My General Writing Process

My general writing process consists mainly of four main steps: prewriting, drafting, revision, and publishing. For the most part all these processes stay mainly the same no matter what it is that I’m writing. As I continue learning more about writing processes and actually applying them to the way I write, I continue using what I find really helps me in the long run and to keep using those steps until they become an almost unconscious habit in my writing.

When it comes to prewriting, I begin with sitting down with a blank sheet of paper in front of me, and beginning the whole brainstorming process. With ideas building in my mind, I jot down as much as I can in the form single words, phrases, and sometimes even sentences. Anything that can help me remember everything that I may possibly want to use later in the drafting process I usually hope to get down somewhere since I tend to forget everything. After I scribble down everything, I begin to sort through the information, building some sort of structure to which I may be able to piece together a coherent piece of work. I usually try my best to take a break during this process to think about what information is necessary or not, so that I have the best information to use when drafting.

If I’ve spent enough time in the prewriting stage, drafting usually comes pretty easy. Unfortunately for me, I do have major problems with writers’ blocks, and I tend to find myself getting stuck from time to time. Instead of trying to force myself to write, I allow myself to take a breather and collect my thoughts. Returning to drafting with a refreshed mindset always allows me to write more efficiently and effectively, and I tend to stress much less over being stuck.

The step that I’ve always been so tempted to skip was revision. While drafting I feel that I go back, check what it is I’m writing, and make changes as I go so much to the point where I feel that by the time I finish I’ve already revised so much of my work. This is definitely not the case. While I may feel finished, if I print the paper out, take some time away from it, and look at it five seconds right before I have to hand it into my instructor I will notice tons of mistakes everywhere. This is why I now make more of a point to take some time away from the paper, revise, and repeat this revision step one or more times on my own. If the paper is really important, then I go and seek others’ revision abilities to improve the work even more so. After going through this process I finish once I reach the point where I feel that the writing is the best that it could possibly be. Usually, after spending even more time away, I go back and find more mistakes or parts where I can make even more changes, showing that I’m constantly learning and changing the way that I write.

Publishing is an interesting step as it’s not as recognizable as the previous three. Initially I wanted to say that I rarely publish my work, but when I thought about this process I realize that I publish constantly. I turn in a few papers at school a week, I publish blogs, I send emails to my friends, so on and so forth, all of which are forms of publishing. I always check and make sure that the correct information is going to the correct audience in a proper manner so that my writing does what it is that I want it to do.

As I’ve grown older, taken more writing classes, and incorporated writing in my life more often I’ve changed the way that I’ve written. I’ve learned different ways to work through each process, accepting steps that help me into my routine, while through out the steps that seem pointless. I learn from my mistakes in hopes of bettering my work, continually changing the way I think about writing and changing the quality of my work.