Whether you know it or not, there’s a process to writing
– which many writers follow naturally. If you’re just getting started as a
writer, though, or if you always find it a struggle to produce an essay, short
story or blog, following the writing process will help.
I’m going to explain what each stage of the writing
process involves, and I’ll offer some tips for each section that will help out
if you’re still feeling stuck!
1. Prewriting
Have you ever sat staring at a blank piece of paper or a
blank document on your computer screen? You might have skipped the vital first
stage of the writing process: prewriting. This covers everything you do before
starting your rough draft. As a minimum, prewriting means coming up with an
idea!
2. Writing
Sit down with your plan beside you, and start your first
draft (also known as the rough draft or rough copy). At this stage, don’t think
about word-count, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Don’t worry if you’ve gone
off-topic, or if some sections of your plan don’t fit too well. Just keep
writing!
3. Revising
Revising your work is about making “big picture” changes.
You might remove whole sections, rewrite entire paragraphs, and add in
information which you’ve realized the reader will need. Everyone needs to
revise – even talented writers.
4. Editing
The editing stage is distinct from revision, and needs to
be done after revising. Editing involves the close-up view of individual
sentences and words. It needs to be done after you’ve made revisions on a big
scale: or else you could agonize over a perfect sentence, only to end up
cutting that whole paragraph from your piece.
5. Publishing
The final step of the writing process is publishing. This
means different things depending on the piece you’re working on.
