The 4-Step Writing Process

The 4-Step Writing Process

Analyze Your PurposeIdentify Your Audience

Brainstorm for Things to Say

Put Ideas in Logical Containers

Make an Outline

EditRe-Write

Proof

Fill in the Gaps of the Outline

Come up with Rough Draft

Planning Arranging

Revising Drafting

Clustering

Hand/Mind

FastNo lost

thoughts

No mistakes

Spelling, punctuation

grammar don’t matter

Why Cluster

?

Creative

2 minutes

Easy

Not logical

All ideas at once

A Technical Cluster Sketch

Introduction

RecommendationResults

Pine Valley

Pollution Potentially

High

City Water Study

Methods

Expensive to Drill

Bruce’s Basin

Large Factory Plans to Drill

Wells

Local Opposition

Criteria

A Legal Cluster Sketch

Statute

3 recent cases

Client’s failure to

report 2008

Ambiguities

This year’s trouble

New quarterly reporting

No state income tax

Income tax reporting

An Idea Tree

City Water Study

Introduction Results Recommendation

Criteria Methods

Pine ValleyBruce’s Basin

Aquifer Pollution potentially

high

Local opposition

Aquifer slow to change

Large factory plant to drill

wells

Expensive to drill

Building Better Paragraphs

Introductory Paragraphs

Like roadmaps, they give your readers an overview of your document.

1.What is this?

2.Why am I reading it?

3.What do you want me to do?

They do this by answering 3 questions:

1.Set the context

2.State why the main idea is

important

3.State your thesis/claim

You answer by doing the following:

Forecasting Your OpeningFirst, I will define key terms for my argument, and then I will provide some background of the situation. Next, I will outline the important positions of the argument and explain why I support one of these positions. Lastly, I will consider opposing positions and discuss why these positions are outdated. I will conclude with some ideas for taking action and possible directions for future research.

Forecasting Your OpeningIn deciding this case, a court will consider three issues. First, a court will determine whether the statute applies. If it does not, the court will then determine whether the Oregon Wilderness Watchers had an easement. If the court determines that an easement had been created, the court will then decide the scope of the easement.

Other Effective Ways of Opening

With a quotationWith an anecdoteWith a questionWith a startling statement

Elements of Good Paragraphs

UnityCoherenceAdequate Development

Paragraph Unity

Includes a clearly stated topic sentence.

Creates unity by making all the other sentences logically related to the topic sentence.

Announcing Main idea in Topic Sentence

Our friendship was the source of much happinessand many memories. We danced and snapped our fingers simultaneously to the tunes of Lenny Kravitz and Sheryl Crow. We sweated together in the sweltering summer sun, trying to win thechampionship for our softball team. I recall the taste of pepperoni and sausage pizza as we discussed the highlights of our team’s victory. Once we even became attracted to the same person, but luckily we were able to share hisfriendship.

Or getting your sentences to hold hands with each other by:

Paragraph Coherence

Repeating Key Terms

Restating or repeating key words helps make paragraphs coherent by reminding the reader what the topic is.

Repetition is not redundancy, which is the unnecessary, unconscious and distracting repetition of material.

An Example of Repetition

In deciding this case, a court will consider three issues. First, a court will determine whether the statute applies. If it does not, the court will then determine whether the Oregon Wilderness Watchers had an easement. If the court determines that an easement had been created, the court will then decide the scope of the easement.

Using Pronouns and Synonyms

In deciding this case, a court will consider three issues. First, a court will determine whether the statute applies. If it does not, the court will then determine whether the Oregon Wilderness Watchers had an easement. If the court determines that an easement had been created, the court will then decide its scope.

Pronouns as Cohesive Devices

A weasel is wild. Who knows what hethinks? He sleeps in his undergroundden, his tail draped over his nose.Sometimes he lives in his den for two dayswithout leaving. Outside, he stalks rabbits,mice, muskrats, and birds, killing morebodies than he can eat warm, and oftendragging the carcasses home.Annie Dillard

Using Parallel Grammatical Construction

In deciding this case, a court will consider three issues. First, a court will determine whether the statute applies. If it does not, the court will then determine whether the Oregon Wilderness Watchers had an easement. If the court determines that an easement had been created, the court will then decide the scope of the easement.

Expressions like however, therefore, in contrast, meanwhile, indeed, at first, finally, and so forth create specific connections between sentences.

Use Transitional Words and Phrases

Paragraph Development: Moving from general to specific information

General Information: topic sentence

Focusing direction of paper: telling

Getting more specific: showing

Supporting details: data

Conclusions & Brief Wrap UpAlso called warrant

Revising for Clarity, Conciseness, and

Emphasis

Use Active Voice

Sentences: Subject Verb Object

Active Voice: Actor --->Action--->Acted Upon

Sidney Lumet directed The Verdict.I wrote the essay.I am writing the essay.I will write the essay.

Passive Voice

Sentences: Subject Verb Object

Passive Voice: Acted Upon <---Action <---Actor

The Verdict was directed by Sidney Lumet.The essay was written by me.The essay is being written by me.The essay will be written by me.

Why Avoid the Passive?

Passive takes more words.

Passive is not the way we normally speak.

Passive is harder to remember and follow.

Passive is impersonal and hides the actor of the sentence.

When You Want the Passive

1. When the agent is clear from the context.

Students are required to take both writing courses.

