EDRG 3344 Harris M&W

Describe what writing is - a PROCESS.  :)

Writing is a process.  We learned in class that we must never forget that statement.  It is very important to remember because most people do not take writing in a serious manner.  There are five steps to this process.  

The first one tells the writer to pre-write.  Pre-writing organizes all of your thoughts.  This is where you make a graphic organizer and put everything you want to write about on paper.  You can find examples of graphic organizers online.  The purpose of these organizers are to make sure that you are thinking about all the main ideas and details you will be writing about.   A lot of us just start writing without any preparation.  If you leave this step out than your paper will have a lot of information left out too.  

The second step is drafting.  Drafting is pretty much your rough draft.  Although I think I like the term sloppy copy better.  :)  This is where you play around with your thoughts.  After you organize your material than you have to try and move things in the right place.  This takes a while because you are trying to make since of all of your creative thoughts.  Some things will stay while others will be thrown out.  A draft allows these mistakes because it is not the final copy.  We still have a few more steps until then.  REMEMBER WRITING IS A PROCESS.  :)

The third step is revising.  Revising is where you must change, add, or remove your mistakes.  There are many people around that you can ask to help you revise your sloppy copy. :)  Dr. Harris made it clear to us that we should use no less than three people.  She also suggested a workshop conference.  We need this outside input for errors we made and for ideas.  The person revising your paper does not have the right to change your thoughts, but they can help improve them.

The fourth step is editing.  Editing focuses more on one thing at a time.  This is where you work in groups to check spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.  A good writer can miss spell.  A good writer can forget to capitalize.  A good writer can forget a comma.  These are all common mistakes.  The importance of learning from this mistake is the reason of becoming an educated individual.  Editing helps reach that level of perfection.  A paper means so much more after you have put all of this work and effort into your assignment.

The fifth and final step is to publish your work.  How exciting!  :)  After all of your hard work you can show it off.  Let your audience know that you are very proud of your hard work.  It should always be a good paper if you have followed the WRITING PROCESS.     

-Kelsie Lorraine