the writing process with examples

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A comprehensive guide to the writing process: 5 steps with examples, rachel r.n..

November 30, 2023
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You might have heard the saying that good writing involves a lot of rewriting. This means that to write well, you need to come up with ideas, organize them, put them together in a clear way, go back to check your work, edit it, and make your words stronger. These steps are called the writing process.

Writers have their own unique way of working. Some start writing from the beginning and go straight to the end. Others write in parts and then organize them later. Some writers focus on one sentence at a time. Knowing how and why you write the way you do helps you treat your writing like a job, while still letting your creativity flow free

No matter what you’re writing – whether it’s a blog post, a script, a research paper, or a book review – you’ll follow these steps to turn your initial ideas into a well-crafted and ready-to-publish piece. Keep reading to find out more about each of the six steps in the writing process.

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What You'll Learn

What Is the Writing Process?

Writing follows a step-by-step process, like putting together a puzzle. Many writers might not be aware that they use common terms to describe each stage. The writing process includes everything from thinking about the idea and making a plan to fixing mistakes and finally sharing the finished work

Importance of Knowing the Stages in The Writing Process

Like most writers, you probably have your own way of writing books.

When you sit down to tell a story or talk a lot about a topic, you follow certain steps to make your idea real.

It’s okay to do each new project your own way, but it’s still good to go back to the six basic stages of writing every now and then.

First, it’s a good habit to develop, especially if you’ve recently started writing professionally.

Going through the stages of writing makes sure you’ve covered everything. It keeps you organized and helps you work better. This way, you can expect a better final product each time.

Second, going through each stage of writing is a great way to get unstuck when you’re struggling to finish an idea.

Writing is creative, but sometimes having a plan helps. Just knowing how to start can break down mental barriers that stop you from moving forward.

Third, even if you have your own routine for writing, you’re probably already following the basic steps without realizing it.

In that case, it wouldn’t hurt to know the terms used. That way, you can keep a mental (or physical) checklist and adjust it to fit your creative way of working.

Keeping all of this in mind, we wanted to remind you (or maybe introduce you) to the six stages of writing.

Stage 1: Prewriting

Prewriting is a crucial step in the writing process that sets the foundation for a successful piece of writing. It involves several key activities, including idea generation , research , and considering the intended audience .

Prewriting allows writers to brainstorm ideas, gather relevant information, and plan their writing in a structured manner. By taking the time to engage in prewriting, writers can clarify their thoughts and ensure a strong start to their writing project.

During the prewriting stage, idea generation plays a significant role. This is the time to let creativity flow and explore different topics and angles. Brainstorming techniques such as mind mapping or freewriting can help writers generate a wide range of ideas and choose the most suitable one for their piece. By allowing ideas to flow freely, writers can tap into their creativity and uncover unique perspectives that will make their writing stand out.

In addition to idea generation , research is another important component of prewriting. Conducting thorough research helps writers gather relevant information, facts, and evidence to support their ideas. By investing time in research, writers can ensure that their writing is accurate, well-informed, and credible. It also allows them to explore different viewpoints and strengthen their arguments, ultimately enhancing the quality of their piece.

This stage generally involves:

Writing notes about something you see in real life
Thinking about something that happened when you were a kid
Finding out more about something you like
Imagining how a character should seem
Using a piece of a writing idea

When your idea begins to take shape, you are now free to move to the next stage

Stage 2: Planning Your Project

Once the prewriting stage is complete, it’s time to move on to planning your project.

It’s fair to say that Planning is a crucial step in the writing process as it helps you organize your thoughts and establish a clear structure for your piece.

Without at least a general sketch of your characters or path for your plot, you’re more likely to hit a roadblock halfway through writing. By planning ahead of time, however, you can typically avoid such an issue and have a much easier time crafting your book

There are several techniques you can use to plan effectively, such as outlining , mind mapping , and freewriting .

An outline is a helpful tool for organizing your ideas and ensuring a logical flow in your writing. It involves creating a structured framework that outlines the main points and subpoints of your piece. This can be done using headings, subheadings, and bullet points. An outline provides a roadmap for your writing, making it easier to stay focused and maintain coherence.

Mind mapping is another method that can be used for planning. It involves creating a visual representation of your ideas by linking related concepts and information. Mind maps are useful for brainstorming and generating new ideas. They allow you to see connections between different concepts and can be a great tool for organizing your thoughts before diving into the writing process.

Freewriting is a technique that encourages you to write continuously without worrying about grammar , punctuation, or structure. It helps to free your mind and overcome writer’s block. By allowing your thoughts to flow freely on paper, you can discover new ideas and insights that you may not have come up with through traditional planning methods. Freewriting can serve as a starting point for your writing and can be refined and revised later in the process.

Using these planning techniques can help you stay organized and ensure that your writing is well-structured and coherent. Experiment with different methods and find what works best for you. Remember, planning is a critical step that sets the foundation for a successful writing project.

Table: Comparing Planning Techniques

Stage 3: the drafting process.

Now it’s time to start writing! Here, you begin to transform your thoughts and ideas into written words. It is during this stage that you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and create the first draft of your piece. Drafting allows you to express my thoughts freely and capture the essence of your ideas.

Don’t stress about making everything perfect right away. When you’re writing your first draft, just focus on getting your ideas down on paper. It’s okay if it’s not perfect yet.

Using the outline you made, begin writing your draft one sentence and paragraph at a time.

Here’s a tip: You don’t have to start writing from the beginning. If you know what you want to say in one part but not another, start with the part you know and come back to the tricky parts later. This can save you time and frustration.

Writing the easy parts first can also make the harder parts seem less intimidating. Instead of seeing them as big, scary challenges, they become smaller tasks to tackle one by one.

During the drafting process , I adopt a mindset of continuous writing , allowing the words to flow without worrying too much about perfection. I understand that the first draft does not have to be flawless; it is simply a starting point. Overcoming perfectionism is key during this stage, as it can hinder progress and stifle creativity. Instead, I focus on getting my ideas out and creating a rough version of the piece.

One strategy I find helpful during drafting is to set aside dedicated time for writing and eliminate distractions. By creating a conducive environment, I can immerse myself in the writing process and maintain a steady flow of ideas. I also remind myself that the purpose of drafting is not to produce a final, polished piece, but rather to generate material that can be refined and improved in subsequent stages.

Tips for Overcoming Perfectionism during Drafting

Give yourself permission to write imperfectly. Remember, you can always revise and edit later.
Set realistic goals and focus on making progress rather than striving for perfection.
Embrace the messy nature of drafting and embrace the creative process.
Remind yourself that writing is a journey, and the first draft is just the beginning.

By embracing continuous writing and overcoming perfectionism , I can harness the power of the drafting process to bring my ideas to life. The first draft may be rough around the edges, but it lays the foundation for the subsequent steps of revising , editing , and polishing my work.

Stage 4: Revising and Polishing Your Work

Once you have completed the drafting process, it’s time to focus on revising and polishing your work. This critical step in the writing process allows you to make big-picture changes , refine your ideas, and improve the overall structure and clarity of your piece.

During the revising stage, consider reorganizing paragraphs or sections to enhance the flow of your writing. You may also need to delete or add content to strengthen your arguments or provide additional support for your ideas. This is your opportunity to take a step back and evaluate your work with a fresh perspective.

After making the necessary revisions, it’s time to move on to editing and proofreading . This stage focuses on correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other minor errors. Pay attention to sentence structure, word choice, and overall coherence to ensure your writing is clear and polished.

Remember, revising and polishing your work may involve multiple rounds of review and refinement. Take the time to read your piece aloud, seek feedback from others, and make any necessary adjustments. By dedicating time and attention to this step, you can ensure your writing is error-free and ready for publication.

The Importance of Revision:

“Revision is not the time to doubt yourself; it’s the time to make your writing shine.”

Revising Tips:

Read your piece aloud to identify any awkward or unclear sentences.
Ask a trusted friend or colleague to provide feedback and suggestions.
Consider the overall flow and organization of your writing.
Focus on strengthening your arguments and providing ample support.
Edit for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

Proofreading Checklist:

Check for typos and spelling errors.
Ensure proper punctuation and capitalization.
Verify the consistency of verb tense and pronoun usage.
Review sentence structure and clarity.
Double-check citations and references if applicable.

Stage 5: Publishing

After putting in the effort to write a well-crafted piece, it is crucial to take the final step: publishing and sharing your work. This step allows your writing to reach a broader audience and establish your presence as a writer. Whether you choose to publish on your own website, submit your work to a publication, or share it on social media, the goal is to make your writing accessible and visible to others.

Self-publishing has become increasingly popular in today’s digital age. With platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing , authors can easily publish and distribute their own books. This gives writers the freedom to control the entire publishing process, from formatting to pricing. Self-published authors can also take advantage of online marketing tools to promote their work and reach potential readers.

Sharing your writing on social media platforms is another effective way to get your work noticed. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram allow you to connect with a wide audience and engage with readers. By sharing snippets or excerpts from your writing, you can pique interest and direct people to your full piece. Social media also provides an opportunity to interact with your audience, receive feedback, and build a community of readers and fellow writers.

It is important to note that publishing your work does not mean it is set in stone. Even after publication, you have the flexibility to revise and update your writing. This is especially relevant for bloggers who often update their older posts to keep them relevant and accurate. Publishing should be seen as a starting point, and the ability to make revisions allows you to continually improve your work and maintain its relevance over time.

Table: Pros and Cons of Publishing and Sharing

Publishing and sharing your writing is an essential step in the writing process. It allows you to connect with readers, establish your authority, and continuously improve your work. Whether you choose to self-publish or share on social media, remember that publishing is just the beginning; revising and updating your writing ensures its relevance and quality over time.

The Beginner’s Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

The Writing Process: 6 Steps Every Writer Should Know

The six steps writing process is a valuable tool for writers of all levels and abilities. By following these steps, writers can enhance their writing skills, overcome challenges, and produce high-quality work. Each step plays a vital role in the overall writing process and should not be overlooked.

Embracing the writing process can lead to improved productivity, organization, and overall writing proficiency. Whether you’re a student working on an academic assignment or a professional copywriter crafting persuasive content, the six steps writing process provides a framework for success.

So, embrace these steps and take your writing to the next level! By utilizing prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, editing & proofreading , and publishing, you can enhance your writing skills and create effective, well-crafted pieces. Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep honing your writing process and watch your skills soar.

What are the steps of the writing process?

The steps of the writing process are prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, editing & proofreading, and publishing.

Why is prewriting important?

Prewriting is important because it helps writers generate ideas, conduct research, and consider the intended audience .

How can I plan my writing project?

You can plan your writing project by creating an outline, using mind maps, or engaging in freewriting.

What is the drafting process?

The drafting process is when writers start putting their thoughts into words, creating a rough version of their piece.

What is revising in the writing process?

Revising involves making big-picture changes to improve the overall structure, flow, and clarity of the writing.

What is the purpose of editing and proofreading?

Editing and proofreading focus on correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other minor errors to polish the piece.

How do I publish my finished piece?

You can publish your finished piece by uploading it to a website, sharing it on social media, or submitting it to a client or editor.

Can I revise my writing after publication?

Yes, you can revise and update your writing after publication, especially for blog posts that can be regularly updated.

Why is the writing process important for writers?

The writing process is important because it helps writers enhance their skills, overcome challenges, and produce high-quality work.

Source Links

https://smartblogger.com/writing-process/
https://www.thewordsmithblog.com/mastering-the-art-of-writing-six-ways-to-hone-your-skills-develop-your-craft/
https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-correspondence-and-reporting/introduction-to-basic-writing/steps-for-writing/

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Writing process: From discovery to done (complete guide)

The writing process has many stages, from discovery and investigation to publication. Read authors’ insights on finding ideas, revision and more, and tips and methods to find the process that works for you.

Post author By Jordan
5 Comments on Writing process: From discovery to done (complete guide)

The writing process is a complex, not always linear creative process. From ‘plotters’ vs ‘pantsers’ (to ‘bashers’ vs ‘swoopers’), this guide unpacks stages of the writing process, what authors have said about the practices and habits of writing, and more. Use the links above to jump to the section that interests you now.

Writing process stages: 7 areas of practice

Some writing schools and authors divide writing into four stages, some five. Yet these seven see a story from first idea to publication:

Discovery. Before you can draft, you need an idea, a premise. This is the investigative stage of finding the seed for a story with the most potential.
Prewriting . The preparation to write before drafting begins. Depending on whether you’re a ‘plotter’ or ‘pantser’ (more on this below), this may include outlining, brainstorming, freewriting, or other common prewriting techniques.
Drafting. You write narration, exposition, scenes, chapters (depending on your story’s format). Drafting may be fast or slow, depending on your preferred methods. Try different approaches and techniques to shake up your usual writing habits.
Writing feedback and story development. Once you are comfortable to share your work-in-progress (WIP), you may share early drafts with a trusted friend, writing coach or critique circle for perspective and insight.
Revision . The process of reviewing what you’ve written, deciding what to keep (and which ‘darlings’ to ‘kill’).
Editing. While revision entails making decisions about the content of your story, editing involves making decisions about the presentation of that content – how best to make the story more impactful and polished.
Publication (and promotion). Isn’t the writing process over at this stage? Not at all – your query letters, story pitches, blurbs, review requests and other matter will be some of the most important material of the entire writing process. This is the writing that puts the story you’ve labored over in the right hands.

Keep reading for tips, methods and ideas about each of these stages, supplemented by reading from the Now Novel blog.

Writing process stages infographic - discovery, prewriting, drafting, feedback, revision, editing, publication

Discovery: Finding and investigating writing ideas

The writing process may start from an idea that arrives like a soothsayer. A flash of inspiration, insight, wisdom – a dream, unexpected connection, some kind of beguiling chance encounter or happenstance that makes you say, ‘I’ve got an idea’.

Yet the idea-finding process may equally be deliberate, even robotic. Consistently trying your hand at writing prompts until an idea niggles away at your waking mind, for example, persistently saying, ‘pick me’.

Finding and developing writing ideas is a skill you develop like any part of the writing process. That way you can make an idea come, not just for a first book, but a second, third (if with a little coaxing).

Essayist and cultural theorist Walter Benjamin said of the writing process:

Work on a good piece of writing proceeds on three levels: a musical one, where it is composed; an architectural one, where it is constructed; and finally, a textile one, where it is woven. Walter Benjamin, quote via Goodreads .

Before you make a picture with those threads, you need the wool you spin into finer thread: The fluffy stuff of an idea.

Writing process methods: Ways to find ideas

There are many ways to find ideas and find joy in the discovery stage of writing process.

Discovery and investigation may include a little or a lot of research, depending on what you need to know. The seed of an idea may come from multiple sources at once, as Toni Morrison says of her Pulitzer-winning novel Beloved :

Beloved originated as a general question, and was launched by a newspaper clipping. The general question (remember, this was the early eighties) centered on how – other than equal rights, access, pay, etc. – does the women’s movement define the freedom being sought? Toni Morrison, ‘On Beloved ‘ in Mouth Full of Blood: Essays, Speeches, Meditations, p. 281.

Here are fifteen ways to find ideas:

15 ways to find writing ideas and begin the writing process

Try writing prompts such as the step-by-step prompts to find a central story idea in the Now Novel dashboard.
Ask ‘What if…?’ For example, ‘What if a mysterious satellite held captivating mysteries about an alien race?’
Draw from life. What experience could you use/alter for non-fiction or fiction?
Use visual prompts. Use a photo or artwork as your starting point. Free-write a paragraph describing what you see, then continue and keep or turf the opening material.
Play/combine. William S. Burroughs’ famous ‘cut up’ technique reassembles random cuttings from print into new ideas, for example.
Trawl headlines. Google intriguing subjects in the ‘news’ tab. E.g. ‘travel disasters’ brought up ‘How ‘dark tourism’ can pass on the lessons of past tragedies’. Mine your headline for ideas.
Explore myths and legends. Reads stories from world mythologies. You could update an ancient tale with modern touches.
Argue with other stories. Maybe a story’s annoyed you, or you want to explore a secondary character’s viewpoint (from a work now in the public domain). Write back.
Test out ideas in short fiction. Famous novels (such as Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce) began as short story test runs.
Draw inspiration from music. Listen to a song. What ideas, characters, premises do the lyrics evoke?
Try creative constraints. The collective OuLiPo used devices such as writing stories omitting a chosen vowel entirely to find the unexpected.
Browse famous quotes. Take something like ‘Happy families are all alike…’ from Anna Karenina . Where else could it lead?
Join writing groups. Prompts set by members for each other may inspire new ideas.
Research historical figures or eras. You may unearth a riveting idea from the past.
Tap into your subconscious and keep a dream journal or meditate, silence and going inward often brings clarity.

