Page 44 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

The Writing Process

1 Use a five-step writing process.

On a good day, when writing goes smoothly, you may feel as though
writing is a single coherent act. On a bad day, it can feel more like

hitting your head against a brick wall as many times as it takes to

knock an idea out onto the paper. Writing is not a single act, but a

process composed of several steps. One writer, Nick, describes the

process this way:

I think first. It’s not like it pops out of me; it has to brew for a while. The next thing I do is
begin writing ideas down, good or bad. Once I get the ideas down in rough form—I

wouldn’t call it an outline necessarily—I write it out from beginning to end. Then the
revision process begins, because I’m always unhappy with the first thing I write. It’s a

thorough examination: cutting, connecting thoughts, shifting ideas around, adding new

ideas. I really go back to the beginning, because every time I revise, I have to think more.
Then I write out the second draft from beginning to end. I don’t worry about punctuation or

spelling. I keep revising until I think I’ve got it; then I start worrying about periods and
commas. Then it’s ready for another reader.