Pre-Writing, Writing, Revising, and Editing: Steps of the Writing Process

Before taking this class, I did not approach writing in a systematic way. I would often write from start to finish, with little thought of how to tailor my writing for specific projects. I would correct my writing for grammar and spelling, but I did not understand how to edit my own work. Then, I was introduced to The Four Steps in the Writing Process, of prewriting, writing, revising, and editing.

Prewriting is something I have often neglected, because I often have procrastinated in the past when an assignment was due, leaving me little time to brainstorm interesting ideas or to outline. I would just rush right through the essay, and also have little time for revision. When writing my comparison on essay of Astrology versus Astronomy, however, it was useful to first brainstorm topics that might be useful to compare (ones which shared similarities as well as differences), and then to create clustered lists of different subtopics, once I had decided upon the two main subjects.

Once I conducted more research on the two topics, I began to take notes from my various sources, including listing important pull quotes with different historical facts. According to 4 Prewriting Strategies to Prepare You for Your First Draft, prewriting can include general brainstorming or it can be more structured, using techniques such as clustering ideas. The closer I got to actually writing the essay, the more useful it was to use more structured prewriting strategies, like clustering and outline, versus general brainstorming.

Of course, after a certain point, the actual writing of the essay is inevitable and must be done, no matter how much procrastinating about writing is tempting! In fact, once I began prewriting, it was tempting just to linger on that step. But the actual process of writing felt so much easier, as I knew what I wanted to say. I was able to make sure each...…essay. Still, although this was the most difficult essay to write, I think the persuasive skills I gained were some of the most useful for my other classes. All of my classes require some type of argumentation.

Habits are very important for writers. The steps of the writing process enabled me to look at my writing as a system, much like brushing my teeth every night. At first, it is necessary to learn how to do something, but once something becomes a habit, it feels much easier and becomes routine. It was helpful to get a teachers perspective on my writing process in a specific way, so I can apply the process to different classes. I think it is a process that I will take with me for the rest of my life. It has been important in truly teaching me how to write, and get to the heart or point of a story, or simply knowing what I really want to write about in the first…