FAQs about the discovery stage of writing

Share your idea with trusted people for external perspective. Test it out in a writing group or class. Ask questions about ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why’ ‘where’ and ‘when’ to finesse a hazy or partial idea into something deeper, fuller.

The varied ways myths and legends are recycled (Thor in Norse mythology becoming Marvel’s popular character) reminds us there are no new ideas. Originality lies in the specifics of voice and execution. Be specific, be yourself and find your voice through practice and intentional execution.

This is where it helps to remember the writing process is not linear. The discovery stage is also a good time for research, finding out what is being done (and overdone) in your genre. What agents are looking for (or tired of seeing). Resources listing recent publishing deals give insights into what’s sold recently and book market appetites. To start though, focus on telling a good story. Great stories find their audience.

🗣️ How did you find your last story idea? Let us know in the comments, and keep reading for tips and methods for prewriting, drafting, and more.

38 plot ideas (plus 7 ways to find more)
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Book ideas: 12 fun ways to find them
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GET YOUR FREE GUIDE TO SCENE STRUCTURE

Read a guide to writing scenes with purpose that move your story forward.

Ideas are like fireflies; go hunting for them and they elude you. Sit and enjoy the night, and they appear from out of nowhere. You have to let the ideas come to you. Expand your world, read outside your comfort zone, take walks. The fireflies will come. Just give them the chance. Sabrina Jeffries in 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists: Insider Secrets from Top Writers by Andrew McAleer (2008), p. 69.

Prewriting: Useful preparatory writing processes

Prewriting is the processes before you start drafting a story which help you prepare.

There are many kinds of prewriting. Because the writing process is not linear, you might come back to one or more of these methods at some stage of drafting:

Common prewriting steps and methods

Picking a premise. If you have multiple ideas, go with the idea that pulls you most and (if you want a marketable book) the one you know has the better market potential.
Choosing a genre or subgenre. This goes hand in hand with picking a premise, since if you set your book in outer space and explore future technology, chances are you’ll be shelved with sci-fi.
Brainstorming. A process of generating ideas, whether you use mind maps, answer prompts and questionnaires, or churn out every idea you can think of in scenario- or topic-driven lists.
Creating a story outline. This may be a meticulous, detailed outline, or a cursory collection of notes. The more complete your outline, the more handrails you’ll have. This prevents wandering off into irrelevancies, plot holes and impossible paradoxes, and so on.
Creating initial summary material. Summary material includes things like character profiles or IDs, scene summaries , or a one-page synopsis of what your story is about (also a useful exercise in the Publication and promotion stage of process).
Freewriting. Before more structured drafting, you might explore a topic or scenario with freewriting. Set a timer for 15 to 20 minutes and just write whatever comes into your head about a topic you think will be important to your book. It might spawn scene, chapter, or character ideas.
Research. This may overlap with the discovery/investigation stage, as your idea may also need a little research to solidify what you want to write about. It might include fiction set in a similar era or place, making a bibliography of potentially helpful non-fiction, speaking to subject exploring films and documentaries, or visiting physical or digital archives. For some tips on how to research place when you can’t visit those places, read our tips.
Interviewing. This is especially pertinent for types of writing such as historical fiction, non-fiction, memoir. Interviews with subject experts, people who lived through specific events or an era, could provide helpful nuance, context, and ideas for relevant story details.

You don’t necessarily need to do every kind of prewriting. Some authors favor ‘just-in-time’ research (an idea Bujold spoke about in relation to fantasy worldbuilding ).

Authors on prewriting and whether or not to plan stories

The prewriting perspectives below show there are many way to skin (or rather save) a cat. Try different methods and find what works for you .

Loose story outlining

Author Scott King gives this reminder that prewriting (planning, creating structure, organizing) should serve the needs of your story, and stay adaptable to its unique needs:

An outline is a map of your story. It’s not set in stone. Even when you work from an outline, you will discover new twists and turns as you progress. The outline is there to remind you of where you are going so you can’t ever get too far from where you need to be. Since I was working under pressure, I didn’t want to get crazy with how I structured Ameriguns . I defaulted to a three act structure, the kind you’d use in a screenplay, but altered it to fit the needs of the story. Scott King, ‘Outline’ in The 5 Day Novel , 2016, p. 58.

Pullman on how establishing rules is part of play

More broadly, Philip Pullman, in ‘The Practice of Writing’, talks about how having some rules at the start of creative process gives paradoxical freedom to play. He compares guidelines such as rules (or outlines) to choosing where touchdown lies for a football game:

And as we know about all games, it’s much more satisfying to play with rules than without them. If we’re going to enjoy a game of football in the playground, we need to know where the touchline is, and agree on what we’re going to regard as the goalposts. Then we can get on with playing, because the complete freedom of our play is held together and protected by this armature of rules. The first and last and only discovery that the victims of anarchy can make is: no rules, no freedom. Philip Pullman, ‘The Practice of Writing’ in Daemon Voices , pp. 18-19

‘Plotting’ vs ‘Pantsing’: Find your balance between prewriting and drafting

So much has been written and said about whether you should plan stories in detail in advance (‘plotting’), or go where imagination takes you (‘pantsing’, after the expression ‘to fly by the seat of your pants’ or work with instinct and gut more than organized knowledge).

Your writing process may change to suit your project

Author K.M. Weiland raises the useful reminder that your writing process doesn’t need to ape a famous writer’s approach, or be the same across every story you tell:

Each author must discover for himself what methods work best for him. Just because Margaret Atwood does X and Stephen King does Y is no reason to blindly follow suit. Read widely, learn all you can about what works for other authors, and experiment to discover which methods will offer you the best results. K.M. Weiland, ‘Chapter One: Should You Outline?’ in Outlining your Novel: Map your way to success , p. 11.

Planning stories helps character development

Edith Wharton, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for writing, said of the space and planning deeper characterization requires:

Type, general character, may be set forth in a few strokes, but the progression, the unfolding of personality […] if the actors in the tale are to retain their individuality for [the reader] through a succession of changing circumstances—this slow but continuous growth requires space, and therefore belongs by definition to a larger, a symphonic plan. Edith Wharton, The Writing of Fiction: The classic guide to the art of the short story and the novel (1925), p. 33.

Not planning, creative freedom and excitement

Author Lee Child, on the other hand, extolls the benefits of not planning (and not being as pedantic about the marks you hit as an editor or publisher might be):

I write without a plan or an outline. The way I picture my process is this: The novel is a movie stuntman, about to get pushed off a sixty-story building. The prop guys have a square fire-department airbag ready on the sidewalk below. One corner is marked Mystery, one Thriller, one Crime Fiction, and one Suspense. The stuntman is going to land on the bag. (I hope.) But probably not dead-on. Probably somewhat off center. But biased toward which corner? I don’t know yet. And I really don’t mind. I’m excited to find out. Lee Child, ‘Introduction’ in How to Write a Mystery: A handbook from Mystery Writers of America

🗣️ What is your preferred prewriting method? Or do you pants it all the way, or pants a little then switch to planning? Tell us in the comments.

What is prewriting? Preparing to write with purpose
Story plotting and structure: Complete guide
Story planning and outlining: Complete guide
Story planner success: How to organize your novel

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Writing process challenges you may encounter

Before we discuss drafting and the writing process, let’s explore common process challenges (and tips to overcome them):

Common hurdles in creative process

There are challenges in creative process that beginning authors and veterans alike face. You’re not alone if you’ve ever gone rounds in the ring with:

Fear of failure (or success). What happens if a publisher or agent says no? What if reviews or crits are harsh? Or how will you handle sudden public recognition and scrutiny in the event of success?
Procrastination (avoidance behaviors). When writing a story feels hard, it’s easy to put it off (or use not having time or something else as an excuse not to write).
Distractibility. Whether you have a condition such as ADHD that adds further focus challenges or are a social media addict, we live in a highly distracting, ‘always on’ world.
‘Time Burglars’ . There are many thieves of time that take away from the writing process if you don’t make regular writing a top priority.
A harsh inner critic. Many aspiring creative people have harsh inner critics who destroy their work before anyone else can.
Laziness. This is a common reason not to write, too.
Unpreparedness. Many writers find projects spool out and become much harder and more complex than originally anticipated. That can be discouraging.

Overcoming writing process challenges

How can you work with and overcome some of the above procedural challenges in writing?

Keep SMART goals: Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-based goals are much easier to track and attain than hazy aims
Work on tolerance for your mistakes: Everyone makes mistakes starting out, and seasoned pros do, too
Chunk up complex tasks: Struggling to write a chapter a week to schedule? Try write 300 words per day and set a bigger ‘stretch goal’ (an extra target if you make your first easily)
Turn off the net if you need to: Put your phone in airplane mode and pause all notifications
Remember the difference between procrastination and waiting: It’s fine to wait for maturity, fuller knowledge of your subject, to be in the right frame of mind. It’s not putting off but letting process take its necessary time for this story
Get up and move often: The writing process is (for the most part) a sedentary one. It’s easy to forget to move. Stone-like posture may lead to petrified process, even if your mind’s going a hundred miles a minute

The accountability of working with a writing coach or joining a crit circle that meets regularly helps (in Now Novel’s experience), too.

Natalie Goldberg writes, on procrastination vs waiting:

Waiting is something full-bodied. Perhaps waiting isn’t even a good word for it. Pregnant is better. You’ve worked on something for a while. You are excited by it, even happy, but you are wise and step back. You take a walk, but this walk isn’t to avoid the writing on your desk. It is a walk full of your writing. It is also full of the trees you pass, the river, the sky. You are letting writing work on you. Natalie Goldberg, ‘Procrastination and Waiting’, in Wild Mind: Living the writer’s life , p. 210.

How to nurture your writing process and avoid common pitfalls

We asked Now Novel’s writing coaches their best advice on the writing process, and about patterns they see in beginning writers (and ways to overcome destructive habits).

Romance author and writing coach Romy Sommer on remembering why you’re telling your story:

Writing is hard work. Probably harder than you thought it would be when inspiration first struck and you decided to write a novel. So find the joy in what you are writing. Remind yourself daily of WHY you are writing this story. Remember that spark that first inspired you to sit down and write, because that is what will keep you going when the going gets tough.

SFF and YA author, editor and writing coach Nerine Dorman on allowing yourself to make ‘happy accidents’:

Writing coach and SFF author and editor Nerine Dorman

Many writers I’ve worked with lack confidence in their ability, and tend to focus on those first chapters to the point where they lose the momentum to push forward with the rest of the plot. I give them Bob Ross’s advice of making plenty of ‘happy little accidents’ as we can’t actually work on writing if there’s nothing there to revise. Your first draft can be as messy as you need it to be. The most important thing is to get into the habit of writing as regularly as your schedule allows, and to see your writing as a very personal way to express yourself. Granted, there are the basic building blocks of writing and style, which I aim to teach, but I like to think that we also look at what it means to be a writer – a constantly evolving, growing creative person.

Drafting stories: Getting knee-deep in scenes

We could equally call the drafting stage of process ‘discovery’ like the first stage. After all, drafting is where you discover many of the ‘happy accidents’ Nerine describes above. Discoveries that may often depart from your outline (or lead you back into revision-planning).

Learn more about approaches to drafting, what authors say about doing fewer vs multiple drafts, and tips to make this part of process work for you.

Types of draft in the storytelling process

There are many terms authors use to refer to drafting. Numbered (first, second, third) drafts. Even drafts before the first, the so-called ‘draft zero’ (which describes a discovery draft, the purpose of which is just to learn the broad scope of the story and set down some of the material in full).

In one of Now Novel’s live webinars, writing coach, author and editor Hedi Lampert shared a drafting concept by the late author and writing educator Anne Schuster, who hosted women’s writing workshops in Cape Town.

The idea is a simple, three-part drafting process. To paraphrase:

The down draft: The draft where you get your ideas down on the page, with as much messiness or as many placeholders as you need to keep moving.
The up draft: A second draft in which you pick up on details for development, expansion, and color in more of your story.
The dental draft: A third draft in which you polish the work of your first two drafts, paying attention to language and finer detail now the story elements have solidified.

This is a useful concept in that it gives each stage of drafting a proper focus and purpose (and allows for not getting everything ‘right’ straight away).

Authors on the drafting stage of writing process

Will you draft chapters in chronological sequence or out of order? Should you worry about chapters and scene breaks or carve up the text later?

These are some of the questions authors face about drafting. Read authors on drafting and their individual processes. These perspectives show that what works for one person might not work for another. Try different methods until you find what works for your process, or this project.

Toni Morrison on creating chapters and parts in a draft

Toni Morrison describes putting in story segment divisions at a later point in process:

Chapter and part designations, as conventionally used in novels, were never very much help to me in writing. Nor are outlines. (I permit their use for the sake of the designer and for ease in talking about the book. They are usually identified at the last minute.) Toni Morrison, ‘The Writer Before the Page’, in Mouth Full of Blood: Essays, Speeches, Meditations , p. 266.

Sir Terry Pratchett on the purpose of a first, second and third draft (creative freedom, shaping, addressing detail)

Sir Terry Pratchett said that the first draft is ‘just you telling yourself the story’, and qualified something like a systematic per-draft process when he said:

First draft: let it run. Turn all the knobs up to 11. Second draft: hell. Cut it down and cut it into shape. Third draft: comb its nose and blow its hair. I usually find that most of the book will have handed itself to me on that first draft. Sir Terry Pratchett, via Goodreads

Colleen McCullough on how many drafts until done: It depends

How many drafts ‘should’ you write? It depends, writing is rewriting as Colleen McCullough describes:

Once I’ve got the first draft down on paper then I do five or six more drafts, the last two of which will be polishing drafts. The ones in between will flesh out the characters and maybe I’ll check my research. Colleen McCullough, quoted by Writers Write here .

🗣️ What is your drafting process currently? Is there a system, number of drafts or method that works well for you? Share it in the comments.

Writing first drafts: 10 ideas to reach final drafts
Write with purpose: 7 ways to keep drafts focused
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The concept of finishing a piece of writing, taking it through successive drafts, did not yet exist for me. I reveled in the heady pleasure of committing a few words to paper and treasured each like a rare jewel I had dug from the earth with my bare hands. A journal suited my fledgling status as a writer and made me feel serious and important, a real writer, and honored the scant output I produced. In my journal I practiced being a writer in both senses of the word: practiced as in trying out, and practiced as in keeping a daily practice, the way the nuns observed their daily order of prayer services. Katherine Towler, in Writers and Their Notebooks , edited by Diana M. Raab, pp. 65-66.

Writing feedback and story development

Remember that we said the writing process is not always linear?

When you get writing feedback depends on you. You may want feedback on your story idea or summary, your early chapters. You may prefer not to show your WIP to anyone until you’re at least one or more drafts deep. Tweet This

Maybe you move between drafting rounds, and feedback rounds, as you use readers’ perspectives to tweak your story and workshop it.

Why getting feedback is a crucial stage of writing process

When we don’t have critiques, manuscript evaluations, editors or beta readers, we only have our own perspectives to rely upon. You get used to your own mistakes, and nobody knows their own blind spots or the details they hadn’t thought of (that a shrewd second opinion might).

To ensure feedback aids (more than frustrates) your writing process:

Get feedback from writers you trust. You might want input from writers at a similar stage of development to yourself, or editors who have been story doctors for some time.
Take feedback from whence it comes. That crosspatch member of your crit circle who never has a nice word to say? Expect the kind of feedback that person usually gives. If a crit circle or beta reader is harsh or overwhelmingly negative, it’s OK to find a better fit.
Stay open to perspectives and use what’s useful. There’s that saying, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.’ Don’t get parched just to protect your ego. Reviewers on major platforms could be way harsher if you don’t take time to fix what isn’t working.
Describe what feedback you’re looking for. Now Novel’s critique submission system contains categories you can check off for feedback, such as ‘grammar and language’, ‘characters’, ‘structure and flow’ and ‘dialogue’. Specifying what kind of feedback you want helps readers tailor their feedback to be more relevant to your needs.
Give any necessary context. Nobody knows your writing process or story better than you do. Remember to contextualize anything an editor or beta reader may need to know to have a better understanding of what you’re aiming for (in style, subject matter, tone, characterization, etc.).

Giving feedback also does wonders for many authors’ writing processes – helping others with writing challenges helps you build the tools to solve your own.

Channeling feedback into the writing process

Too much feedback (especially if overly harsh as it can be in poorly moderated communities), especially in the early stages of a story, may inhibit or discourage. When evaluating writing feedback, ask:

Is there overlap between what feedback givers are saying? This could signal a real and higher priority issue to address in revision
What is higher vs lower priority feedback to implement? Major confusion-bringing issues such as continuity issues or tense drift and head-hopping are naturally a higher priority than minor details that don’t affect whether readers can understand the story, for example

When getting and giving feedback in a crit circle or a beta reading community, it’s easy to compare yourself to other writers. Writing coach Romy Sommer advises against comparisons:

Do not compare yourself to other writers. We each work differently, we each need to find the writing process that works best for our lives and the way our brains work, and what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. Accepting that took a huge weight off my shoulders and enabled me to embrace my own process.

