DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS:THE PROCESS APPROACHM. S. Xavier Pradheep SinghEmail: pradheepxing@gmail.com

Writing

• Writing can be thought of as thinking made visible.

• A process which involves several identifiable steps.

• Writing is a complex cognitive behavior and a nonlinear process of discovery

Writing Process

• Writing process refers to a broad range of strategies that include pre-writing activities, such as defining audience, using a variety of resources, planning the writing, as well as drafting and revising. These activities, collectively referred to as process-oriented instruction, approach writing as problem-solving.

Writing

• emphasis on end product• Individual• one draft• Structure as the starting point

Product Approa

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• emphasis on creative process• Collaborative• more than one draft• ideas as starting point

Process Approa

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The Writing Process

1Prewritin

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2Drafting

3Reviewin

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4Editing

5Proofreadin

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6Sharing

1. Prewriting

• Topic–Narrow your topic down to a specific

angle.– Research and analyze information

sources.• Audience• My students / colleagues / parents / any

other?• Do they have any background knowledge

of my topic?

1. Prewriting

• Purpose• To provide information?• To persuade?• To find out information?• To tell a story?

• Format• Am I writing a letter, creating a book or

PowerPoint, an essay• What graphic organizer will I use?

1. Prewriting

• Brainstorm ideas on a piece of paper using mind-mapping.

• Organize your preliminary arguments into an outline following a logical order that would suit the general essay structure of opening, body, and ending.

• Put ideas in sub-groups that will later develop into paragraphs.

2. Drafting

• Focus on content and structure only and forget about language and mechanical aspects such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

• Write freely and try to find the best way to communicate your ideas.

2. Drafting• Remember the Structure of your writing:

– The opening paragraph (introduction)• Presents the text’s topic.• Begins with a challenging question, a quotation, an illustrative

story, a description or present interesting facts.– The body (discussion)

• Presents one idea per paragraph• Begins with a topic sentence• Provides enough examples, explanations, facts, opinions, and

quotes.• Uses connecting words (conjunctions and discourse markers)

– The ending (conclusion) • Presents summative remarks and repeat the text’s key idea in

other words.• Finishes with a strong statement

3. Reviewing

• Reread your writing to avoid any mistakes

• Evaluate your content and make sure you actually wrote what you planned.

3. Reviewing• Ask yourself:

– Did I actually write on the required topic and used relevant arguments and examples?

– Is each piece of information relevant to the paragraph?– Should I delete or move anything in the writing?– Does each paragraph and sentence logically follow and

relate to what’s written before it?– Did I use suitable connectors to present the logical relations

between sentences?– Did I use a variety of sentence types and lengths (from

simple to complex, short and concise to long and elaborate)?– Did I repeat the same ideas and words?– Did I use adjectives and adverbs for text enrichment?

4. Editing• Judge your writing for language and

technicalities rather than content.• Your sentences should adhere to proper word order

rules, each containing a subject and a predicate.• Use a variety of verb tenses correctly and

appropriately.• Use a dictionary or spell checker when not sure

about spelling.• Use a variety of punctuation marks accurately.• Edit for text mechanics: capitalization, numbering,

italics, and abbreviations.

5. Proofreading

• Trace out all small mistakes.• For a second proofread, try and

pinpoint mistakes reading the text backwards.

6. Sharing

• Share it with your audience and look for any feedback

Finally

• The writing process may seem long and tiresome, but it is a guaranteed path to success.

• The more you use it, the sooner you will realize how you couldn’t do without it.

Thank You