chapter 7 page 2

THE AMERICAN ENGLISH EXPRESS Chapter 7 page 2

Steps to become a self-confident writer

Step 1: Prewriting

Before writing, there are many things to consider. The most important of these are:

a. Who are you?

b. What are you writing?

c. Why are you writing this?

d. Who will read what you are writing?

e. How should it be written?

Who are you? The ‘spectacles’ which you don (put on) will determine the perspective (viewpoint) from which you approach this task. The role each of us plays changes depending on the circumstances around us: when at work, you are an employee; when corresponding with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) you are a taxpayer; when writing to your Congressman, you are a voter. Here, now, the role you are playing is that of student writer.

What are you writing? You will be writing practice essays at this time. The first will be about the Declaration of Independence.

Why are you writing this? At this time, you are writing to demonstrate your control or command over the English language. Specifically, you are attempting to show that you can write standard formal English.

Who will read what you are writing? Who is your audience? As a writer, you must understand the intended audience for the document. In your case, as a college student, your audience is composed of college professors. They will tell you exactly what they want (and you will have an opportunity to ask questions to clarify). And then it is your task to provide the proof for them that you in fact understand (have learned) the subject matter.

If you want to succeed, then give them what they want!

This is not a forum for your ego (this is not a place to show off). It is a time to take their guidance and suggestions and show them that you have understood what they are teaching by changing your writing to conform to their criticisms and/or expectations. Later on in your academic career you will be able to express yourself in your own way: for now, you must learn and then perform (prove).

How should it be written? How should you structure what you are writing? Depending on what it is you are writing, the structure will be different. A letter has a different format than an essay. A business memorandum (memo) has a different format than an e-mail. A research paper has a different format than an examination (exam) question answer.

Here you are learning to write essays at the freshman college level. At the end of this chapter there is a discussion of the essay, its components, its structure and outlining. Then there are several sample outlines for you to follow and adapt to your needs.

Step Two: Brainstorming:

What does this mean? Look it up! It means to create a storm in your brain: to think, devise, dream up, come up with or suggest ideas. This is a thinking stage. You should freely associate ideas in your mind concerning the topic you are writing about. It is helpful to jot down ideas and thoughts; sometimes the act of writing down an idea can lead to another one, and so on.

In class, I always provide common experiences for example, (a reading, a film, or a role play exercise) that the students share and discuss. This provides for brainstorming.

In your case, you could discuss your ideas for your essay with a friend, another student, a co-worker or a family member or simply think by yourself. For example, suppose you were to brainstorm regarding the essay about writing your own ‘Declaration of Independence’ as a student.

You might think about what things you would want to see done differently on campus. Students often raise issues such as the cost of textbooks in the bookstore, the quality of food in the cafeteria or the accessibility of computer stations.

Then you might list some of the ways these things could be improved. These thoughts could become the basis for your essay. Try it!

The more essays you write, the easier it will become, so take a moment to write some things down.

Step Three: Note taking:

In this step, you take your informal ideas from your brainstorming activity, sort through them and decide what is relevant, useful or important to include.

You think about what will be effective; what points you may want to make; what examples to use. You may need to or want to do some reading and/or research.

When you are ready, you will prepare an outline of your intended work.

Step Four: “The Outline”

Perhaps one of the scariest and most confusing skills for many people is outlining. If you were to draw an outline of a leaf, typically you would draw the outside edges and perhaps some of the structure of the leaf, for example:

This outline shows the borders and the basic structure. There are only major details, there are not any minor details, or other information about what might be within the borders. This is similar to the meaning of ‘outline’ I am using here.

Essentially, a written outline is a symbolic representation of the structure of what you are writing (or reading). For example, if we you writing about baking a cake, perhaps your outline would look like this:

Baking a Cake

I. Recipe

II. Ingredients

A. Flour

B. Sugar

C. Water

III. The preparation process

A. tools

1. mixing bowls

2. baking pans

3. baking utensils

IV. The baking process

V. Preparing the cake for eating

VI. Serving the cake

A lot of thinking goes into outlining. We will learn and practice outlining skills later in this chapter. [Don’t worry!]

