Hello! My name is Kylie, and welcome to The Writing Process: Getting Started.
Do you ever find writing tricky at times? Starting with a blank page,
not really
knowing how to get your thoughts and ideas in writing can be pretty scary,
but it doesn't have to be. In this video, you'll learn the process of writing,
so you can go from generating ideas to a first draft of your work.
Let's get on the right track.
When you read a book,
you might not think about all the work that went into writing it before it lands
in your hands. The author, or the person who wrote the book, spent many,
many hours thinking about writing,
about rewriting, and writing again before the ideas could be made into a book.
It doesn't always happen by magic, even for professional writers.
You can learn to write using the same process your favorite author uses.
There are five main steps in the writing process:
One: Prewriting, or brainstorming, [Two:] Drafting,
[Three:] Revising, [Four:] Editing, and [Five:] Publishing.
Let's look at the first two of these steps.
Before you ever get to writing,
there is a lot you need to consider to help you get started.
This part of the writing process is called the prewriting stage
because it's everything you do before you ever even start your first
draft. Just like we read for different reasons,
we write for many different reasons too.
You might read to learn something new, like you do for reading a science book,
or to be entertained by one of your favorite storybooks.
In the same way, we write for different reasons, as well.
This is called the purpose. Your writing should have a purpose.
You might choose to write to teach something,
to tell a story,
or to express your feelings or ideas.
When you know your purpose for writing,
your writing can remain focused or on topic.
If you choose to teach something,
you might be writing a book report, an essay,
an article, or even an interview.
If you are writing to tell a story,
you might be writing a dramatic play; lyrics to a song;
narrative poetry, which is a poem that tells a story;
a fictional story,
which is a made up story; or a personal narrative,
which is a true story that happened to you.
If you're writing to express ideas or feelings,
you might choose to write a letter or an email to a friend,
creative poetry, song lyrics,
or even just a journal entry about your thoughts on things that happened.
You might be more comfortable with certain types of writing more than
others, but don't be afraid to try something new.
How will you know what to write?
You can keep a running list of writing ideas in a notebook.
Whenever you get an inspiration by something you see, hear, feel, or experience,
you can write it down in note form. Then, when you have some time to write,
you can choose from your idea list.
Once you have chosen a topic, or the main idea for your writing,
and once you have decided on the purpose,
you can then begin brainstorming.
Brainstorming is exactly how it sounds — like a nature storm.
Brainstorming is unpredictable and messy. [laughs]
When you brainstorm for writing,
you are taking everything out of your brain and putting it on paper or on
your screen,
so you're taking all the many ideas that you think about and you write them
down. You do not need to write in full sentences.
That's kind of what makes it fun. When brainstorming,
you are writing short notes and ideas for yourself.
There is no right way to brainstorm.
Some authors like to make a list,
draw quick sketches, use a graphic organizer
(which is like a map or flow chart that helps you get your ideas out),
or just scribble your thoughts all over the place where it makes sense
for them.
In the drafting stage,
you are taking all of your brainstorm notes and ideas and writing the first copy
of your writing piece. If you are writing a story,
then it's the first draft of your story.
If you are writing a poem, then it's the first draft of your poem.
A first draft is sometimes called the rough draft or the sloppy copy.
In other words, it is not the perfect final version of your work.
Just like there is no right way to to brainstorm,
there is also really no right way or correct way to draft.
Some authors like to start at the beginning and write in a logical order.
Some like to scribble paragraphs on notecards and rearrange them later,
and some like to use graphic organizers or an outline where,
similar to the brainstorm stage,
they're using an outline or flow chart to help them write.
If you are using lined paper, like notebook paper,
skipping lines helps so that you have space later to make changes or add notes.
If using a word processor to write your draft,
you may wanna make it double spaced and print it out.
In the drafting stage, you're writing to match the type of piece that you've
chosen. For example, if you're writing a story,
an essay, or similar type of writing,
you write in complete sentences for your draft.
If you are writing a poem or a play,
you would write it following how that piece is written.
The important part of this step is that you are just writing and not stopping to
fix anything. Don't worry about spelling, grammar,
and punctuation at this point. Also,
don't worry about the order of things quite yet, either.
Some authors begin with the ending of the story and work backward.
Some authors like to skip around during the drafting stage by starting at the
beginning, jumping to write the ending.
Then kind of filling in the details in the middle as they go.
Remember, there's no right way to draft. Just get into a writing flow.
Going from a blank page to a rough draft of writing is a great accomplishment.
Knowing that there are steps we can take makes the writing process a lot less
daunting and intimidating.
Improve your language skills by playing our fun online games and quizzes,
and remember to always keep writing.