my English-as-a-Second Language writing class wrote as a group project. It is an example of an opinion paragraph, providing several reasons, each with supporting examples, to support an opinion.


Indianapolis: A Great Place to Live

Indianapolis is a great place to live for three main reasons. First of all, it is a very safe place. The city has a lower crime rate than many U.S. cities. The city has a lot of police, especially in the downtown area. Second, it is a very clean place to live. There are city employees who clean the streets downtown every day. You never see old cars parked on the streets because the police tow any cars that are left for more than a day. Finally, Indianapolis has excellent educational institutions. For example, Ivy Tech Community College is a good place to study for not a lot of money. IUPUI is another good university where you can study and get a degree from Indiana University or Purdue University. I believe that everyone should come to Indianapolis to see what a great place it is to live.

Writing and Thinking: The Writing Process

I tell my ESL students that good writing starts with thinking--clear and organized thinking. We talk about different methods to organize and focus their thoughts prior to writing, such as brainstorming, listing, clustering, outlining, interviewing, peer-reviewing, and so on. Once they have a clear idea of what they want to write about, and how, the writing part is relatively easy. If they don't really know what they want to write about and what they want to emphasize and focus on, the result will not be good. I read somewhere that "every great thing begins as an idea." It's the same with writing. Great writing begins with great thinking. Or put another way, a piece of writing is no better than the thinking that produced it.

There is another kind of writing called stream-of-consciousness writing, which is basically writing what you are thinking. I'll write a few words about that kind of writing tomorrow.