For now, you need to know that an outline has Major Headings (e.g., ‘recipe’, ‘ingredients’), Sub-Headings (such as ‘flour’, ‘sugar’ and ‘water’) and Minor Headings (for example, ‘round baking pans’). These headings need not be full sentences (they can be words, phrases or clauses). These headings should communicate to you what it is that you want to say about them (they should remind you to look at your notes about something, for example). You will create sentences out of these headings and references when you write. Hence (So), you want to include a sufficient amount of detail in the outline because this will make the actual writing easier.

Step Five: First Draft

This is your first attempt to write your essay (document or research paper; in the case of the latter, you will have performed much research by this point in the process).

You should proceed to write, following your outline. (You might want to review the structure of a paragraph that is in Chapter I.) The simplest way to proceed is for the

1. major topic headings of your outline to become topic sentences for your paragraphs

sub-headings become your sentences that discuss, explain or present the information
minor headings become your examples.

Step Six: Editing

Here you are reading to see if your essay makes sense and communicates (conveys) the intended information to the readers.

First of all, has the structure of what you have written followed your outline?

Is there an introduction?
Is there a conclusion?
Is the essay long enough? (You are looking for a minimum 350 words at this stage)
Does it make sense they way you have written it?
- Are the examples proper?
- Is there a logical flow of thoughts (sequence of ideas)?

If there is a new structure, is the new structure better than the outline? Or should you change your draft to reflect the organization of the outline more closely. You must judge.

Certainly, the sentences themselves should express complete thoughts and you should change them if they do not. You should also pay attention to the order of the sentences to make sure that your points are made clearly and easily lead the reader to your conclusion.

One hint at this stage: often, new writers will forget that they are writing to an audience, a reader, who must follow their thoughts. As a writer, you are creating a logical path of ideas, feelings, and images for the readers to follow. You have to make sure that each step along the path is clear (directly stated, understandable) so that the reader does not become confused. Remember, the readers cannot stop and ask questions if they don’t understand; they can only attempt to figure out what you are trying to communicate based on what you have written. Remember, only you know what you are trying to say with your written words. It is most important for your readers to be able to follow (understand) what you have written.

So carefully follow the logic (sequence of ideas) of what you are saying. For example, look for instances where you may have assumed something. Clarify these assumptions (explain them, define your terms; for example, a fact or a connection or relationship). Make sure that each logical step in your explanation or discussion is communicated clearly (explicitly) to your readers.

It is often very helpful to read your essay aloud to yourself. Sometimes you can hear the missing thoughts, relationships, and facts when you listen to what is written.

It is also extremely helpful to have your writing read by others: family, friends, peers or classmates. Please note that research studies have shown that students who work together in study groups succeed more often than students who try to go it alone.

Learning is a process of communication. It involves practice. Having others read your writing and respond to it is practice for you in understanding how well you are communicating in writing. When they ‘get it’, it is proof of your skill.

Your readers’ responses should be considered carefully when editing your work. Was there consistent confusion about something you were trying to express? Should you re-write some sentences to make things more clear and avoid confusion?

This is not a time to become possessive of your words. Even though you have worked hard to produce them, they may not be the most effective words to use. Or their order may need to be changed. Remember, this is not about ego, it is about transcending (overcoming) your ego (your own private self) and communicating with another person (a different ego). But remember, you should always OWN YOUR WORDS! Part of this is making sure that your words are easily understood by others. What good are words if you can’t use them properly to communicate what you want to say?

Step Seven: Second Draft

You will always have a second draft, as it is the result of your editing of your first draft. The second draft is the clean copy after your editorial changes have been made. (This is what word processing software is designed to do.)

Of course, you can have many drafts, so the drafting and editing steps can repeat many times before you are satisfied with your work because you have expressed your thoughts effectively.

Step Eight: More Editing

If your second draft is not your final draft, then edit again.