The development stage of creative process: Comb story’s nose, blow its hair

As Terry Pratchett says, developing a story – later rewrites and drafts – gets into grooming-like detail. Combing a story’s … nose!? You may well find that there are Picasso-like parts, or the princess’s hair is snotty, not sleek. Tweet This

At the developmental stage of writing, ask yourself questions an editor would, such as:

Is it clear? Does the reader have sufficient context or clear wording to understand the story and follow along?
Does it have cohesion? Do actions and reactions flow and make sense? When characters converse, does it have the pattern of real call and response or is it like two people with crossed wires?
Is the story ‘colored in’? Is there sufficient description (and are descriptions specific/detailed, not hazy)?
Are events and actions clear and intriguing? Does the procession of events create questions the reader wants answered?
Is there flow between lines, scenes, chapters? Or if the story is non-linear, do the pieces come together to make an interesting, impactful whole?

Here’s a fuller checklist with 34 story development questions for rewrites and successive drafts:

Story development checklist - 34 questions for later drafts

How to find beta readers for final draft feedback
Writing circle pros: 8 reasons to share your story
100 character development questions to inspire deeper arcs
How to master plot development: 8 steps

Writers have always struggled with the same core issues: getting the work done (productivity) and creating something worth reading (creativity). And, unless you believe that misery is necessary for true art, aim for a third goal: making the process enjoyable, cultivating a fulfilling and happy life that includes writing. Let’s consider this our triple objective: productivity, creativity, and enjoyment. Surely that’s not asking too much? Anne Janzer, ‘Finding Your Own Process’ in The Writer’s Process: Getting your brain in gear, p. 15

Revision: Seeing again with fresh eyes

The word ‘revision’ says it all. The fifth stage of the writing process is seeing again, reviewing what you’ve written, to make insertions/deletions as needed.

There may be parts of your story that would benefit much from expansion, coloring in. Maybe there are parts that you have to cull, as much as you may feel attached to them.

Revision vs editing: What’s the difference?

Revision is a process of making decisions about the content of your story. It may include:

Adding in new scenes, chapters or sections
Rearranging scenes, chapters or sections
Cutting out subplots or other material that aren’t contributing to the whole sufficiently
Trying a different person to determine the effects on POV

That last example touches on an important truth about revision: it’s as creative as drafting, and it can be a fun process of play, of trying out different things.

Editing, on the other hand, is focused on improving the presentation of decisions made about content. Often, you may find that an editor suggests further revisions. This is work that you’ll do, because only you (as the author) are qualified to make this level of creative decision, it being your story.

Authors’ ideas on revision and the writing process

What do authors say about the revision process?

Joyce Carol Oates on revising as you go being arduous

Joyce Carol Oates shared that her writing methods changed over time, as she grew older:

I think that I envy my younger self because I used to write a whole draft of a novel and then go back and rewrite it […] Today, I do a lot of revising as I go along and that seems to be more painful and arduous. It’s a slow process, almost like putting a mosaic together or weaving things in and out, whereas before it felt more like galloping on a horse and then creating the manuscript. For some reason I’ve become more attuned to the individual sentence and reworking the sentences. I’m not sure why that happened. Joyce Carol Oates, USA Weekend , quoted by famouswritingroutines.com here .

This raises an important decision about revising: When will you stop to review and tweak elements? If you stop every page, prepare for a first draft that may take years! Give yourself the time your process dictates.

Jamaica Kincaid on the internal revision process

Of course, your revision is not only the work you do on paper. Dame Agatha Christie said the best time to plot a novel was while doing the dishes. Jamaica Kincaid, in conversation with Publishers Weekly , says:

I write a lot in my head. The revision goes on internally. It’s not spontaneous and it doesn’t have a schedule. You know how some people write every day at a certain point? I’m not like that. I carry something around for a long time. I weigh the words and the sentences. I weigh the paragraphs. The process is much more meditative for me. So, when I put something down on paper, I’ve already edited a lot. Jamaica Kincaid, interviewed by Liesel Schwabe, ‘The Age of a Mountain: PW Talks with Jamaica Kincaid’, December 2012.

🗣️ What is your approach to revision? Do you sit with ideas a long time, write at a gallop and then revise, or make painstaking revisions as you go? Share in the comments.

Revision in writing: How to improve between drafts
Novel editing insights: 9 big lessons from critique

GET FEEDBACK AND HELP WITH REVISION

Join The Process for weekly editor critiques, monthly live workshops, story outlining tools and more.

Editing: The polishing stage of writing process

Editing, the penultimate stage of writing process, is itself made up of several important stages. It’s often a challenging one because there is an even bigger degree of ‘letting go’. Letting someone make tracked changes and suggestions to your manuscript, for example.

When you hand over writing to an editor, you may be getting your first sample of ‘reception’ (if you have been working in private, not with a crit circle). T.S. Eliot drily said, ‘Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.’

Editing is often an immensely enriching process, though, for both editor and author. Earnest discussion and deep thought about a story’s strengths (and how best to serve them) and challenges (and how best to address them) may unearth surprising gems.

The main types of fiction editing

The four main types of editing are:

Developmental editing. This examines large-picture aspects such as character and story development, narrative structure and pacing.
Line editing. More detail-oriented, line-level editing that examines issues such as language, style, flow and clarity.
Copy editing: Focuses on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and eliminating errors and residual issues with style or flow that may be left over from (or have crept in after) line editing.
Proofreading: The final stage of editing, catching any final errors before publication (a stage self-publishing authors may be tempted to omit, but do so at risk of excoriating reviews).

Many editing providers, including Now Novel, offer manuscript evaluations . This is often bundled with developmental editing as a part of discovery process (we subtract the cost of an evaluation from developmental editing). A manuscript evaluation produces a reader’s report with actionable recommendations on aspects such as plot and character development, narrative structure, pacing, conflict and more.

Is editing writing process? It is in that it is en route to publication. How much writing you’ll do at this stage depends on how much revision there is to be done.

If you have excellent language faculty and a strong grasp of story, an editor may recommend you proceed straight to copy editing from an evaluation, if there are no large-scale issues.

Editing and revising: 7 tips from top authors and editors
Editing copy? 8 tips for a word-perfect manuscript

Publication and promotion: Writing around your story

Does the writing process end once your work’s edited? Some would say ‘yes’. Yet publication and promotion involve a lot of writing ‘around’ your story, about your story. Press, promotion, selling.

This isn’t a type of writing (and part of process) that’s for everyone (you may want to outsource some of this work – for example writing social media captions – to a marketing agency if or once you can afford it).

Publication and the writing process

Types of writing you’ll do when you’re ready to publish include:

Writing query letters or script pitches
Writing bios for author pages
Writing newsletters, social media captions, and other marketing material
Writing speeches or guest blogs about the process of writing your story

Promotion and publication are a whole other side of process that we’ll cover in fuller detail in another complete guide.

See the resources recommended reading below for tips on aspects such as creating your author brand, creating a business plan, and ways to get more reviews.

Helpful resources for publication and promotion writing

Here are several resources that provide tips on publication and promotion as well as useful examples:

Publishers Weekly – frequent round-ups of publishing news and interesting developments in publishing
Query Shark – examples of query letters dissected by an agent
Jane Friedman’s blog – with twenty years’ experience in the publishing industry, Jane shares helpful publishing insights such as how to query and how to avoid publishing scams
Joanna Penn’s The Creative Penn – a helpful blog featuring podcasts and articles packed with publishing and book promotion insights
Kindlepreneur – writer Dave Chesson has a site devoted to book publishing and promotion how to’s, useful for self-publishing authors.

🗣️ Is there a book publishing and promo resource you love you don’t see here? Let us know about it in the comments.

How to write a query letter: 10 easy steps
Writing to market: 10 pros and cons to weigh
Self-publishing on Ama zon: 20 pros and cons for authors
How to create a business plan for writers

Now Novel provides help with every stage of the writing process. Learn more about membership benefits for serious writers .

Writing romance and love stories: Complete guide
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Tags writing process

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

5 replies on “Writing process: From discovery to done (complete guide)”

I’m mostly a pantser, I think. I let the ideas take me where they want to go with an end point in mind. The problem is that I don’t always like the direction, missing that fireman cushion completely. I feel like I’ve given away a piece of my soul to have to start over (I don’t want to say second draft because it feels more like a new zero). I know how important it is to get to the end, but if I truly have a fresh idea I have to go down that road, but I’m so scared it’ll take me straight to Hades… again. Eventually, I’ll be very well versed in writing my own story, I suppose. Lots and lots of practice.

Hi Margriet, thank you for sharing that. It’s very interesting as a method as you do end up doing a lot of review and revision as you go. Have you every thought of having some kind of ‘pantsers compromise’ of maybe outlining one scene ahead? Something Ernest Hemingway said was to the effect of ‘stop for the day when you know what happens next’ which might be one way to keep Hades and his kidnappers at bay 🙂 Thank you for sharing your process!

Thanks for this Jordan – comprehensive doesn’t do it justice!

For me, the difference between being someone who wanted to complete a first draft and actually doing it was definitely when I stopped being a panther and embraced the value of plotting & planning.

I’m still more of a plantser than someone who plots things to the nth degree, but having a very clear idea of at least the first 20-30% of the novel is going to go, with an idea of the way it’s going to end allows me the flexibility and freedom to start the novel with confidence that I’m going to finish, because I have a pretty good map of the journey and the destination.

I know I’m going to get “there”, even if the actual final destination changes along the way, or if I take a few pretty little detours along the way. I’ve used two different plotting approaches to complete 3 first drafts now – so I think it’s not necessarily what plotting style you go for, it’s about having one and making it work.

Hi Mark, it’s a pleasure. Thank you for sharing that. I love the happy accident of ‘panther’ in particular. Because that describes what pantsers are like, pouncing with minimum hesitation. That makes total sense to me; each story will also have its own demands in terms of the mix of research and other stages required so process may have to adapt to the demands of a specific work.

I saw that and had a little chuckle at myself – the inner pantser lives on!

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The Writing Process

Making expository writing less stressful, more efficient, and more enlightening, search form, you are here, what is a writing process.

“Writing is easy. You just open your veins and bleed.” — Red Smith, Sportswriter

As you might expect, process writing means approaching a writing task according to a formalized series of concrete, discrete steps. Although different versions of the writing process can be found—some with as few as three steps or phases, others with as many as eight—they generally move from a writer-oriented phase of pre-writing through drafting to reader-oriented revising and editing. I generally find that the one I will present below, comprising five steps, is specific enough to make the important steps separate and yet not so complex as to be daunting.

Why even use a formal writing process, though? What can it offer you that the kind of informal processes people typically use don't? Continue.

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The Writing Process

The writing process is something that no two people do the same way. There is no "right way" or "wrong way" to write. It can be a very messy and fluid process, and the following is only a representation of commonly used steps. Remember you can come to the Writing Center for assistance at any stage in this process.

Steps of the Writing Process

Step 1: Prewriting

Think and Decide

Make sure you understand your assignment. See Research Papers or Essays
Decide on a topic to write about. See   Prewriting Strategies  and Narrow your Topic
Consider who will read your work. See Audience and Voice
Brainstorm ideas about the subject and how those ideas can be organized. Make an outline. See  Outlines

Step 2: Research (if needed)

List places where you can find information.
Do your research. See the many KU Libraries resources and helpful guides
Evaluate your sources. See Evaluating Sources and Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Make an outline to help organize your research. See Outlines

Step 3: Drafting

Write sentences and paragraphs even if they are not perfect.
Create a thesis statement with your main idea. See Thesis Statements
Put the information you researched into your essay accurately without plagiarizing. Remember to include both in-text citations and a bibliographic page. See  Incorporating References and Paraphrase and Summary
Read what you have written and judge if it says what you mean. Write some more.
Read it again.
Write some more.
Write until you have said everything you want to say about the topic.

Step 4: Revising

Make it Better

Read what you have written again. See Revising Content and Revising Organization
Rearrange words, sentences, or paragraphs into a clear and logical order.
Take out or add parts.
Do more research if you think you should.
Replace overused or unclear words.
Read your writing aloud to be sure it flows smoothly. Add transitions.

Step 5: Editing and Proofreading

Make it Correct

Be sure all sentences are complete. See Editing and Proofreading
Correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
Change words that are not used correctly or are unclear.
APA Formatting
Chicago Style Formatting
MLA Formatting
Have someone else check your work.

The Writing Process: A Seven-Step Approach for Every Writer

Aaron Burden / Unsplash.com

Main Writing Process Takeaways:

Writing process refers to a series of steps that a writer must follow to complete a piece of writing.
Having a writing process is essential to produce a wide range of content.
Breaking down your text into different stages could ultimately improve content quality.
A writing process or method includes the following stages: planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, editing, and publishing.
The prewriting stage is the most critical stage of the writing process .

We all follow a writing process when creating an article or any written content. In most cases, this process becomes a routine that comes naturally rather than a step-by-step guide.

However, following a step-by-step writing process can come in handy, especially when dealing with challenging pieces. In this post, we will discuss the seven-stage writing method that you can use for writing high quality content.

What is the Writing Process?

Writing process refers to a series of steps that you must follow in order for you to complete a piece of writing . Writers may have different writing methods , but the writing stages are essentially the same. These stages break writing into manageable pieces from planning, drafting, and sharing to revising, editing, and publishing. That way, the task seems less laborious.

The primary strength of the writing process is its usefulness in producing a wide range of content. Whether you’re an academic writer, blogger , or screenwriter , it helps you write better, easier, and faster.

What are the 7 Steps of the Writing Process?

image shows a hand creating a checklist of goals on a paper

The EEF’s “ Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2 ” guidance report broke down the writing process into seven stages. This includes the planning , drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, editing, and publishing stages. As writers become adept in these stages, they can quickly move back and forth, revising their text along the way. In other words, writing is not a linear process.

1. Planning or Prewriting

The planning or prewriting stage involves brainstorming, which takes into account your writing purpose and goal. It’s also the stage to connect your ideas using graphic organizers. The prewriting stage is when you ask the following questions:

What will I write?
What is the intended purpose of the writing?
Who is the audience for your writing?

You need to do intent research to better understand what your target readers need. For instance, if you are writing for the web, you can take advantage of Google-Related Questions to know what the people are searching for online in relation to your topic.

Answering these questions ensures that you start your writing with the end in mind. Furthermore, you’ll be able to see your writing project through your audience’s eyes.

2. Create Your First Draft

Before your content is ready for publishing, you must have created a couple of drafts.

Thanks to the drafting process, you can write freely from the beginning to the end. What’s more, it provides a way to quickly draw from your outline or list of main plot points — depending on your writing process.

You could also use these stages to establish word count goals to get a rough idea of the project duration. This is especially important for creative writers such as novelists.

3. Share Your First Draft

After completing the first draft, it’s time to take a break and share the text with others.

While it may sound a bit scary at first, the feedback will help you evaluate elements of your writing. These include the composition, structure, and overall effectiveness.

Consider sharing your first draft in the following places:

Your email list — if you have one
Online writing groups and forums
Social media groups for writers
Social media group for a specific genre

In the end, you’ll know whether your first draft fulfills the intended purpose and appeal to your audience. The feedback also tells you if your writing is clear, enjoyable, and easy to read.

4. Evaluate Your Draft

This writing process involves doing a full evaluation of your first draft.

At this stage, you have to take the feedback that you’ve received into account. It’s also an excellent opportunity to address possible mistakes with grammar or mechanics.

For fiction writers, this writing stage allows you to ask whether the readers like your main character. Likewise, non-fiction writers have to ask if their content addresses their audience’s questions.

After evaluating your work, you can move to the revision stage of writing.

5. Revising Your Draft

Revision involves making changes to your work based on the feedback you received and thorough evaluation. This writing process is especially useful for fiction writers.

Along with correcting structural problems in your story, it also allows you to find loose ends and tie them up. You can also add or remove content to improve your write-up’s flow and usefulness.

When you’re done revising, you’ll have a new draft that takes you closer to your writing goal .

At this point, your newest revision becomes your latest draft. After that, you may opt to edit your own work using a content writing and editing tool like INK or hire a professional editor.

6. Editing your Content

The editing aspect of the writing process is about eliminating possible errors in your revised content. These include elements that can affect your text’s accuracy, clarity, and readability.

The editing process also addresses misquoted content, factual errors, awkward phrasing, and unnecessary repetition. Not only does good editing make your work easier, but it also makes the text more enjoyable.

