Page 82 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

Why Prewrite?

1 Identify the advantages of prewriting.

It’s tempting to skip prewriting. After all, why take the time to prewrite
when you can just sit down and start writing? The answer is that

taking fifteen or twenty minutes to prewrite is more efficient than not

prewriting. Prewriting is worth your time for several reasons.

Prewriting opens a doorway to your thoughts. Your mind does

not offer instant access to its content. Bits of memory and stored
knowledge reveal themselves gradually, one by one. Prewriting

allows your mind time to reveal its knowledge on the subject.

Prewriting helps prevent writer’s block. Prewriting can never be

wrong, so the process of prewriting provides a certain immunity to

writer’s block, the paralysis that comes from feeling that every

word must be perfect and every sentence correct.
Prewriting builds confidence. By the time you finish prewriting,

you will probably find that you have more to say about your subject

than you imagined. Therefore, you will write more strongly and

confidently.