Prewriting
Encyclopedia
Prewriting is the first stage of the writing process
, typically followed by drafting, revision, editing and publishing.
Elements of prewriting may include planning, research, outlining, diagramming, storyboarding or clustering (for a technique similar to clustering, see mindmapping).
. Student writers find motivation especially difficult because they are writing for a teacher or for a grade, instead of a real audience. Often teachers try to find a real audience for students by asking them to read to younger classes or to parents, by posting writing for others to read, by writing a blog, or by writing on real topics, such as a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.
is an effective way to search for a good topic for a personal narrative
. Writers can quickly tell a story and judge from the listeners' reactions whether it will be an interesting topic to write about.
Another way to find a topic is to freewrite
, a method first popularized by Peter Elbow
. When freewriting, you write any and every idea that comes to mind. This could also be a written exploration of your current knowledge of a broad topic, with the idea that you are looking for a narrow topic to write about. Often freewriting is timed. The writer is instructed to keep writing until the time period ends, which encourages him/her to keep writing past the pre-conceived ideas and hopefully find a more interesting topic.
ing or gathering information. Reading (process)
is effective in both choosing and narrowing a topic and in gathering information to include in the writing. As a writer reads other works, it expands ideas, opens possibilities and points toward options for topics and narrowing of topics. It also provides specific content for the eventual writing. One traditional method of tracking the content read is to create annotated note cards with one chunk of information per card. Writers also need to document music, photos, web sites, interviews, and any other source used to prevent plagiarism
.
Besides reading what others have written, writers can also make original observations relating to a topic. This requires on-site visits, experimentation with something, or finding original or primary historical documents. Writers interact with the setting or materials and make observations about their experience. For strong writing, particular attention should be given to sensory details (what the writer hears, tastes, touches, smells and feels). While gathering material, often writers pay particular attention to the vocabulary used in discussing the topic. This would include slang, specific terminology, translations of terms, and typical phrases used. The writer often looks up definitions, synonyms and finds ways that different people use the terminology. Lists, journals, teacher-student conference, drawing illustrations, using imagination, restating a problem in multiple ways, watching videos, inventorying interests – these are some of the other methods for gathering information.
with a group or topics or how to narrow a topic. Or, they might discuss events, ideas, and interpretations with just one other person. Oral storytelling might enter again, as the writer turns it into a narrative, or just tries out ways of using the new terminology. Sometimes writers draw or use information as basis for artwork as a way to understand the material better.
in a hierarchical structure is one of the typical strategies, and usually includes three or more levels in the hierarchy. Typical outlines are organized by chronology, spatial relationships, or by subtopics. Other outlines might include sequences along a continuum: big to little, old to new, etc. Clustering
, a technique of creating a visual web that represents associations among ideas, is another help in creating structure, because it reveals relationships. Storyboarding is a method of drawing rough sketches to plan a picture book, a movie script, a graphic novel or other fiction.
Even sketchier is information on what types of organization are acquired first, but anecdotal information and research suggests that even young children understand chronological information, making narratives the easiest type of student writing. Persuasive writing usually requires logical thinking and studies in child development indicate that logical thinking is not present until a child is 10–12 years old, making it one of the later writing skills to acquire. Before this age, persuasive writing will rely mostly on emotional arguments.
requires more imagination, while informational essays or expository writing
require stronger organization. Persuasive writing
must consider not just the information to be communicated, but how best to change the reader’s ideas or convictions. Folktales will require extensive reading of the genre to learn common conventions. Each writing task will require a different selection of prewriting strategies, used in a different order.
Writing process
The Writing process is both a key concept in the teaching of writing and an important research concept in the field of composition studies.Research on the writing process focuses on how writers draft, revise, and edit texts...
, typically followed by drafting, revision, editing and publishing.
Elements of prewriting may include planning, research, outlining, diagramming, storyboarding or clustering (for a technique similar to clustering, see mindmapping).
Motivation and audience awareness
Prewriting usually begins with motivation and audience awareness: what is the student or writer trying to communicate, why is it important to communicate it well and who is the audience for this communication. Writers usually begin with a clear idea of audience, content and the importance of their communication; sometimes, one of these needs to be clarified for the best communicationCommunication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
. Student writers find motivation especially difficult because they are writing for a teacher or for a grade, instead of a real audience. Often teachers try to find a real audience for students by asking them to read to younger classes or to parents, by posting writing for others to read, by writing a blog, or by writing on real topics, such as a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.
Choosing a topic
One important task in prewriting is choosing a topic and then narrowing it to a length that can be covered in the space allowed. Oral storytellingStorytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
is an effective way to search for a good topic for a personal narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
. Writers can quickly tell a story and judge from the listeners' reactions whether it will be an interesting topic to write about.
Another way to find a topic is to freewrite
Free writing
Free writing — also called stream-of-consciousness writing — is a prewriting technique in which a person writes continuously for a set period of time without regard to spelling, grammar, or topic. It produces raw, often unusable material, but helps writers overcome blocks of apathy and...
, a method first popularized by Peter Elbow
Peter Elbow
Peter Elbow is currently a Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he also directed the Writing Program from 1996 until 2000...
. When freewriting, you write any and every idea that comes to mind. This could also be a written exploration of your current knowledge of a broad topic, with the idea that you are looking for a narrow topic to write about. Often freewriting is timed. The writer is instructed to keep writing until the time period ends, which encourages him/her to keep writing past the pre-conceived ideas and hopefully find a more interesting topic.