Specialized writing tools such as INK could prove useful for editing web content. But it’s best to avoid self-editing for books. Consider hiring a professional editor for novels and non-fiction books.

7. Publishing your Content

The last stage of the writing process involves sharing your text with your audience.

There are various ways to publish your content, depending on the content type. For example, you can share your book using self-publishing platforms such as Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and CreateSpace .

Whatever the writing may be, the writing processes outlined above will help you create an excellent piece.

What is the Most Important Step in the Writing Process?

Educators have not reached a consensus on the most important writing process . Some would argue that the prewriting stage is the most critical for completing a piece of writing.

After all, brainstorming is required to create an idea that’ll eventually become the content. Besides, writers can use the prewriting stage to avoid or overcome writer’s block.

Meanwhile, educators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill believe that the revision stage is the most critical. It’s when a piece of writing undergoes the most changes.

It could entail increasing the word count to supply as much information as possible. You could also rearrange some aspect of the manuscript to improve the content’s flow, pacing, and sequence.

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Sumbo Bello

Sumbo Bello is a creative writer who enjoys creating data-driven content for news sites. In his spare time, he plays basketball and listens to Coldplay.

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The Writing Process
Paragraphs and Essays
Unity and Coherence in Essays
Proving the Thesis/Critical Thinking
Appropriate Language

Good writing is usually the result of a process of pre-writing, drafting, reviewing, revising, and rewriting. It’s rare that anyone is able to express his or her thoughts in the best way possible on the first try although the more we practice, the better we become at it. Experienced, published writers readily admit that they have revised their writing several times before publication.

Revise means to see again . After we’ve done our first draft, it’s helpful to leave it for a while before looking at it again. While having others read the paper may help, the goal is to become self-editors and see the writing as others would see it. We need to be sure that it says what we mean to communicate in a way that will show the legitimacy of our position.

A good essay must prove the thesis: a one-sentence statement taking a position. Once you have a thesis, even though you may change it, it’s easier to formulate ideas about the body paragraphs since they just have to prove the thesis.

Proof paragraphs are just reasons why your thesis is right. Just as an essay has a controlling idea expressed is the thesis statement, paragraphs also have a controlling idea expressed in a topic sentence.

While experienced writers sometimes take poetic liberties in some contexts such as fiction or informal writing, good writers know how to use proper grammar and punctuation, and in college writing, it should be used.

Proofreading carefully helps to assure that the writing says what we want it to say and that it uses proper grammar. Sometimes, it helps to read the paper aloud. It’s easy to miss an error.

Whether you are writing a paragraph, an essay, another type of assignment for school such as a reaction paper, or simply a letter, here are key elements to remember.

Subject, Purpose, and Audience

Subject – (picking the right topic, narrowing the topic, supporting the topic)
Audience – For whom are you writing? (experts, teachers, general public?)
Purpose- (explaining, persuading, comparing, entertaining….)

Writing is a Process

Pre-writing (freewriting, brainstorming, clustering, asking questions (research), keeping a Journal)
Organizing (grouping, eliminating, adding) and narrowing the topic (focus on a point)
Rough Draft
Revising (self check, peer review, tutoring)
Final Copy (typed)

Pre-writing: Free-writing, Brainstorming, Clustering, Asking Questions (Research), Keeping a Journal

Pre-writing consists of various strategies to help overcome a writing block, to get ideas, or just to get organized. Whether you are writing a letter or doing a writing assignment for school, one or more of the following may be used as needed.

1. Focused Free-writing

More “poetic” than typical prose writing for college classes. Contains many vivid details and extra information that will need to be cut, added to, or rearranged.

2. Brainstorming

A filled page of just word or sentence fragments. Complete sentences are not required, but a large amount of ideas should be present. Add details to fill the page.

3. Clustering

Start with the topic in the center and draw spokes outward as thought take you in new, more detailed directions. A cluster typically takes a full page.

4. Asking Questions (Research)

Ask yourself the reporter’s six questions: Who? What? Where? Why? When, How? Use these questions to focus on what you really want to write about and what you know about.

When accessing sources beyond your own knowledge is appropriate – either you don’t know enough about the topic or the assignment requires outside research – find out what others say about the topic or research question

5. Keeping a Journal

Your journal is a private place where you can develop ideas and ability! When you see something interesting or have a new, exciting thought, write it down and use it for a later writing assignment.

Narrowing the Topic – Focus on a Point

A paragraph, an essay, or a research paper (also called research essay ), each must focus on a point.

The point of a paragraph is called a topic sentence .
The topic sentence of a paragraph tells the reader what the paragraph will prove.
The point of an essay or research paper is called the thesis .
A thesis tells the reader what the paper will prove.

An essay has different types of paragraphs:

introduction (introductory paragraph) – gives a background and states the thesis. The topic sentence of an introductory paragraph is called the thesis and belongs at the end of the first paragraph.
body paragraphs – each of which gives a different reason with supporting details on why the thesis is accurate. The topic sentence of a body paragraph belongs at the beginning of the paragraph.
concluding paragraph – sums up the proof and restates the thesis and/or draws an implication from the information presented depending on instructor preference. The topic sentence of a concluding paragraph is a restatement of the thesis and may go anywhere in the concluding paragraph.

In some assignments, you are given a question to answer to form a thesis a thesis or topic sentence. This type of assignment usually does not present a problem in finding a focus. For example, if you assignment is to research what treatment is best for a particular disease or whether the cycles of the moon affect human beings, the result of your research will generate an answer to the question which will be your thesis statement: The best treatment for ovarian cancer is …. The topic sentences for your body paragraphs will each be one reason why that treatment is best.

In other cases, you are given a topic and you must narrow your topic to find a focus. Here are some strategies to help develop a one-sentence topic sentence or a thesis:

Narrow your topic by thinking about what you know about the topic and a specific area that interests you if there is not a research component. For example, if the topic is about how computers have affected our lives, you may think about the various types of computers and focus in on personal computers. The question then becomes “How have personal computers affected our lives.”
If there is a research component, think about what questions you have about the topic and/or what your exploratory research has found. For example, if you research on the topic of how computers have affected our lives turns up information on the types of computers that are used in appliances that we use every day, you question for focused research may be “How have computers used in household appliances affected our lives?”
Think about your topic until you can find a main idea or question that is not as broad as the topic your instructor gave you if you were assigned a topic. This should be an idea that is interesting to you and something you know about.
A thesis statement should include both the subject and the controlling idea.

Drafting, Reviewing, Revising, and Editing

Regardless of the type of writing, the first attempt must be considered a rough draft. Don’t worry too much about grammar. The first goal is to get the ideas down. Generate ideas by reviewing your pre-writing efforts if you use any of those strategies.

Are there any natural groups that you can arrange your ideas into?
Take the most promising groups and add information and details.
Any ideas that do not fit into these groups or don’t have many details should be discarded.

Once the first draft is complete, you must review it to see if the ideas and wording flow logically and support the topic sentence within a paragraph and the thesis if an academic essay. Paragraphs must be limited to information about the topic sentence. Related ideas must be together in one section. There must be an internal organization from paragraph to paragraph that the reader can easily follow. Transitions may be needed from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph for the sentences and/or paragraph to flow from one to the next. See Paragraphs in Related Pages on the right sidebar for more information.

Revise as needed, moving or adding sentences or paragraphs, and modifying wording. The last step is editing where you make sure the writing is grammatical. There must be sentences and not fragments. The punctuation should be accurate. Check for spelling.

Writing an Academic Essay

An academic essay has a particular type of organization with an introduction paragraph with a thesis, body paragraphs which prove the thesis, and a concluding paragraph which sums up the proof and restates the thesis. See Essay Organization for more information.

To write an academic essay, it is helpful to start with an outline.

An outline is a plan of what your essay will look like.

Start with the thesis statement.
Then, list the separate reasons why your thesis is accurate as I, II, and so on. These will be the topic sentences for your body paragraphs. The number of paragraphs will be determined by the assigned length of the paper. These must be complete sentences.
Under each of the topic sentences, include the details that fit into this group.

An essay can be written right from the outline. You would have to add background information before the thesis to complete the introductory paragraph. You would have one paragraph each for sections I, II, III, and IV, depending on how many sections are in your outline. Your concluding paragraph just sums up the proof in the body and restates the thesis.

See Related Pages on the right sidebar.

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The Writing Process Explained: From Outline to Final Draft

May 30, 2023 // by Lindsay Ann // Leave a Comment

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Writing is a messy process. Rarely do writers pick up their pen or open a fresh Google Doc and write everything start to finish. To take the genesis of an idea, consider the rhetorical situation, form that idea into whatever genre and format it needs to take, polish it, and then publish it requires a writing process to help make the non-linear process of writing more manageable and productive.

Student writers often struggle with this process. They think one submitted draft means the writing process is complete. The lack of engagement in the writing process can hold a student’s writing in that rough draft limbo land forever.

Empowering students to have agency in their own writing process can inspire amazing writing, increase engagement, and improve students’ metacognition.

Writing Process 5 Steps

The writing process as we know it has 5 distinct stages.

Prewriting, research & planning: In this stage, the writer is mapping out the writing.

This may include brainstorming ideas, storyboarding the narrative arc, conducting any necessary research and making an outline. Anything that happens before actually writing is considered prewriting.

Drafting: In the drafting stage, writers are making their first attempt at getting the words on the page. In this stage the writing isn’t expected to be perfect because the writer will eventually go back and make necessary changes. The goal in this stage is simply to get the ideas on paper. The drafting stage tends to be where student writers think the writing process ends. For many reasons, they lack the understanding that this is a first attempt and will require some finessing.

But writing is definitely not done here.

Revising: When revising, writers go back into their draft and make changes for content .

This looks like reordering sentences, adding sentences, deleting sentences altogether, reordering paragraphs, etc.

In this stage, writers are really ripping their drafts to shreds, taking out what isn’t working and replacing it with more beautiful and functional content in order to better get their message across and accomplish the purpose of their piece.

Editing & proofreading: During the editing and proofreading phase, writers are carefully combing through the piece to make sure everything is correct . Word choice, sentence structure, rhythm, punctuation, clarity…getting all of it right matters.

Sometimes in this stage it’s helpful to have an extra set of eyes on the draft because it can be difficult for us to always spot errors in our own writing.

Publishing: Publishing can look very different for every writer. In a classroom, publishing may just mean, I’m finished and I’m going to turn this into my teacher now and she’s going to post it on the class Padlet . It could also mean sharing it with a collaborative writing group or submitting to the school’s literary magazine. It could also mean pitching the piece to a publication or presenting it to a community group. Basically, in this step, the writer is ready to show off their writing to the world.

Teaching the Writing Process

Students need explicit instruction and time to practice the writing process. Time of course is one of our most precious resources in the classroom, so how can we make the most efficient use of it when teaching the writing process?

Here’s what I’ve found to be particularly helpful:

Use the language of the writing process: Be intentional about using the language of the writing process in your daily agendas, lessons, and feedback. This way when you tell a student something like, “Today you need to focus on prewriting for your upcoming argumentative essay” or “This writing project needs some more revision” or “Do you have your draft completed?” they know what stage of the writing process they’re in and what they need to be doing in that stage of the process.

Teaching writing as a recursive process: The writing process is recursive.

We (and by we I just mean all of us writers out there) can bounce back and forth from the drafting to the revision stage 15 times before moving on. We can also engage in deep and thoughtful prewriting only to abandon the idea before ever drafting because a better one came along and we decided to start prewriting and drafting for that idea.

Breaking students of their bad habits is tough work, but helping students see writing as a recursive process will strengthen their final products and help them gain overall confidence in their writing.

Write daily : Again, I know there are just not enough minutes in the day, but making writing a daily habit is so important.

The writing process doesn’t just have to be used for long-form writing.

If you use a daily quickwrite, journal prompt, or warmup, have students cycle through the writing process by jotting down a few ideas and making a quick outline before writing, writing, and then revising and editing before turning in or sharing with a shoulder partner.

By being in the habit of writing every day, students will find their groove with their own process for writing and it will become second nature!

Model for students your process: Writing in front of students is Vulnerable (yes, with a capital V). I like writing and even I sometimes get nervous before putting my notebook under the document camera. But I try to make writing in front of my students something I do at least once weekly. I model for them my process, I think aloud what I’m going to write, how I want to write it, and they get to watch me write something, hate it, revise it, and cycle through the writing process.

Status of the class for managing it all: Connor may need three days to organize his ideas in the prewriting stage while Ava only needs about 5 minutes to plan her writing and hit the ground running.

There is no time limit for being in a particular stage of the writing process (unless ya know, they’ve got their phone propped up behind their Chromebook watching Euphoria instead of writing, then we’ve got problems. But I digress…).

Despite that knee jerk reaction to herd our students like cattle through the writing process, it needs to be differentiated for each writer in the room.

So how the heck do you manage that?

Utilizing a status of the class for the writing process helps you keep track of where each writer in the room is and can also help you better plan small group or individual instruction and coaching.

If you just do a quick Google search for the status of the class in the writing workshop, you’ll see approximately one million great ways to do it, but I particularly like the visual Stacy Shubitz at Two Writing Teachers created for her classroom.

Ideas for Brainstorming and Initiation

Check out these ideas to get students engaged in the writing process and shorten the time they stare at a blank page:

Storyboarding: Draw out problems and solutions and organize them in a logical order.
Alphabet boxes: See if you can come up with one idea for each letter of the alphabet.
Heart Maps : Can be used for all writing genres!
Keeping a writer’s notebook: Have all of your brilliant ideas living in one place. When a new one comes along, jot it down in the notebook!
Pomodoro technique: Set a timer for 25 minutes and write. When the timer goes off, take a 5 minute break, reset the timer for 25 minutes, and continue writing.
Stream of consciousness: Write whatever comes to mind about your spark of an idea for writing. When you’ve written all you have to say, use a reverse outline to organize your ideas and continue drafting or begin revising.

Writing Process Stages

Break assignment up for students: Depending on your students’ skill levels, they may need you to break the assignment up into the stages of the writing process and assign one stage at a time.

Design cycle for STEM and PBL: The writing process is similar to the design cycle used for STEM and PBL ( yes, even engineers need to understand the writing process!).

Have students create their own goals and workflow calendar: In her book Project Based Writing , Liz Prather shares how she has students establish goals for their writing as part of the prewriting process as well as develop their own calendars using a reverse engineering process.

For example, if a student has 25 days and intends to create a poem about the changing seasons, they will need to break down the project into individual tasks and then map out on their calendar how many days they will need for each task.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if by the end of the year students could move 100% autonomously through the writing process?!

Writing Process Revising v. Editing

What is the difference between revising and editing in the writing process?

Revising focuses on content only. When you are revising your draft you may notice you are missing a comma or misspelled a word. That’s great! But in the revising stage, those observations don’t matter. Instead, you’re only focusing on making your mystery narrative more suspenseful or making your satirical article more humorous.

In the editing stage is when you address those spelling, grammar, and mechanics errors.

Oftentimes in the classroom, the editing phase of the writing process is merely relegated to peer editing, which usually looks like a student’s paper getting shipped off to another student and being told to magically edit it without any guidance.

Peer editing often gets a bad rap, but I have found that peer editing does have some redeeming qualities if explicitly taught and done correctly .

Other Misconceptions

Sometimes misconceptions about the writing process hold us back from being our best possible teacher selves and hold our writers back from being their best possible writing selves. So as we wrap up, let’s debunk some of these common misconceptions.

Only writers who have problems in their writing need feedback: Ummmmm noooo. Even Jodi Piccoult has a literary agent and a team of editors at her publishing house to make sure her writing is perfect before being published. If it’s good enough for the New York Times bestselling author, it’s good enough for all of us.
Every piece of writing needs to go through the full cycle: While it would be totally ideal to take every possible idea we ever have for a writing project and then brainstorm it, research it, outline it, draft, revise, edit, and then hit publish, that’s not really realistic. It’s okay to give up on a piece, change your mind on your idea, or have 6 drafts before it’s ready to be edited!
You need to use the same process each time: The writing process is intended to be flexible.

Now listen, I fully believe students have to learn the rules of writing (writing process included!) before they can learn to break them. But each student’s process doesn’t have to be the same.

If someone in your classroom needs to fully brainstorm each writing assignment using a storyboard before writing and you have another who needs to write a stream of consciousness before getting organized, it’s all good! Allow students to find their own way in the writing process. That’s where the really good, authentic writing lives!

About Lindsay Ann

Lindsay has been teaching high school English in the burbs of Chicago for 19 years. She is passionate about helping English teachers find balance in their lives and teaching practice through practical feedback strategies and student-led learning strategies. She also geeks out about literary analysis, inquiry-based learning, and classroom technology integration. When Lindsay is not teaching, she enjoys playing with her two kids, running, and getting lost in a good book.

