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Steps in the Writing Process Writing is a long, complex process. The following information explains the steps in that process. Different writers use different strategies; ultimately, you will have to experiment and decide which techniques work best for you. 1. Determine your purpose. If are writing an expository essay, your purpose is to explain your subject to your audience. If you are writing a persuasive essay, your purpose is to persuade your audience to accept or to act on your beliefs.

2. Determine your audience. Ask yourself Am I writing for a general audience? If so, I will likely have to provide more background information and avoid technical terms or jargon. Am I writing as a specialist for other specialists? If so, my readers will be familiar with the subject, and I will be able to present more complex material and use specialized language. If I am writing a persuasive paper, what is my readers attitude toward my subject? [For most academic papers, assume that you are writing for a neutral audience.] Am I writing a literary analysis? If so, my reader already knows the plot/content of the story/novel/play/poem. My reader wants to know my interpretation of one or more elements of the work.

3. If you already know a great deal about your subject, you may be able to think of a thesis (main point) for the paper and to write a preliminary draft. 4. If you have not yet decided on your focus, generate material for the paper. Try more or more of the following techniques: Brainstorm by putting the subject in the middle of the page and then surrounding it with whatever ideas, examples, questions, feelings, and so on come to mind. Ask questions. You can ask the journalists five ws and an h or questions based on the methods of developing essays. For examples, see the handout Generating Ideas by Asking Questions. Freewrite on your subject for ten minutes without stopping to edit ideas, organization, or writing style.

5. Look over the ideas you have generated and try to determine the main point you want to make about your subject. This main point is your tentative thesis. (At this stage the thesis is tentative because you may need to revise/rethink it as you work through various drafts of the essay.) In an expository paper, the thesis is the overall point about what your subject means. In a persuasive paper, the thesis is the argument you want your reader to accept. If you havent found the thesis yet, try generating additional material, perhaps even by writing a first draft and seeing what ideas emerge. If youre writing a research paper, conduct research to add to your store of ideas. Its easier if you know your thesis before you begin the research, but if you dont know much about the subject, youll have to do the research first and develop a thesis after thoughtful consideration of what youve read. 6. Choose the primary method you will use to develop your essay. The primary methods of developing expository essays are definition, classification/division, causes and/or effects, process or systems analysis, and comparison/contrast. To develop a persuasive paper, use reasons, examples, and/or evaluation to support your opinion. [For more information, see the handouts Generating Ideas for an Essay by Asking Questions and Methods of Organizing Essays.] You may find as you write and revise various drafts of the essay that you will incorporate other methods of development to clarify one or more important details, but you will still use one primary method to develop the paper. 7. Look over your ideas and group related information into categories. Your categories will depend on the method of development. For instance, if you are writing a classification essay, group related types/examples under one category, as in the following example: Forms of Nonverbal Communication gestures facial expressions posture tone of voice

Decide how to organize the material. If possible, write a sentence that can serve as the topic sentence for each category, as in, Without speaking a word, we can communicate thoughts and feelings through a variety of gestures. [For additional information, see the handout Methods of Organizing Essays.] 8. Start to work on your first draft in either one sitting or in sections as time allows. Some writers revise as they write, which is admittedly a laborious process. Other writers compose a complete draft and then revise subsequent drafts. 9. Revise the paper as many times as needed. Try to let several days elapse between completing a decent version of the paper and working on your final major revisions. [For additional information, see the handout Strategies for Revising Essays.] 10. Proofread your final version of the essay for errors such as typos or problems with format (font size, margins, spacing, and so on). [For more detail, see the handout Strategies for Proofreading an Essay.]