When You Want the Passive

2. When the agent is unknown.

2. The comet was first referred to in an ancient Egyptian text.(We don’t know who wrote the text.)

When You Want the Passive

3. When the agent is less important than the action.3. The documents were hand-delivered this morning.

3. The crystals were mixed in the lab.

When You Want the Passive

4. When a reference to the agent is embarrassing, dangerous, or inappropriate.

4. Incorrect data were recorded for the flow rate.

When You Want the Passive

5. When you want to help your readers move smoothly from one sentence to the next.

5. We must decide whether to improve business writing across the whole curriculum. This decision familiar information will be influenced passive verb by the value we give to better communication.

BE LEERY OF FORMS OF THE VERB “TO BE.”

Avoid the Hamlet syndrome: using too many forms of “to be.”

Use active verbs instead of “is.”

Examples of “To Be”:

The surgeon is in vigorousopposition to the procedure.

The surgeon vigorouslyopposes the procedure.

More Examples of “To Be”

They are still of the firm belief that the advertising is misleading to consumers.

They remain convinced that the advertising misleads consumers.

Avoid NominalizationsNominalizations are verbs made into nouns and adjectives ending in:

ion, ence, ance, ity, ure, ery:There was an affirmative decision for program expansion.The director decided to expand the program.

Avoid Nominalizations for 3 Reasons

1) They create surplus words.2) They require a form of “to be”—an empty

verb.3) They make your writing abstract, indirect,

and difficult.

More Nominalizations

The success of the project depends on the effectiveness of cost controls.

Feels passive. Why?We will succeed with this project if we can control costs.

More Nominalizations

Weak: One requirement for the installation of a new gate will be the relocation of the security office.

Improved: To install the new gate, we will have to relocate the security office.

More Nominalizations

Weak: Proper protection for fiber is essential due to the difficulty of splicing the cable.

Improved: Fiber must be protected due to the difficulty of splicing the cable.

Use Subjects to Name the Characters in Your Story.

Here’s a fairy tale with a moral:

1a) Once upon a time, as a walk through the woods was taking place on the part of Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf’s jump out from behind a tree occurred, causing her fright.

Use Subjects to Name the Characters in Your Story.

1b) Once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the woods, when the Wolf jumped out from behind a tree and frightened her.

What’s Wrong with this Sentence?

Subject

a walk through the woods

the wolf’s jump out from behind a tree

Verb

was taking place

occurred

Improved

Subject

Little Red Riding Hood

The Wolf

Verb

was walking

jumped

The 7 Word Rule

1. Ignoring introductory phrases, underline the first 7 words in each sentence.

2. Look for 2 things: Those underlined words contain abstract

nouns You have to read at least six or seven

words before you get to a verb.

The 7 Word Rule

3. If you find sentences like that: Decide who your cast of characters really

are, particularly flesh and blood ones Find the actions those characters perform If the actions are nominalizations, change

them back into verbs. Make the characters the subjects of those

verbs.

Do exercises on applying 7-word rule and passive voice

Keeping Identical Ideas Parallel

PoorThe First Amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the press is required to be unfettered.

ImprovedThe First Amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press.

Parallel StructureUnparallel:Our present system is costing us profits and reduces our productivity.Parallel:Our present system is costing us profits and reducing our productivity

Eliminating Surplus Words and Phrases

Be on the lookout for:• Meaningless Words• Inefficient Phrases• Strings of Prepositional Phrases

Delete Meaningless Words

Some words are verbal tics that we use like throat clearing.

Kind of basicallyActually generallyReally practicallyCertain incredibleVarious awesomeVirtually

Delete Meaningless Words

Productivity actually depends on certain factors that basically involve psychology more than any particular technology.

Productivity depends on psychology more than on technology.

Delete Meaningless Words

In my personal opinion, it is necessary that we should not ignore the opportunity to think over each and every suggestion offered.We should consider each suggestion.

There are many difficult and demanding scenes in this film by Lina Wertmuller, Swept Away (1975), which give the movie an operatic quality.

Lina Wertmuller’s Swept Away (1975) is a demanding, operatic film.

INEFFICIENT PHRASESInefficient Phrases Efficient Equivalents

for the sum of forin the event that ifprior to the start of beforeConsensus of opinion consensusat this point in time nowdue to the fact that becauseat an early date soon (or a specific date)at the present time nowin view of the fact that since, becauseuntil such time as whenwe are of the opinion we believewith reference to aboutas a result of because

Strings of Prepositional Phrases

Too many prepositional phrases obscure the point of the sentence or force the reader to absorb too many points.

Working Words vs. Glue Words

Working Words Carry the meaning of sentence

Glue Words hold working words together to form proper, grammatical sentence.

Working Words vs. Glue Words

Example:The working words carry the meaning of the sentence.

Working, words, carry, meaning, sentence working words

The, the, of , the glue words

1 A Method to Excise Too Many Glue Words

1. Circle the prepositions2. Circle the “is” forms3. Ask where’s the action? Who is kicking

whom?4. Put the kicking action into a simple active

verb.5. Mark off the sentence’s basic rhythmic

units with a slash (/)

1 Lanham, Richard. Revising Prose

Example

In response to the issue of equality for educational and occupational mobility, it is my belief that a system of inequality exists in the school system.

The Sentence Diagrammed

In response/to the issue/of equality/for educational and occupational mobility/

it is my belief that a system

of gender inequality exists/in the school system.

Revised After Excising Prepositional Strings and Finding Active Verb

I believe that gender inequality exists in the schools.

(9 words instead of 26)