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The Writing Process: 6 Steps With Tips, Examples, And Worksheets

Finishing a piece of writing is hard and many aspiring writers and authors fail to do so. Starting a project, dedicating your time towards it, and eventually failing have to be one of the worst things that can happen. This doesn’t need to be the case when it comes to writing.

The Writing Process is a part of any writer’s toolkit . It helps you to develop your writing voice and set a tone and style that matches your audience while using the right tools to create strong, engaging content.

This guide is going to give you a writing process that will come through for you as long as you follow it.

Let’s get to it.

Let’s Talk

Are you a writer aspiring to pen a masterpiece that never fails to captivate? Look no further. Reach out to us and uncover how we can help you to take your writing to unprecedented heights!

What is the Writing Process?

The writing process refers to any number of steps you might follow as you write. The main aim of this process is to help you prepare yourself for the project, develop ideas, get your ideas written down, and produce a manuscript that’s ready for publication .

The process of writing is like any other. You need to follow systematic steps . While writing steps are more flexible than most processes, there are still steps that need to be completed before others. For instance, you cannot publish a book before you’ve written anything. Any process you follow is not about ticking boxes. It’s about making things easier for you as a writer.

Why Should You Have a Writing Process?

Being stuck right in the middle of a 70000-word manuscript when you run out of ideas is one of the worst things that can happen to an author. Having a process can prevent this from happening.

Here are some reasons you should have one when writing:

A process gives you structure, so you know what to do next without being overwhelmed.
Having a process as you write can help you counter writer’s block, since you probably drew an outline during the prewriting stage .
Having a process makes sure everyone is on the same page – this is crucial if you are working with a co-author.
Some of the world’s best-selling authors have used these steps, – so you know what you are trying actually works.

Simply put, following a process in your writing journey can prevent a lot of undesirable problems down the line.

The Writing Process Steps

There’s no formula to being a great writer. The order you follow might differ somewhat from the one below. However, this is what a good writing process looks like :

Planning And Outlining
Drafting/Writing The First Draft
Proofreading And Editing

Following these steps will help you develop a process to center yourself when you’re overwhelmed.

#1. Prewriting

Whether it’s gathering ingredients before preparing a meal, or putting on latex gloves before examining a patient, everything has some steps that need to be followed before you start. Writers predictably call this step p rewriting . You want to write, but do you have any idea what you want to write about?

Have you already picked a genre for your work? Are you going to write alone or work with a co-author? How much do you know about your chosen topic? If you are asking yourself any of these questions, you’ve already started the prewriting phase. Simply put, prewriting is all the little things that need to be done before you can start drafting.

Here are some things you can do during the prewriting stage:

Brainstorm ideas – you can use online idea generators, mind maps, or bounce ideas off a creative circle to do this.
Write down anything that comes to mind, even if it is nonsensical – you never know when you’ll run into a different idea that will make the first one suddenly make sense.
Research places , concepts, and ideas you want to work with – knowledgeable readers are quick to catch things like geographical errors.
Read works similar to what you want to do in order to understand what your competition is doing.
Always keep a pen and notebook or text editor-enabled device at hand – you never know when inspiration will strike.

Let’s say you want to write a piece on your holidays in Cape Town. You can start by reading as much as you can about the city, reading books and articles written by other tourists, and constantly jotting down every new idea that comes to mind.

Skipping this step means you’ll be taking a huge risk by writing without being prepared. Imagine writing a 90000-word novel, only to find out the main idea behind your book is impossible. You would have wasted months of your time.

Prewriting Example :

Let’s say you are writing a semi-biographical account of your adventures as a tourist in Cape Town.

This is what the prewriting stage might look like:

Create a mind map with the word “Cape Town” at the top.
List down all the places you visited in Cape Town.
Research the history, development, and general information of each location – you don’t want to end up claiming you drove from Cairo to Cape Town in one day.
Read adventures other tourists have had in Cape Town – the last thing you want to do is write about something that has been tackled Ad nauseam.
Be ready to jot down notes whenever ideas occur to you, whether that’s at work or at home – you might end up forgetting things you didn’t note down.

Prewriting Exercises :

Consider the following words/concepts:

Harry Potter

Use the words/concepts above and:

Note down anything that comes to mind when you think about those words.
Pick any idea from 1 and do a bit of research on it.
Search for works other authors wrote about your chosen idea.
Jot down any new ideas that occur to you during the course of the day.

Remember that there’re no hard rules when it comes to writing. You don’t need to force yourself to follow any of the steps in the prewriting stage if they don’t work for you.

Prewriting is the first step of the writing process. Making mistakes during this step can lead to your entire project collapsing midway through.

To learn more about Prewriting, check out our guide on Prewriting Strategies: 9 Proven Steps With Tips, Examples & Worksheets .

#2. Planning and outlining

This is a step that can either make or break your project. A well-developed outline can become your salvation down the line, while a badly produced plan could doom your work. This is the stage where you map how your book is going to play out. You need to put down what happens at the beginning and the end at the very least.

Visually oriented-authors might choose to use complex diagrams. A plain text outline is however still acceptable. The important thing is you know where you are going.

This can be broken down into the following steps:

Write down your entire idea in one paragraph.
Start building character bios – this can be expanded as you work.
Decide on your book’s stakes – what needs to happen, what bad thing will result from the thing not happening, and what is preventing it from happening?
Draft a one to three-page synopsis that describes what happens in the book.
Outline book scenes along with what happens in each scene.

Skipping this step is dangerous, especially for new writers. There’s this thing called writer’s block. It refers to when a writer’s mind goes blank, and they are not able to write anything. A good outline will help you prevent writer’s block since you will already have all your ideas written down.

Outlining Example :

Here is how we might go about developing an outline for our Cape Town adventure example:

Idea in one paragraph : Cindy is expecting to find rest in Cape Town after a hard breakup and tough season at work. She didn’t bargain to stumble into a whirlwind romance that would end in her own attempted murder.

Character bio : Cindy is a 26-year-old tall British woman with black hair, brown eyes, dark skin, and a fiery temper.

Stakes : Cindy longs to be with her new romantic interest. This is impossible because he is on the run from his former gang. They have to stay away from the gang, otherwise, they could both be murdered.

Synopsis : This could start with Cindy arriving at the airport, and end with the final scene in the book.

Scenes : EG In scene 1, Cindy arrives at the airport. She runs into her future love interest who has taken her bag by mistake.

Check out our guide on How To Outline A Book: 6 Simple Steps with Templates & Examples for more book outline examples and formats

Outlining Exercises :

Pick any idea of your choice and do the following:

Summarize the idea in a paragraph.
Build a short biography for your main character that includes physical appearance, history, and personality.
Come up with anything that your character desires.
Decide on something terrible that will happen if your character doesn’t get their desire.
Create a force that tries to prevent your character from getting what they desire – this is also known as an antagonist.
Create a summary of everything that happens from beginning to end – be as specific as possible.
Outline a couple of scenes using the synopsis as a guide.

There are two types of writers. Plotters (who outline) and Pantsers, who make it up as they go along. The outlining stage might not be helpful to you if you are a pantser. Even if you work better without outlines, try writing down the beginning, middle, and ending at the very least.

To learn more about Outlining , check out our guide on Outlining In Writing: 6 Easy Steps For Success [With Formats]

#3. Drafting

Anyone who makes it past this long and grueling stage has all but made it. The drafting stage is where you actually get to start writing out your pros. There’s no formula to it, like with most things in writing.

Some authors mindlessly write from beginning to end, others write and edit at the same time, yet others use a combination of both. You can abandon a scene that’s not working and write another if your outline is that extensive.

There aren’t many steps at this stage. That said, here are some helpful guidelines:

Write as much as you can.
Ignore any rules you think you might be breaking.
Write even if it feels like what you have isn’t that impressive.
Make sure you have written down something before shutting your laptop.
Don’t overthink it – just let your creative juices flow and have fun.

The most important thing at this stage is getting everything on paper/in your word document. Everything else is unimportant compared to this. Overthinking things could eventually lead to writer’s block you can never get out of.

Drafting Exercises :

Using the same example from steps 1 and 2, do the following:

Set a timer for 30 minutes. Write as much as you can about your idea from the previous step, and only stop when your timer goes off.
Set your timer for 30 minutes again. Write another scene until the timer goes off, and try to edit as you write.
Check which one has more words, the scene from 1 or the scene from 2.
Try to write the second from last scene in your outline.

Remember that getting down your words is the most important thing in this step. So be as comfortable as you want to be. Make sure you’ve created the perfect working environment for yourself. If you write better at night, do so. If you prefer working in a quiet park, do so.

#4. Revising

Congrats if you’ve made it thus far.

You now actually have a completed manuscript. It’s now time to shape it into a piece people want to read. The revising stage comes when you’re finished drafting. This is where you now go through your manuscript and improve it.

You can now start eliminating certain words, extending scenes, fixing dialogue tags, and more. It’s a good idea to read out your work to hear what it sounds like to the ear – you might have to revise awkward-sounding phrases.

You can follow these steps when revising:

Give the manuscript a few days to breathe before starting revisions.
Read through the manuscript once without changing anything – you can however highlight things you pick up along the way.
Go through the manuscript sentence by sentence as you revise.
Eliminate redundant words such as “that” and “just”.
Change your passive voice sentences to active voice.

Your work needs revision. It doesn’t matter how good you are. Failing to revise will lead to you publishing work absolutely no one wants to read. Those who read it will have a very hard time understanding what you wrote.

Revising Example :

Here are a couple of passages from our Cape Town adventure example that need a bit of revising.

“Cindy mobilized her person out of her holiday abode and got in her vehicle. The heavens evidenced a high probability of a deluge of H2O particles.”

The first example sounds awkward and pretentious. No one says “H2O” particles instead of rain. Here is a revised version of the first example:

“Cindy left the holiday home and got in her car. The skies outside were threatening rain.”

Let’s consider another example:

“You are loved by me, Cindy.”

This example is in passive voice . It sounds awkward and unnatural because most people don’t talk like that.

Here is an active voice version of the second example:

“I love you, Cindy.”

Revising exercises:

Do the following:

Go back to the passages you wrote during the drafting stage. Revise them using the steps we just discussed.
Read a passage from any book you own. Try to revise two or three paragraphs using what you now know.
Read a story in any magazine or newspaper. Revise as many passages as you can.
Find a lengthy post on any of the social media platforms you use. Try to revise the entire post.
Go back to your own writing and choose three paragraphs. Read each sentence, and label it as either active voice or passive voice.

Accuracy matters when you are revising. Be as accurate as possible. Keep a grammar rules book and a dictionary at hand as you revise. Never revise while you’re tired. This could potentially lead to you not making correct changes.

#5. Editing

You wrote and revised your book. It’s now time to edit and polish it. Readers have tons of other books at their disposal. They can easily throw yours aside and pick up something else. That’s why you need to make every word count.

Remove all the fluff and clever pros that serve no purpose. Writers call this process “ killing your darlings “. Be as thorough as you can be about your grammar, tone , word choices, and passage lengths.

Follow these steps during the editing stage:

Step away from your manuscript for weeks if possible.
Print out your manuscript and make all changes using a marker before making changes to the soft copy.
Remove all spelling errors, redundant words, and unnecessary/purple pros.
Use as few words as possible.
Use any software at your disposal, including your word processor’s spellcheck function, Grammar checkers like Grammarly, Wordtune , Quillbot , and other online editors.
Hire a professional editor if you can afford it.

Editing is the second most important step after drafting. An unedited piece will never be read.

Editing Process Example :

The following is from our Cape Town adventure example:

“Cindy stood up and shook her head in disagreement. She was extremely angry and furious. She ran out of the house with her legs.”

The sentence above contains some unnecessary words.

“Stood up” is redundant because there’s only one direction in which people can stand. “Angry” and “furious” mean the same thing.

Here is a more concise version of the passage:

“Cindy stood. She shook her head. The young woman was furious. She stormed out of the house.”

The first sentence has 24 words, while the second has 17. We managed to reduce the size of a single passage by almost a third. That’s a big leap!

Editing Process Exercise

Edit your work from the previous steps.
Try to edit a passage from your favorite book.
Try to edit an entire newspaper article.
Find another lengthy social media post and edit it.

Hire a professional editor if you have the money. You can also exchange manuscripts with other authors for critiquing. This of course means you have to be open to reading other people’s work and giving them feedback.

Consider finding beta readers. These are ordinary readers who can give you a glimpse of how the general public will receive your work.

You can find people willing to do this for free on social media. That said, paid beta readers usually provide the best results. You can find beta readers for as cheap as $20 on places like Upwork and Fiverr.

#6. Publish

You finally made it. The only thing left now is to get your manuscript out into the world. You have two choices when it comes to publishing. You can either self-publish or work with a publisher.

Self-publishing means you’ll have to hire your own cover designers, editors, and marketing experts, but there are mistakes you should avoid. But you retain total control of your work, and all profits aside from what platforms like Amazon take is yours.

On the other hand, going with a publisher means access to top-of-the-range resources. Finding a publisher is unfortunately hard as competition is fierce.

Here are some considerations to help you decide:

How big is the market for your work?
Has it ever been published somewhere else before – publishers are not enthusiastic about previously published work.
Do you have the expertise to edit, format, design covers, market, etc.?
Are you willing to wait for a long time before getting published – publishing through a publisher can take up to three years before your book is out in the world.

Any decision you make is fine. Just make it based on facts and research.

Publishing Exercise :

Go to Amazon.com and research how their self-publishing program works.
Who published those? What is that company’s publishing process?
Which literary agents represent those authors? How do those agents sign new clients?

Publishing can be a lucrative business. Because there’s money to be made, there’re sharks waiting to pounce on unwise authors. Always carefully research anyone who claims they can help you. Remember that in publishing, money always flows from the publisher to the author and not the other way around.

Don’t forget the golden rule: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Key Tips For Developing Your Writing Process

The process is all about you and no one else. It’s more important for it to work for you than it is to follow every single step. If you work better without a detailed outline, go ahead and write without one. If you prefer revising each scene immediately after writing it, feel free to do so.

Consider having a second set of eyes look at your manuscript before publishing. This can be critique partners, beta readers, or a professional editor. Avoid only getting feedback from close friends and family – they are not qualified to do this, and are less likely to be honest if they don’t like your work.

Be wary of procrastination that looks like work. You have no business trying to design a book cover before you even have an idea. You don’t need Facebook ads for a book that’s still in the drafting phase.

Above all, have fun. Try not to stress. It’s okay to walk away from your manuscript for a while if you are feeling overwhelmed.

Automation: Can You Automate The Writing Process?

Automated writing refers to using any number of AI tools to generate content. Automation tools have come a long way in producing natural-sounding content. Automated content still has a few drawbacks. These include unoriginal content, answers that don’t always solve the problem, and the occasional nonsensical phrase.

Use automation tools sparingly if you do decide to use them.

Final Word On The Writing Process

The writing process is a flexible number of steps you can follow as you work on your book. Stages in the process include rewriting, planning and outlining, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

Do you have a writing process different from what we’ve discussed? Let’s have your opinion in the comments 🙂

Have fun writing!

Chioma Ezeh is an author, digital marketer, business coach, and the founder of chiomaezeh.com, a blog that teaches how to build successful online businesses. Get in touch.

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The 5 Stages of the Writing Process | Tips from an Editor

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links—at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

Before diving into the five stages of the writing process , it’s important to understand that no writing process is the same .

Here, you won’t find rigid rules but more of a guideline.

Whether you’re curious about the stages of the writing process for college students or you’re a fiction writer, these 5 steps to the writing process and examples are relevant in academic writing, online SEO writing, creative writing, and more.

Stage 1: Brain Dump

In this prewriting stage, it’s all about brainstorming and early notes. Think of it as a stream-of-consciousness exercise with one goal in mind: Get your ideas out of your head and onto the paper/doc.

First you assess the big picture of what you’re trying to accomplish, then narrow your focus.

Here are some helpful questions to ask in this prewriting step.

Who are your readers?
What’s the main conflict or driving idea?
Who are the main and supporting characters?
What references are necessary?
Do you have an ending in mind?
What comparative titles would be helpful to study?
If a book club discussed your book, what themes or main ideas would you want them to bring up?

If you’re an academic writer, come up with your thesis—nothing has to be linear or complete. For some readers, this stage can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be.

Write lists
Create word maps
Make a storyboard
Fill your “creative well” with quotes, inspiration, desired tone, etc.

For this stage in the writing process, allow yourself the freedom to write as if no one will read the final product. It’s not about how you organize the information—it’s about collecting the information and creating order later.

RELATED: Refill Your Well of Creativity | NaNoWriMo

Editor Tip: Create a Storyboard

What is storyboarding ? It’s a helpful exercise to visualize your story.