Gathering information
Several other methods of choosing a topic overlap with another broad concern of prewriting, that of researchResearch
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
ing or gathering information. Reading (process)
Reading (process)
Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...
is effective in both choosing and narrowing a topic and in gathering information to include in the writing. As a writer reads other works, it expands ideas, opens possibilities and points toward options for topics and narrowing of topics. It also provides specific content for the eventual writing. One traditional method of tracking the content read is to create annotated note cards with one chunk of information per card. Writers also need to document music, photos, web sites, interviews, and any other source used to prevent plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
.
Besides reading what others have written, writers can also make original observations relating to a topic. This requires on-site visits, experimentation with something, or finding original or primary historical documents. Writers interact with the setting or materials and make observations about their experience. For strong writing, particular attention should be given to sensory details (what the writer hears, tastes, touches, smells and feels). While gathering material, often writers pay particular attention to the vocabulary used in discussing the topic. This would include slang, specific terminology, translations of terms, and typical phrases used. The writer often looks up definitions, synonyms and finds ways that different people use the terminology. Lists, journals, teacher-student conference, drawing illustrations, using imagination, restating a problem in multiple ways, watching videos, inventorying interests – these are some of the other methods for gathering information.
Discussing information
After reading and observing, often writers need to discuss material. They might brainstormBrainstorming
Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members...
with a group or topics or how to narrow a topic. Or, they might discuss events, ideas, and interpretations with just one other person. Oral storytelling might enter again, as the writer turns it into a narrative, or just tries out ways of using the new terminology. Sometimes writers draw or use information as basis for artwork as a way to understand the material better.
Narrowing the topic
Narrowing a topic is an important step of prewriting. For example, a personal narrative of five pages could be narrowed to an incident that occurred in a thirty minute time period. This restricted time period means the writer must slow down and tell the event moment by moment with many details. By contrast, a five page essay about a three day trip would only skim the surface of the experience. The writer must consider again the goals of communication – content, audience, importance of information – but add to this a consideration of the format for the writing. He or she should consider how much space is allowed for the communication and how What can be effectively communicated within that space?Organizing content
At this point, the writer needs to consider the organization of content. OutliningOutline
An outline is a list of the main features of a given topic, often used as a rough draft or summary of the content of a document. A hierarchical outline is a list arranged to show hierarchical relationships, and is a type of tree structure....
in a hierarchical structure is one of the typical strategies, and usually includes three or more levels in the hierarchy. Typical outlines are organized by chronology, spatial relationships, or by subtopics. Other outlines might include sequences along a continuum: big to little, old to new, etc. Clustering
Clustering
Clustering can refer to the following:In demographics:* Clustering , the gathering of various populations based on factors such as ethnicity, economics or religion.In graph theory:...
, a technique of creating a visual web that represents associations among ideas, is another help in creating structure, because it reveals relationships. Storyboarding is a method of drawing rough sketches to plan a picture book, a movie script, a graphic novel or other fiction.
Developmental acquisition of organizing skills
While information on the developmental sequence of organizing skills is sketchy, anecdotal information suggests that children follow this rough sequence: 1) sort into categories, 2) structure the categories into a specific order for best communication, using criteria such as which item will best work to catch readers attention in the opening, 3) within a category, sequence information into a specific order for best communication, using criteria such as what will best persuade an audience. At each level, it is important that student writers discuss their decisions; they should understand that categories for a certain topic could be structured in several different ways, all correct. A final skill acquired is the ability to omit information that is not needed in order to communicate effectively.Even sketchier is information on what types of organization are acquired first, but anecdotal information and research suggests that even young children understand chronological information, making narratives the easiest type of student writing. Persuasive writing usually requires logical thinking and studies in child development indicate that logical thinking is not present until a child is 10–12 years old, making it one of the later writing skills to acquire. Before this age, persuasive writing will rely mostly on emotional arguments.
Writing trials
Writers also use the prewriting phase to experiment with ways of expressing ideas. For oral storytelling, a writer could tell a story three times, but each time begin at a different time, include or exclude information, end at a different time or place. Writers often try writing the same info. but using different voices, in search of the best way to communicate this information or tell this story.Recursion
Prewriting is recursive, that is, it can occur at any time in the writing process and can return several times. For example, after a first draft, a writer may need to return to an information gathering stage, or may need to discuss the material with someone, or may need to adjust the outline. While the writing process is discussed as having distinct stages, in reality, they often overlap and circle back on one another.Variables
Prewriting varies depending on the writing task or rhetorical mode. FictionFiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
requires more imagination, while informational essays or expository writing
Expository writing
Expository writing is a type of writing where the purpose is to inform, explain, describe, or define the author's subject to the reader. Expository text is meant to deposit information and is the most frequently used type of writing by students in colleges and universities. A well-written...
require stronger organization. Persuasive writing
Persuasive writing
Persuasive writing, could be referred to as a creative writing or an argument, in which the speaker uses words to convince the reader of a writer’s view regarding an issue. Persuasive writing involves convincing the reader to perform an action, or it may simply consist of an argument convincing the...
must consider not just the information to be communicated, but how best to change the reader’s ideas or convictions. Folktales will require extensive reading of the genre to learn common conventions. Each writing task will require a different selection of prewriting strategies, used in a different order.