A brainstorming session can easily lead to storyboarding when you gather your ideas, goals, and references to map out a skeleton for your story—sketching scenes loosely so you can see from a high level where your novel is going.

Storyboarding is especially important for people writing picture books for children .

RELATED: Top 10 Board and Picture Books for Toddlers

Stage 2: Research

The type of writing, setting, and topic will determine how much research you do. After you’ve decided on your main ideas, you need to dive into your sources.

For academic writing, this is obviously a crucial step to adequately provide analysis and hold up your thesis, but all writing can benefit from a research stage.

Maybe you include it organically in your writing process—your main character visits her aunt in Michigan and you need to quickly research what Michigan is like—but in general, the more research you do before the first draft, the better your writing will be.

Editor Tip: Research Similar Work

Not sure where to start? Try researching your genre and comparative titles. What made them work? What didn’t you like about them? How is the marketability for those books?

Obviously you want your work to be original, but just as an athlete would study a professional athlete’s techniques, a writer can study the storytelling techniques of another writer.

This type of research can be incredibly helpful and may even spark new ideas before your first draft.

Stage 3: Draft

Similar to the prewriting stage, this is the step in the writing process where you try not to censor yourself . You have your research and basic planning or outlines.

Or, if you’re a pantser writing your first draft, you ideally have some ideas jotted down about how you want readers to feel when they read your book.

Editor Tip: Learn Your Workflow

How you write the first draft start to finish is up to you and your workflow.

Some writers prefer to write some passages or chapters, read and revise it, write more, read and revise it, and so on until the book is complete.

Some writers prefer to write without revisiting it until the very end.

Other writers prefer to write certain parts of the story and then piece them all together.

If you have a hard time getting stuck in revisions or you tend to struggle with perfectionism, I would strongly encourage you to write your first draft without reviewing it right away.

Give yourself some distance before the self-editing phase.

RELATED: How to Become an Editor for Books in 2023

Stage 4: Revision

Once you have a first draft, no matter how rough it may be, it’s time for the revision stage in the writing process. This sometimes requires reworking at a sentence level and adding in appropriate transitions and better word choices.

But overall, this is the stage to make sure everything works on a larger scale.

Does the chronological order make sense?
Do all of the characters and scenes advance the story?
Does anything in the plot need to be resolved?
Do you need to do more research in certain areas that feel a little thin, like worldbuilding?

Editor Tip: Review to Revise

During the revision stage, go back to your early notes in the brainstorming stage. Did you accomplish what you wanted to? If not, what changed?

Sometimes your story evolves into something else, and it can be a welcome surprise. Other times, you need to redirect.

Stage 5: Editing

After the hard work of revisions followed by multiple drafts, it’s time to self-edit your book or project. There are five main levels of editing:

Developmental (structural) editing
Content or line editing
Copy editing
Proofreading
Fact checking

Not sure how to edit your project and take your writing to the next level? This probably means you’re ready to put your work in the hands of a professional editor or proofreader .

Understanding that you don’t know what you don’t know can be one of the best things to happen to your work.

RELATED: Editor Talk | Four Types of Editing

Editor Tip: Find a Second Set of Eyes

It takes self-awareness to recognize you have blind spots, and a second set of (trained!) eyes at every stage of the publishing process is crucial.

Learn more about how to self-edit your book and the differences between line editing vs. copyediting before you start the editing process.

This post was all about the 5 stages of the writing process, examples of questions to ask yourself at different steps in the writing process, and what you need to consider before getting started.

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The Writing Process

The Writing Process Explained

Understanding the writing process provides a student with a straightforward step-by-step procedure that they can follow. It means they can replicate the process no matter what type of nonfiction text they are asked to produce.

In this article, we’ll look at the 5 step writing process that guides students from prewriting to submitting their polished work quickly and easily.

While explaining each stage of the process in detail, we’ll suggest some activities you can use with your students to help them successfully complete each stage.

THE STAGES OF THE WRITING PROCESS

The five steps of the writing process are made up of the following stages:

Pre-writing: In this stage, students brainstorm ideas, plan content, and gather the necessary information to ensure their thinking is organized logically.
Drafting: Students construct ideas in basic sentences and paragraphs without getting caught up with perfection. It is in this stage that the pre-writing process becomes refined and shaped.
Revising: This is where students revise their draft and make changes to improve the content, organization, and overall structure. Any obvious spelling and grammatical errors might also be improved at this stage.
Editing: It is in this stage where students make the shift from improving the structure of their writing to focusing on enhancing the written quality of sentences and paragraphs through improving word choice, punctuation, and capitalization, and all spelling and grammatical errors are corrected. Ensure students know this is their final opportunity to alter their writing, which will play a significant role in the assessment process.
Submitting / Publishing: Students can share their writing with the world, their teachers, friends, and family through various platforms and tools.

Be aware that this list is not a definitive linear process, and it may be advisable to revisit some of these steps in some cases as students learn the craft of writing over time.

Daily Quick Writes For All Text Types

Our FUN DAILY QUICK WRITE TASKS will teach your students the fundamentals of CREATIVE WRITING across all text types. Packed with 52 ENGAGING ACTIVITIES

the writing process | the writing process prewriting | The Writing Process | literacyideas.com

STAGE ONE: THE WRITING PROCESS

GET READY TO WRITE

The prewriting stage covers anything the student does before they begin to draft their text. It includes many things such as thinking, brainstorming, discussing ideas with others, sketching outlines, gathering information through interviewing people, assessing data, and researching in the library and online.

The intention at the prewriting stage is to collect the raw material that will fuel the writing process. This involves the student doing 3 things:

Understanding the conventions of the text type
Gathering up facts, opinions, ideas, data, vocabulary, etc through research and discussion
Organizing resources and planning out the writing process.

By the time students have finished the pre-writing stage, they will want to have completed at least one of these tasks depending upon the text type they are writing.

Choose a topic: Ensure your students select a topic that is interesting and relevant to them.
Brainstorm ideas: Once they have a topic, brainstorm and write their ideas down, considering what they already know about the topic and what they need to research further. Students might want to use brainstorming techniques such as mind mapping, free writing, or listing.
Research: This one is crucial for informational and nonfiction writing. Students may need to research to gather more information and use reliable sources such as books, academic journals, and credible websites.
Organize your ideas: This can be challenging for younger students, but once they have a collection of ideas and information, help them to organize them logically by creating an outline, using headings and subheadings, or grouping related ideas.
Develop a thesis statement: This one is only for an academic research paper and should clearly state your paper’s main idea or argument. It should be specific and debatable.

Before beginning the research and planning parts of the process, the student must take some time to consider the demands of the text type or genre they are asked to write, as this will influence how they research and plan.

PREWRITING TEACHING ACTIVITY

As with any stage in the writing process, students will benefit immensely from seeing the teacher modelling activities to support that stage.

In this activity, you can model your approach to the prewriting stage for students to emulate. Eventually, they will develop their own specific approach, but for now, having a clear model to follow will serve them well.

Starting with an essay title written in the center of the whiteboard, brainstorm ideas as a class and write these ideas branching from the title to create a mind map.

From there, you can help students identify areas for further research and help them to create graphic organizers to record their ideas.

Explain to the students that while idea generation is an integral part of the prewriting stage, generating ideas is also important throughout all the other stages of the writing process.

the writing process | img 61028f8f20639 | The Writing Process | literacyideas.com

STAGE TWO: THE WRITING PROCESS

PUT YOUR IDEAS ON PAPER

Drafting is when the student begins to corral the unruly fruits of the prewriting stage into orderly sentences and paragraphs.

When their writing is based on solid research and planning, it will be much easier for the student to manage. A poorly executed first stage can see pencils stuck at the starting line and persistent complaints of ‘writer’s block’ from the students.

However, do encourage your students not to get too attached to any ideas they may have generated in Stage 1. Writing is thinking too and your students need to leave room for their creativity to express itself at all stages of the process.

The most important thing about this stage is for the student to keep moving. A text is written word-by-word, much as a bricklayer builds a wall by laying brick upon brick.

Instill in your students that they shouldn’t get too hung up on stuff like spelling and grammar in these early stages.

Likewise, they shouldn’t overthink things. The trick here is to get the ideas down fast – everything else can be polished up later.

DRAFTING TEACHING ACTIVITY

As mentioned in the previous activity, writing is a very complex process and modeling goes a long way to helping ensure our students’ success.

Sometimes our students do an excellent job in the prewriting stage with understanding the text purpose, the research, and the planning, only to fall flat when it comes to beginning to write an actual draft.

Often, students require some clear modeling by the teacher to help them transition effectively from Stage 1 to Stage 2.

One way to do this for your class is to take the sketches, notes, and ideas one of the students has produced in Stage 1, and use them to model writing a draft. This can be done as a whole class shared writing activity.

Doing this will help your students understand how to take their raw material and connect their ideas and transition between them in the form of an essay.

the writing process | img 61028f8fbdb3f | The Writing Process | literacyideas.com

STAGE THREE: THE WRITING PROCESS

POLISH YOUR THINKING

In Stage two, the emphasis for the student was on getting their ideas out quickly and onto the paper.

Stage three focuses on refining the work completed earlier with the reader now firmly at the forefront of the writer’s mind.

To revise, the student needs to cast a critical eye over their work and ask themselves questions like:

Would a reader be able to read this text and make sense of it all?
Have I included enough detail to help the reader clearly visualize my subject?
Is my writing concise and as accurate as possible?
Are my ideas supported by evidence and written in a convincing manner?
Have I written in a way that is suitable for my intended audience?
Is it written in an interesting way?
Are the connections between ideas made explicit?
Does it fulfill the criteria of the specific text type?
Is the text organized effectively?

The questions above represent the primary areas students should focus on at this stage of the writing process.

Students shouldn’t slip over into editing/proofreading mode just yet. Let the more minor, surface-level imperfections wait until the next stage.

REVISING TEACHING ACTIVITY

When developing their understanding of the revising process, it can be extremely helpful for students to have a revision checklist to work from.

It’s also a great idea to develop the revision checklist as part of a discussion activity around what this stage of the writing process is about.

Things to look out for when revising include content, voice, general fluency, transitions, use of evidence, clarity and coherence, and word choice.

It can also be a good idea for students to partner up into pairs and go through each other’s work together. As the old saying goes, ‘two heads are better than one’ and, in the early days at least, this will help students to use each other as sounding boards when making decisions on the revision process.

the writing process | img 61028f905802e | The Writing Process | literacyideas.com

STAGE FOUR: THE WRITING PROCESS

CHECK YOUR WRITING

the writing process | Proofreading and editing1 | The Writing Process | literacyideas.com

Editing is not a different thing than writing, it is itself an essential part of the writing process.

During the editing stage, students should keep an eagle eye out for conventional mistakes such as double spacing between words, spelling errors, and grammar and punctuation mistakes.

While there are inbuilt spelling and grammar checkers in many of the most popular word processing programs, it is worth creating opportunities for students to practice their editing skills without the crutch of such technology on occasion.

Students should also take a last look over the conventions of the text type they are writing.

Are the relevant headings and subheadings in place? Are bold words and captions in the right place? Is there consistency across the fonts used? Have diagrams been labelled correctly?

Editing can be a demanding process. There are lots of moving parts in it, and it often helps students to break things down into smaller, more manageable chunks.

Focused edits allow the student the opportunity to have a separate read-through to edit for each of the different editing points.

For example, the first run-through might look at structural elements such as the specific structural conventions of the text type concerned. Subsequent run-throughs could look at capitalization, grammar, punctuation , the indenting of paragraphs, formatting, spelling, etc.

Sometimes students find it hard to gain the necessary perspective to edit their work well. They’re simply too close to it, and it can be difficult for them to see what is on the paper rather than see what they think they have put down.

One good way to help students gain the necessary distance from their work is to have the student read their work out loud as they edit it.

Reading their work out loud forces the student to slow down the reading process and it forces them to pay more attention to what’s written on the page, rather than what’s in their head.

It’s always helpful to get feedback from someone else. If time permits, get your students to ask a friend or other teacher to review their work and provide feedback. They may catch errors or offer suggestions your students haven’t considered.

All this gives the student a little more valuable time to catch the mistakes and other flaws in their work.

WRITING CHECKLISTS FOR ALL TEXT TYPES

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (92 Reviews)

EDITING TEACHING ACTIVITY

Students must have a firm understanding of what they’re looking to correct in the editing process to edit effectively. One effective way to ensure this understanding is to have them compile an Editing Checklist for use when they’re engaged in the editing process.

The Editing Checklist can be compiled as a whole-class shared writing activity. The teacher can scribe the students’ suggestions for inclusion on the checklist onto the whiteboard. This can then be typed up and printed off by all the students.

A fun and productive use of the checklist is for the students to use it in ‘editing pairs’.

Each student is assigned an editing partner during the editing stage of a writing task. Each student goes through their partner’s, work using the checklist as a guide, and then gives feedback to the other partner. The partner, in turn, uses the feedback in the final edit of their work.

the writing process | img 61028f5350546 | The Writing Process | literacyideas.com

STAGE FIVE: THE WRITING PROCESS

HAND IN YOUR WRITING

Now, it’s time for our students’ final part of the writing process. This is when they hand in their work to their teacher – aka you !

At this point, students should have one final reread of their work to ensure it’s as close to their intentions as possible, and then, finally, they can submit their work.

Giving the work over to an audience, whether that audience comes in the form of a teacher marking an assignment, publishing work in print or online, or making a presentation to classmates, can be daunting. It’s important that students learn to see the act of submitting their work as a positive thing.

Though this is the final stage of the writing process, students should be helped to see it for all it is. It is another step in the journey towards becoming a highly-skilled writer. It’s a further opportunity for the student to get valuable feedback on where their skills are currently at and a signpost to help them to improve their work in the future.

When the feedback comes, whether that’s in the form of teacher comments, grades, reviews, etc it should be absorbed by the student as a positive part of this improvement process.

Submitting TEACHING Activity

This activity is as much for the teacher as it is for the student.

Sometimes, our students think of feedback as a passive thing. The teacher makes some comments either in writing or orally and the student listens and carries on largely as before. We must help our students to recognize feedback as an opportunity for growth.

Feedback should be seen as a dialogue that helps our students to take control of their own learning.

For this to be the case, students need to engage with the feedback they’ve been given, to take constructive criticisms on board, and to use these as a springboard to take action.

One way to help students to do this lies in the way we format our feedback to our students. A useful format in this vein is the simple 2 Stars and a Wish . This format involves giving feedback that notes two specific areas of the work that the student did well and one that needs improvement. This area for improvement will provide a clear focus for the student to improve in the future. This principle of constructive criticism should inform all feedback.

It’s also helpful to encourage students to process detailed feedback by noting specific areas to focus on. This will give them some concrete targets to improve their writing in the future.

VIDEO TUTORIAL ON THE WRITING PROCESS

the writing process | YOUTUBE 1280 x 720 1 | The Writing Process | literacyideas.com

And there we have it. A straightforward and replicable process for our students to follow to complete almost any writing task.

But, of course, the real writing process is the ongoing one whereby our students improve their writing skills sentence-by-sentence and word-by-word over a whole lifetime.

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Writing process, the writing process – research on composing.

The writing process refers to everything you do in order to complete a writing project. Over the last six decades, researchers have studied and theorized about how writers go about their work. They've found that the writing process can be seen in three main ways: (1) a series of steps or stages ; (2) a cognitive, problem-solving activity ; and (3) a creative, intuitive, organic, dialogic process that writers manage by listening to their inner speech and following their felt sense . Learn about scholarship on the writing process so you can understand how to break through writing blocks and find fluency as a writer, researcher, and thought leader.

Synonymous Terms

Composing process.

In writing studies , the writing process may also be known as the composing process . This may be due to the dramatic influence of Janet Emig’s (1971) dissertation, The Composing Processes of Twelfth Graders . Emig’s research employed think-aloud protocols and case-study methods to explore the composing processes of high school students.

Creative Process

In creative writing and literature, the writing process may be known as the creative process .

In the arts and humanities the term creative process is reserved for artistic works, such as paintings, sculptures, performance art, films, and works of literature.

Related Concepts

Composition Studies ; Creativity; Felt Sense ; Growth Mindset ; Habits of Mind ; Intellectual Openness ; Professionalism and Work Ethic ; Resilience ; Self Regulation & Metacognition

What is the Writing Process?

Research on composing processes conducted over the past 60 years has led to three major distinct ways of defining and conceptualizing the writing process:

prewriting , invention , research , collaboration , planning , designing , drafting , rereading , organizing , revising , editing , proofreading , and sharing or publishing
The writing process refers to cognitive, problem-solving strategies
The writing process refers to the act of making composing decisions based on nonrational factors such as embodied knowledge , felt sense , inner speech, and intuition.

1. The writing process refers to writing process steps

The writing process is often characterized as a series of steps or stages. During the elementary and middle-school years, teachers define the writing process simply as prewriting , drafting , revising , and editing . Later, in high-school and college, as writing assignments become more challenging, teachers introduce additional writing steps: invention , research , collaboration , designing , organizing , proofreading , and sharing or proofreading.

2. The writing process refers to Problem-Solving Strategies

As an alternative to imagining the writing process to be a series of steps or stages that writers work through in linear manner, Linda Flower and John Hayes suggested in 1977 that writing should be thought of as a “thinking problem,” a “problem-solving process,” a “cognitive problem solving process,” or a “goal-directed thinking process.”

3. The writing process refers to the act of making composing decisions based on flow, felt sense and other elements of embodied knowledge

For some writers, viewing the writing process as a series of steps or problems feels to mechanistic, impersonal and formulaic. Rather than view that the writing process to be a series of writing steps or problem solving strategies , Sondra Perl , an English professor, suggests that composing is largely a process of listening to one’s felt sense — one’s “bodily awareness of a situation or person or event:

“A felt sense doesn’t come to you in the form of thoughts or words or other separate units, but as a single (though often puzzling and very complex) bodily feeling”. (Gendlin 1981, 32-33)

What are Writing Process Steps?

In elementary and middle schools in the U.S., the writing process is often simplified and presented at four or five key steps: prewriting , writing , revising , and editing –and sometimes and publishing or sharing . As students progress through school, the writing process is presented in increasingly complex ways. By high school, teachers present “the writing process steps” as

Proofreading
Sharing – Publishing

Is there one perfect way to work with the writing process?

People experience and define the writing process differently, according to their historical period, literacy history, knowledge of writing tools, media , genres — and more. One of the takeaways from research on composing is that we’ve learned writers develop their own idiosyncratic approaches to getting the work done. When it comes to how we all develop, research , and communicate information , we are all special snowflakes. For example,

Hemingway was known for standing while he wrote at first light each morning.
Truman Capote described himself as a “completely horizontal author.” He wrote lying down, in bed or on a couch, with a cigarette and coffee handy.
Hunter S. Thompson wrote through the nights, mixing drinking and partying with composing
J.K. Rowling tracked the plot lines for her Harry Potter novels in a data.
Maya Angelou would lock herself away in a hotel room from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. so she has no distractions.

Furthermore, the steps of the writing process a writer engages in vary from project to project. At times composing may be fairly simple. Some situations require little planning , research , revising or editing , such as

a grocery list, a to-do list, a reflection on the day’s activity in a journal
documents you routinely write, such as the professor’s letter of recommendation, a bosses’ performance appraisal, a ground-water engineer’s contamination report.

Over time, writers develop their own unique writing processes. Through trial and error, people can learn what works for them.

Composing may be especially challenging

when you are unfamiliar with the topic , genre , medium , discourse community
when the thesis/research question/topic is complicated yet needs to be explained simply
when you are endeavoring to synthesize other’s ideas and research
when you don’t have the time you need to perfect the document.

What are the main factors that affect how writers compose documents?

Writers adjust their writing process in response to

Writers assess the importance of the exigency, the call to write, before commiting time and resources to launching
the writers access to information
What they know about the canon, genre, media and rhetorical reasoning
their writerly background
the audience
Writers assess the importance of the exigency, the call to write, before committing time and resources to working on the project.

Why does the writing process matter?

The writing processes that you use to compose documents play a significant role in determining whether your communications are successful. If you truncate your writing process, you are likely to run out of the time you need to write with clarity and authority .

Studying the writing processes of successful writers can introduce you to new rhetorical moves, genres , and composing processes. Learning about the composing processes of experienced writers can help you learn how to adjust your rhetorical stance and your writing styles to best accomplish your purpose .
By examining your writing processes and the writing processes of others, you can learn how to better manage your work and the work of other authors and teams.
By recognizing that writing is a skill that can be developed through practice and effort, you can become more resilient and adaptable in your writing endeavors.

Do experienced writers compose in different ways than inexperienced writers?

Yes. Experienced writers engage in more substantive, robust writing processes than less experienced writers.

Experienced writers tend to have more rhetorical knowledge and a better understanding of composing steps and strategies than inexperienced writers.
Experienced writers tend to be more willing than inexperienced writers to make substantive changes in a draft, often making changes that involve rethinking the meaning of a text. Some professional writers may revise a document hundreds of times before pushing send or publishing it.
Experienced writers engage in revision as an act of internal conversation, a form of inner speech that they have with themselves and an imagined other–the internalized target audience. In contrast, inexperienced writers tend to confuse editing for revision . They tend to make only a few edits to their initial drafts, focusing primarily on surface-level changes such as correcting grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors.
Experienced writers are adept at working collaboratively, leveraging the strengths of team members and effectively coordinating efforts to produce a cohesive final product. Inexperienced writers may struggle with collaboration, communication, and division of labor within a writing team

What is Process Pedagogy?

Process pedagogy, which is also known as the process movement, emerged in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In The Making of Knowledge in Composition , Steve North (1987) links the emergence of process pedagogy to

Sputnik and America’s concern it was falling behind Russia
the GI Bill and the changing demographics of undergraduate students in the post-war era.

Additionally, process pedagogy emerged in response to dissatisfaction with traditional, product-oriented approaches to teaching writing. In the current-traditional paradigm of writing, the focus of the classroom was on “the composed product rather than the composing process; the analysis of discourse into words, sentences, and paragraphs; the classification of discourse into description, narration, exposition, and argument; the strong concern with usage (syntax, spelling, punctuation) and with style (economy, clarity, emphasis)” (Young, 1978, p. 25).

The process movement reflected a sea change on the part of middle schools, high schools, and universities in the U.S. Traditionally, classroom instruction focused on analysis and critique of the great works of literature: “The student is (a) exposed to the formal descriptive categories of rhetoric (modes of argument –definition, cause and effect, etc. — and modes of discourse — description, persuasion, etc.), (b) offered good examples (usually professional ones) and bad examples (usually his/her own) and (c) encouraged to absorb the features of a socially approved style, with emphasis on grammar and usage. We help our students analyze the product, but we leave the process of writing up to inspiration” (Flower and Hayes, 1977, p. 449).

In contrast to putting the focus of class time on analyzing great literary works, the canon , process pedagogy calls for teachers to put the emphasis on the students’ writing:

Students need help with prewriting , invention , research , collaboration , writing , designing , revising , organizing , editing , proofreading , and sharing
Teachers do not comment on grammar and style matters in early drafts. Instead, they focus on global perspectives . They prioritize the flow of ideas and expression over correctness in grammar and mechanics.
Students engage in prewriting and invention exercises to discover and develop new ideas
Students repeatedly revise their works in response to self-critique , peer review , and critiques from teachers
Teachers should provide constructive feedback throughout the writing process.

What does “teach the process and not the product mean”?

“Teach the process not the product ” is both the title of a Donald Murray (1972) article and the mantra of the writing process movement, which emerged during the 1960s.

The mantra to teach the process not the product emerged in response to the research and scholarship conducted by Donald Murray, Janet Emig, Peter Elbow, Ann Berthoff, Nancy Sommers, Sondra Perl, John Hayes and Linda Flower.

This Model of Process Pedagogy illustrates the role of feedback in document development

What does it mean to describe the writing process as recursive ?

The term recursive writing process simply means that writers jump around from one activity to another when composing . For instance, when first drafting a document, a writer may pause to reread something she wrote. That might trigger a new idea that shoots her back to Google Scholar or some other database suitable for strategic searching .

How do researchers study the writing process?

The writing process is a major subject of study of researchers and scholars in the fields of composition studies , communication, writing studies , and AI (artificial intelligence).

The writing process is something of a black box: investigators can see inputs (e.g., time on task) or outputs (e.g., written discourse ), yet they cannot empirically observe the internal workings of the writer’s mind. At the end of the day investigators have to jump from what they observe to making informed guesses about what is really going on in the writer. Even if investigators ask a writer to talk out loud about what they are thinking as they compose , the investigators can only hear what the writer is saying: they cannot see the internal machinations associated with the writer’s thoughts. If a writer goes mute, freezes, and just stares blankly at the computer screen, investigators cannot really know what’s going on. They can only speculate about how the brain functions.

Research Methods

To study or theorize about the writing process, investigators may use a variety of research methods .

Doherty, M. (2016, September 4). 10 things you need to know about banyan trees. Under the Banyan. https://underthebanyan.blog/2016/09/04/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-banyan-trees/

Emig, J. (1967). On teaching composition: Some hypotheses as definitions. Research in The Teaching of English, 1(2), 127-135. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED022783.pdf

Emig, J. (1971). The composing processes of twelfth graders (Research Report No. 13). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Emig, J. (1983). The web of meaning: Essays on writing, teaching, learning and thinking. Upper Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook Publishers, Inc.

Ghiselin, B. (Ed.). (1985). The Creative Process: Reflections on the Invention in the Arts and Sciences . University of California Press.

Hayes, J. R., & Flower, L. (1980). Identifying the Organization of Writing Processes. In L. W. Gregg, & E. R. Steinberg (Eds.), Cognitive Processes in Writing: An Interdisciplinary Approach (pp. 3-30). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Hayes, J. R. (2012). Modeling and remodeling writing. Written Communication, 29(3), 369-388. https://doi: 10.1177/0741088312451260

Hayes, J. R., & Flower, L. S. (1986). Writing research and the writer. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1106-1113. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.10.1106

Leijten, Van Waes, L., Schriver, K., & Hayes, J. R. (2014). Writing in the workplace: Constructing documents using multiple digital sources. Journal of Writing Research, 5(3), 285–337. https://doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2014.05.03.3

Lundstrom, K., Babcock, R. D., & McAlister, K. (2023). Collaboration in writing: Examining the role of experience in successful team writing projects. Journal of Writing Research, 15(1), 89-115. https://doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2023.15.01.05

National Research Council. (2012). Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.https://doi.org/10.17226/13398.

North, S. M. (1987). The making of knowledge in composition: Portrait of an emerging field. Boynton/Cook Publishers.

Murray, Donald M. (1980). Writing as process: How writing finds its own meaning. In Timothy R. Donovan & Ben McClelland (Eds.), Eight approaches to teaching composition (pp. 3–20). National Council of Teachers of English.

Murray, Donald M. (1972). “Teach Writing as a Process Not Product.” The Leaflet, 11-14

Perry, S. K. (1996). When time stops: How creative writers experience entry into the flow state (Order No. 9805789). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304288035). https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/when-time-stops-how-creative-writers-experience/docview/304288035/se-2

Rohman, D.G., & Wlecke, A. O. (1964). Pre-writing: The construction and application of models for concept formation in writing (Cooperative Research Project No. 2174). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University.

Rohman, D. G., & Wlecke, A. O. (1975). Pre-writing: The construction and application of models for concept formation in writing (Cooperative Research Project No. 2174). U.S. Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Sommers, N. (1980). Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers. College Composition and Communication, 31(4), 378-388. doi: 10.2307/356600

Vygotsky, L. (1962). Thought and language. (E. Hanfmann & G. Vakar, Eds.). MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.1037/11193-000

Discovering Your Unique Writing Process: A Guide to Self-Reflection

Problem-Solving Strategies for Writers: a Review of Research

The 7 Habits of Mind & The Writing Process

The Secret, Hidden Writing Process: How to Tap Your Creative Potential

The Ultimate Blueprint: A Research-Driven Deep Dive into The 13 Steps of the Writing Process

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Joseph M. Moxley

Understanding your writing process is a crucial aspect of developing as a writer. For both students and professional writers, reflection on the process of writing can lead to more effective...

Traditionally, in U.S. classrooms, the writing process is depicted as a series of linear steps (e.g., prewriting, writing, revising, and editing). However, since the 1980s the writing process has also...

In contrast to the prevailing view that the writing process refers to writing steps or problem solving strategies, a third view is that the writing process involves nonrational factors, such...

This article provides a comprehensive, research-based introduction to the major steps, or strategies, that writers work through as they endeavor to communicate with audiences. Since the 1960s, the writing process has...

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The Writing Process

Discovery/investigation.

The first step in writing a successful paper in college requires an active engagement with your sources. Simply reading a primary source for content is no longer sufficient. The question should no longer be “What happened?” but rather “Why did that happen? What does that say about the character(s)/plot?” Make notes of your thoughts and ideas as you read.

Once the writer has finished an active reading of the primary source, it may be necessary to obtain secondary sources to back up the thesis. If your research yields books, remember that it is not necessary to read the entire book. You can either look for a chapter title that you believe will have information pertinent to your paper, or look at the index for terms that you will be discussing.

Peer-reviewed journals available online will be your most commonly used secondary resource. Use the online searches through the Knight-Capron Library, but remember that other search engines, such as Google Scholar, can yield results.

Prewriting is the step in which tools such as free writing, brainstorming, outlining, or clustering are used. In prewriting, no idea is too off topic or too strange. It is these sometimes dissociative ideas that can lead you to a paper topic that you never would have considered.

Though the common perception is that there is nothing that hasn’t been written about before, if you allow yourself to think outside the box, you can find a way of looking at an old topic through new eyes.

It is also during prewriting that the writer needs to make a decision about audience. Asking questions like: “Who is going to read my paper?”, “What is the purpose of this paper?”, and “Why are they going to read my paper?” will help you set your audience.

The simple answer to these questions is “My professor” and “Because they assigned it.” They are not the true answers. It could be that your paper needs to be geared towards elementary level students or participants in a seminar or peers at a conference. The language and tone for either of those audiences would be very different.

Drafting is the beginning of “writing” your paper. It is important to remember that in drafting you should already have a thesis idea to guide your writing. Without a thesis, your writing will be prone to drift, making it harder to frame after the fact.

In drafting, the writer should use materials created in the prewriting stage and any notes taken in discovery and investigation to frame and build body paragraphs.

Many writers will tackle their body paragraphs first instead of beginning with an introduction (especially if you are not sure of the exact direction of your paper). Beginning with body paragraphs will allow you to work through your ideas without feeling restricted by a specific thesis, but be prepared to delete paragraphs that don’t fit.

Afterwards, create an opening paragraph (with an appropriate revised thesis) that reflects the body of your essay.

There are two different scopes of revision: global and local.

Global Revision

Global revision involves focusing on higher order concerns. We frequently think of higher order concerns as involving audience, purpose, thesis claims, development (and support), and organization.

When looking your paper over with global revision in mind, ask yourself the following questions:

What does my audience already know about this topic, and what do they need to know? Have I included information from sources that my audience values?
Is the purpose of my paper clear? Does my thesis claim reflect the purpose, and does it fully capture my paper’s content?
Have I offered enough supporting evidence in my supporting paragraphs? Have I effectively quoted, paraphrased, and/or summarized my sources? Have I provided appropriate in-text citations and entries in my works cited or reference page?
Have I effectually discussed my evidence? Have I put my sources into context for the reader (perhaps by using signal phrases), and I have discussed the evidence I have used so that the reader understands its relevance/importance? Have I quoted sources but have failed to discuss the quotes?
Have I organized my paper in a logical manner? Did I go from least important/shocking points to most important/shocking points?

Many also believe that global revision involves looking for issues like cohesion and the overall progression of your paper. If your paragraphs jump from point to point without a clear connection between the points, there is an issue with cohesion. If your paragraphs contain too many points, this is also an issue. Ideally, a paragraph contains one point that is thoroughly discussed and supported with credible evidence.

Lastly, If your paper has paragraphs that do not flow into each other, but change topic abruptly only to return to a previous thought later, your paper has poor cohesion.

A paper that includes smooth transitions is significantly easier to read and understand. It is preferable to keep all like thoughts together and to arrange your paragraphs in such a way that your argument builds, rather than laying everything out with equal weight.

Though the blueprint for your paper is in the thesis, the end result of your argument should not come early in the paper, but at the end. Allow the supporting paragraphs to build to your conclusions.

Local Revision

Local issues involve looking for clarity in sentences, ensuring coherence with your ideas. The greatest asset to avoiding and fixing local issues is to use varied sentence structure and to avoid using the same words repeatedly. Repeating the same sentence structure can make your paper feel mechanical and make an interesting topic feel boring.

Local revision also involves being mindful of lower order concerns, such as sentence structure, word choice, grammar, and spelling.

The final stage in writing a paper requires a review of what you have written. In this last read of your paper, you should look for any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors that have slipped through the cracks during the revising stage, or that were introduced in your revisions.

Reading your paper aloud, or asking a friend to read your paper to you is a good way to catch errors. Often if you read your own paper, especially out loud, you can catch errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Though this step seems minor within the process of writing, it is an easy way to prevent the loss of points over simple mistakes.

Formatting, Inner-text Citation, and Works Cited

The formatting required for your paper will change depending on the field of your topic. Generally, the sciences and business and economics use APA or CSE formatting. English, and other humanities will use MLA, and History uses Chicago. The appearance of inner-text citations, and Works cited page will all be affected by these different formats.

Consult your syllabus or ask your professor to learn what format you should use. Guides for APA, Chicago, and MLA are available online .

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4.12: Final Revision Example

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Rachel Bell Bell 1 Professor Lucia Lachmayr English 100 21 May 2013

Education Denied: a Recipe to Control Human Beings

In the 1940s, George Orwell warned “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell 30). In the 1990s a band called Rage Against the Machine, the name itself referring to a people’s movement to fight against control (corporation, government or otherwise) used this mantra in their song “Testify,” a warning to not silently endure injustice (Rage Against the Machine). This warning is not only relevant to the 20 th century, but has been applicable since human beings started forming structures of power to control and oppress one another. This can vividly be seen during the times of slavery in the United States when blacks were enslaved for two and a half centuries. In Frederick Douglass’s novel Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass reveals how this long and brutal control of human beings was partly accomplished through control over literacy. The control and limitations over reading and writing during slavery sought to make slaves like Douglass ignorant, powerless, and therefore more easily controlled, and this control over literacy and education is still happening in the world today.

In his narrative, Douglass exposes how being denied education was one of the main tactics used to keep so many blacks trapped within generations of enslavement. Douglass lived in Baltimore for 7 years as a house slave and was forbidden by his masters Mr. and Mrs. Hugh to read or write. Mrs. Hugh became furious if she caught Douglass reading as she understood that keeping him illiterate and ignorant was her only way to maintain power over him, “She was an apt woman; and a little experience soon demonstrated, to her satisfaction, that education and slavery were incompatible Bell 2

with each other” (82). Mr. and Mrs. Hugh were not the only slave-owners to realize that educated people are harder to subjugate, and that they could not indefinitely sustain control over other human beings solely through physical coercion. Many slave states passed laws making it illegal to teach slaves to read and write as seen in this typical law in North Carolina:

AN ACT TO PREVENT ALL PERSONS FROM TEACHING SLAVES TO READ OR WRITE, THE USE OF FIGURES EXCEPTED. Whereas the teaching of slaves to read and write, has a tendency to excite dis-satisfaction in their minds, and to produce insurrection and rebellion, to the manifest injury of the citizens of this State: Therefore, be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that any free person, who shall hereafter teach, or attempt to teach, any slave within the State to read or write, the use of figures excepted, or shall give or sell to such slave or slaves any books or pamphlets, shall be liable to indictment in any court of record in this State having jurisdiction thereof. ("Slaves Are Prohibited to Read and Write by Law")

The law then lists the punishments and for a white person it was a hefty fine and possible imprisonment and for a free person of color they could be fined, imprisoned or whipped “not exceeding thirty nine lashes, nor less than twenty lashes” ("Slaves Are Prohibited to Read and Write by Law"). The fear behind passing laws such as these reveals the certain knowledge that reading and writing can indeed lead to “insurrection and rebellion.” Revolution comes when one can read and understand laws that apply to and protect one group and yet arbitrarily exclude another. Rebellion comes when people, through reading, can gain a larger historical perspective and know what is fair, just and reasonable and what is not. Insurrection comes when people can use the written word to communicate with and thereby assemble the masses. This shows how physical force alone cannot control human beings for long. The frightening truth that slave-owners and others throughout history have understood is that to fully control Bell 3

another person, you must limit their perceptions, their understanding of the world, and the influence of others—in essence you must also control their mind.

After secretly learning to read and write on his own, Douglass discovered that freeing his mind led to anguished torment as he was unable to free himself from the entrenched institutions of slavery, but change at least was set in motion. Initially, being awakened to the stark realities of his condition served to plunge Douglass into despair: “As I read and contemplated the subject, behold! that very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read had already come, to torment and sting my soul to unutterable anguish” (84). Once Douglass’s eyes were opened, he invariably suffered: “… I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity” (84). So is ignorance bliss? The answer for us to live in a fair and decent world has to be no, never. To be ignorant allows others not only to make choices for you but to limit your choices without you even realizing it. Not knowing the factors and people who shape your life, enables those in power to act in their own self-interest and have no accountability when doing so. It also makes people unable to recognize when they are victimized by unjust situations, and if you cannot see the problem, then you can never demand change. After Douglass understood the evils of slavery, he suffered initially and even entertained thoughts of suicide, but later he escaped to the north and became an influential leader in the abolitionist movement and spent the remainder of his life fighting for the equality and rights of blacks as well as women.

Unfortunately, when slavery was abolished in 1865, that did not end the practice of denying certain groups of people an education in order to control them, but it also did not end people’s ability to go against societal norms, educate themselves, and fight for change. Muktar Mai in her memoir In the Name of Honor published in 2006, tells her story of growing up in a small village in Pakistan where girls were not educated. In 2002, a more powerful clan wanted to assert its power so without evidence, they accused her brother of having sexual relations with an older woman in Bell 4

another clan. As a result, Mai, as his oldest sister, was sentenced to be pubically gang raped by six men in a stable with 100 of her fellow villagers outside. Mai was then expected to follow custom and commit suicide, but instead she went to the police and testified against her attackers. Because she could not read or write, the officers wrote down her account but altered what she said to absolve her attackers of guilt, so when her case went to court, she lost. After that, she dedicated herself to learn to read and write so she could document her own story and navigate the complexities of the legal system. As Mai suffered death threats and battled a daunting and biased legal system, a fellow activist told her:

It doesn’t matter what women think, because they are not allowed to think at all! They’re not allowed to learn to read and write, to find out how the world around them works. That’s why illiterate women cannot defend themselves: they know nothing about their rights, and words are put into their mouths to sabotage their revolt. But we support you! Just have courage. (46)

After nearly 10 years of her case being tried in various courts and reaching all the way to the Supreme Court, sadly all but one of the men were acquitted. The president of Pakistan has since admitted to restricting Mai’s movements as the publicity her case receives puts a bad light on Pakistan, and with her attackers free and part of a very powerful clan, her life remains in danger to this day. In spite of all this, Mai still fights. She remains an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, she is still pressing a retrial of her attackers, she continues to run the organization she started Mukhtar Mai Women's Welfare Organization (MMWWO), and even with many attempts to close it, she still runs a school she established in her village to educate girls. With literacy came a more confident and determined Mai and through literacy she has been able to rescue many abused women, educate scores of young girls, and reach out beyond her community and gain international recognition and support.

Slavery might feel very distant time wise and Pakistan might feel very far off geographically, but the issue of people being denied literacy and education is not so far removed. People are being denied education right here and right now in the United States as well, so we must all continue Bell 5

to be vigilant about Orwell’s warning: “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell 30). Those who write our history, who write our textbooks, who write our news, who write our laws, write us. In the United States, unfortunately the quality of education one receives is based on income and property taxes so those living in affluent neighborhoods get a good education but those who do not, are destined to be controlled by a wealthy elite: “Children in one set of schools are educated to be governors; children in the other set of schools are trained for being governed” (Kozol 176). Jonathan Kozol in his book Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s School documented the inequalities in education across the U.S. in inner-city schools. He repeatedly documented the high dropout rates in these schools that are grossly underfunded, under equipped, and understaffed. We cannot call ourselves a true democracy if the many are ruled by the few. We need to take a lesson from Frederick Douglass and Muktar Mai and use our own literacy skills to call out injustice and mobilize people to address it, be it large scale or small: blogging, writing letters to our political representatives, reading investigative books and articles, emailing our friends, re-posting articles on Facebook. Ignorance leads to blind passivity and loss of choice. Even small efforts are empowering and can effect great change.

Works Cited

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave . New York,

NY: Penguin Books, 1982. 81-85. Print.

Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's School . New York, NY: Harper

Perennial, 1991. 176. Print.

Mai, Muktar. In the Name of Honor . New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 2006. 46-165. Print

Orwell, George. 1984 . New York, NY: Plume-Harcourt Brace, 1983. 30. Print.

Rage Against the Machine, "Testify Lyrics." Metrolyrics . CBS Interactive Music Group, 2 Nov

1999. Web. 19 Jul 2013. <www.metrolyrics.com/testify-l...e-machine.html>.

"Slaves Are Prohibited to Read and Write by Law." History is a Weapon . N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jul 2013

< http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defc...eprohibit.html >.

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This article provides a comprehensive, research-based introduction to the major steps, or strategies, that writers work through as they endeavor to communicate with audiences.. Since the 1960s, the writing process has been defined to be a series of steps, stages, or strategies. Most simply, the writing process is conceptualized as four major steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing.
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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples. The Writing Process: 6 Steps Every Writer Should Know. Conclusion. The six steps writing process is a valuable tool for writers of all levels and abilities. By following these steps, writers can enhance their writing skills, overcome challenges, and produce high-quality work.
Writing Process: from Discovery to Done (Complete Guide)
Publication and promotion. The writing process is a complex, not always linear creative process. From 'plotters' vs 'pantsers' (to 'bashers' vs 'swoopers'), this guide unpacks stages of the writing process, what authors have said about the practices and habits of writing, and more. Use the links above to jump to the section that ...
The Writing Process
While the writing process may be different for each person and for each particular assignment, the resources contained in this section follow the general work flow of pre-writing, organizing, and revising. For resources and examples on specific types of writing assignments, please go to our Common Writing Assignments area.
Resources for Writers: The Writing Process
Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. It is known as a recursive process. While you are revising, you might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas. Prewriting. Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft of your document.
The Process
The process of writing is the same way. Good writers move forward and backward between the steps." For example, when writing your draft, you may think of a better way to organize your ideas or even a new idea. The same goes with revision: you may think of a better way to organize your paper. ...
What is a writing process?
As you might expect, process writing means approaching a writing task according to a formalized series of concrete, discrete steps. Although different versions of the writing process can be found—some with as few as three steps or phases, others with as many as eight—they generally move from a writer-oriented phase of pre-writing through ...
The Writing Process
Step 1: Prewriting. Think and Decide. Make sure you understand your assignment. See Research Papers or Essays. Decide on a topic to write about. See Prewriting Strategies and Narrow your Topic. Consider who will read your work. See Audience and Voice. Brainstorm ideas about the subject and how those ideas can be organized.
PDF The Writing Process
The Writing Process For many people, writing a document is something that can be done in one sitting, producing a ... This handout will include a sample outline at the end the handout to give an example of what its like to plan a paper using a formal structure. To begin writing, you need a topic to discuss. For example, let's say you have an ...
The Writing Process: A Seven-Step Approach for Every Writer
A writing process or method includes the following stages: planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, editing, and publishing. The prewriting stage is the most critical stage of the writing process. We all follow a writing process when creating an article or any written content.
The Writing Process
Writing is a Process. Pre-writing (freewriting, brainstorming, clustering, asking questions (research), keeping a Journal) ... For example, if you assignment is to research what treatment is best for a particular disease or whether the cycles of the moon affect human beings, the result of your research will generate an answer to the question ...
The Writing Process Explained: From Outline to Final Draft
Writing is a messy process. Rarely do writers pick up their pen or open a fresh Google Doc and write everything start to finish. To take the genesis of an idea, consider the rhetorical situation, form that idea into whatever genre and format it needs to take, polish it, and then publish it requires a writing process to help make the non-linear process of writing more manageable and productive.
The Writing Process: 6 Steps With Tips, Examples, And Worksheets
Prewriting is the first step of the writing process. Making mistakes during this step can lead to your entire project collapsing midway through. To learn more about Prewriting, check out our guide on Prewriting Strategies: 9 Proven Steps With Tips, Examples & Worksheets. #2. Planning and outlining.
The 5 Stages of the Writing Process
Whether you're curious about the stages of the writing process for college students or you're a fiction writer, these 5 steps to the writing process and examples are relevant in academic writing, online SEO writing, creative writing, and more. Stage 1: Brain Dump. In this prewriting stage, it's all about brainstorming and early notes.
The Writing Process in 5 Easy Steps for Students and Teachers
Pre-writing: In this stage, students brainstorm ideas, plan content, and gather the necessary information to ensure their thinking is organized logically. Drafting: Students construct ideas in basic sentences and paragraphs without getting caught up with perfection. It is in this stage that the pre-writing process becomes refined and shaped.
The Writing Process
The writing process refers to everything you do in order to complete a writing project. Over the last six decades, researchers have studied and theorized about how writers go about their work. They've found that the writing process can be seen in three main ways: (1) a series of steps or stages; (2) a cognitive, problem-solving activity; and (3) a creative, intuitive, organic, dialogic process ...
PDF The Writing Process
The Writing Process. Writing is a process of four general steps: inventing, drafting, revising, and editing. You might prefer to do the steps linearly, one after the other, or iteratively, in repeating or successive sessions. The steps blend into each other, so putting effort into each step pays off at the end with a clear, concise, and ...
PDF The Writing Process
The Writing Process For many people, writing a document seems like something that is done in one sitting, producing a completely finished product at the end. That is daunting! ... outline at the end the handout to give an example of what its like to plan a paper using a formal structure. To begin writing, you need a topic to discuss. For ...
The Writing Process
Prewriting is the step in which tools such as free writing, brainstorming, outlining, or clustering are used. In prewriting, no idea is too off topic or too strange. It is these sometimes dissociative ideas that can lead you to a paper topic that you never would have considered. Though the common perception is that there is nothing that hasn ...
PDF The Writing Process
Chapter 1 introduced you to the essay form and to some basics of writing. This chapter explains and illustrates the sequence of steps in writing an effective essay. In particular, the chapter focuses on prewriting and revising—strategies that can help with every paper you write.
Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab
The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. ... OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better ...
4.12: Final Revision Example
We need to take a lesson from Frederick Douglass and Muktar Mai and use our own literacy skills to call out injustice and mobilize people to address it, be it large scale or small: blogging, writing letters to our political representatives, reading investigative books and articles, emailing our friends, re-posting articles on Facebook.

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What Is the Writing Process?

Importance of Knowing the Stages in The Writing Process

Stage 1: Prewriting

Stage 2: Planning Your Project

Table: Comparing Planning Techniques

Tips for Overcoming Perfectionism during Drafting

Stage 4: Revising and Polishing Your Work

The Importance of Revision:

Revising Tips:

Proofreading Checklist:

Stage 5: Publishing

Table: Pros and Cons of Publishing and Sharing

Related Articles

What are the steps of the writing process?

Why is prewriting important?

How can I plan my writing project?

What is the drafting process?

What is revising in the writing process?

What is the purpose of editing and proofreading?

How do I publish my finished piece?

Can I revise my writing after publication?

Why is the writing process important for writers?

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Writing Tools

Writing process: From discovery to done (complete guide)

Writing process stages: 7 areas of practice

Recommended reading

Discovery: Finding and investigating writing ideas

Writing process methods: Ways to find ideas

15 ways to find writing ideas and begin the writing process

FAQs about the discovery stage of writing

GET YOUR FREE GUIDE TO SCENE STRUCTURE

Prewriting: Useful preparatory writing processes

Common prewriting steps and methods

Authors on prewriting and whether or not to plan stories

Loose story outlining

Pullman on how establishing rules is part of play

‘Plotting’ vs ‘Pantsing’: Find your balance between prewriting and drafting

Your writing process may change to suit your project

Planning stories helps character development

Not planning, creative freedom and excitement

GET HELP PLANNING YOUR BOOK

Writing process challenges you may encounter

Common hurdles in creative process

Overcoming writing process challenges

How to nurture your writing process and avoid common pitfalls

Recommended Reading

Drafting stories: Getting knee-deep in scenes

Types of draft in the storytelling process

Authors on the drafting stage of writing process

Toni Morrison on creating chapters and parts in a draft

Sir Terry Pratchett on the purpose of a first, second and third draft (creative freedom, shaping, addressing detail)

Colleen McCullough on how many drafts until done: It depends

Writing feedback and story development

Why getting feedback is a crucial stage of writing process

Channeling feedback into the writing process

The development stage of creative process: Comb story’s nose, blow its hair

Revision: Seeing again with fresh eyes

Revision vs editing: What’s the difference?

Authors’ ideas on revision and the writing process

Joyce Carol Oates on revising as you go being arduous

Jamaica Kincaid on the internal revision process

GET FEEDBACK AND HELP WITH REVISION

Editing: The polishing stage of writing process

The main types of fiction editing

Publication and promotion: Writing around your story

Publication and the writing process

Helpful resources for publication and promotion writing

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The Writing Process

The Writing Process

Steps of the Writing Process

Step 1: Prewriting

Step 2: Research (if needed)

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