1. Focus on Writing: Chapter 1
Understanding the Writing Process

2. Understanding Paragraph Structure
Paragraph a group of sentences that is unified by a single main idea.
Topic Sentence states the main idea
Supporting details provides evidence (details and examples) to support the main idea
Transitions words and phrases that show how one idea is related to another.
Summary Statement conclusion summarizes the main idea.
3. Focusing on Your Assignment, Purpose, and Audience
Assignment what are you expected to write about?
What is the assignment?
Do you have a word or page limit?
When is the assignment due?
Will you be expected to complete in class or at home?
Will you be working with others?
Will you be allowed to revise before and after you hand it in?
4. Focusing on Your Assignment, Purpose, and Audience
Purpose reason for writing
Share feelings
Inform reader
Entertain reader
Persuade reader
5. Focusing on Your Assignment, Purpose, and Audience
Audience who is your reader characteristics will influence the detail and tone you use.
Determining your audience
Who is your audience?
How many audiences do you have? List them.
What does your audience need? What do they want?
What is most important to them?
What are they least likely to care about?
How might you organize your essay in a way that will be best for your audience?
What do you have to say or what are you doing in your research that might surprise your audience?
What do you want your audience to think, learn, or assume about you? What impression do you want your writing or your research to convey?
6. Focusing on Your Assignment, Purpose, and Audience
Audience who is your reader characteristics will influence the detail and tone you use.
Characteristics
Age
Gender
Race
Socioeconomic standing
Political views
Religion
Family background
7. Focusing on Your Assignment, Purpose, and Audience
Audience who is your reader characteristics will influence the detail and tone you use.
Determining your Audience
Characteristics
Kinds of Details
Vocabulary
Approach
8. Finding Ideas
Writing subject broad idea
Writing topic narrowed down idea
9. Finding Ideas
Strategies
Listing spill out every idea that occurs without evaluatinghow good each is
Scratch outline removeideas you dont like, then order them logically how they will appear
Brainstorming asking questions
Who, what, when, why, where, how, etc.
Clustering idea in center, connect to related ideas
Once you have finished one, pick a topic, then do another using the topic as the center
Free-writing nonstop writing for 10-15 minutes about anything and everything that comes to mind. No censoring.
Journaling explore ideas and feelings
Solve problems
Get in touch with feelings
Vent anger
Find significance
Discover opinions
Working together Ask others what they think, go through one of the other strategies as a group. Often new ideas will arise that an individual may not have thought of.
10. Identifying Your Main Idea and Writing a Topic Sentence
The Topic Sentence
Central point of your paragraph
Lets the readers know what the paragraph is about
11. Identifying Your Main Idea and Writing a Topic Sentence
Writing Effective Topic Sentences
Avoid statements of fact
Avoid very broad topic sentences
Avoid vague words
Avoid formal announcements
Avoid using a pronoun to refer to something in the title
Place the topic sentence first
12. Identifying Your Main Idea and Writing a Topic Sentence
Consider Your Writing Process: Planning, Writing, and Rewriting Your Topic Sentence
When you write the rough draft, use a topic sentence, and then make it more effective as you revise.
Assertion Decide what you want your reader to believe before you write your topic sentence
13. Arranging Your Supporting Points dont expect your reader to believe what you say, just because you said it, demonstrate it.
Supporting Details explain or prove the topic sentence by being:
Adequate enough facts and opinions to explain or prove
14. Arranging Your Supporting Points dont expect your reader to believe what you say, just because you said it, demonstrate it.
Supporting Details explain or prove the topic sentence by being:
Specific helps a reader form a clear, detailed understanding of the writers meaning
Gives reader a clearer mental picture
Opposite would be a general statement
Use Specific Words ex. Collie instead of dog
Follow General Statements with Specific statements
15. Arranging Your Supporting Points dont expect your reader to believe what you say, just because you said it, demonstrate it.
Supporting Details explain or prove the topic sentence by being:
Relevant supporting details are directly related to the topic and assertion
Relevance problem when details stray (problem with unity)
16. Arranging Your Supporting Points dont expect your reader to believe what you say, just because you said it, demonstrate it.
Supporting Details explain or prove the topic sentence by being:
Transitions and Repetition for Coherence relevant details must be arranged in some kind of logical order to help the reader understand and believe the topic sentence
Coherence - understand how ideas relate to each other, and the connections need to be smooth and graceful
Transitions help reader understand the order and relationships
See chart pp. 41
Can also repeat key ideas or key words
17. The Closingbring the paragraph to a satisfying finish
Refer to the topic sentence
Answer the question, So what?
18. Drafting Your Paragraph
Ideas in a preliminary form first draft aka rough draft
Expect it to have problems in grammar, content, and spelling
Dont get discouraged
Refer to your scratch list
If you have trouble, write as though you are writing to a friend
Dont make changes as you go, save them for next stage
If you have trouble flowing ideas, try speaking them into a recording device
19. Drafting Your Paragraph
Dont worry about grammar
Dont worry about spelling or punctuation
20. Revising Your Paragraph most important and time-consuming part of any writing process
Consider Content
Add details?
Are there unrelated details that need to be deleted?
Is anything unclear?
Are the details appropriate for audience and purpose?
21. Revising Your Paragraph most important and time-consuming part of any writing process
Consider Organization
Are the details arranged logically?
Will the reader understand how my ideas relate?
22. Revising Your Paragraph most important and time-consuming part of any writing process
Consider Wording
Is word choice appropriate?
How is do the sentences flow?
23. Revising Your Paragraph most important and time-consuming part of any writing process
Get a Different Perspective you know what you meant to say, the reader doesnt
Take a break
If you wrote it by hand, type it before revising
Read it out loud to yourself or have someone read it to you
24. Revising Your Paragraph most important and time-consuming part of any writing process
Work in Stages dont get overwhelmed. Pick an area to focus on for each draft
Perhaps focus on one section of questions for each draft or work on the easier questions first.
Make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to make it through all the stages before your piece is due.
25. Revising Your Paragraph most important and time-consuming part of any writing process
Get Reader Response others can give you information about strengths and weaknesses which you can consider as you revise
Reader Response sheet p. 22
Trust Your Instincts if you think there is a problem, there is
26. Editing Your Paragraphfinding and correcting grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling
Get a Fresh Perspective You will see what you meant to write rather than what you wrote
Take a break
Read your draft out load, or have someone read it to you
Read backwards, last sentence to the first
Work Slowly the faster you go, the more you will miss
Take it one word, then one line at a time
Work in Stages read through your work several times, focus on a particular error each time. Pay special attention to the mistakes you make habitually
Learn the Rules the better you know the rules of grammar, the faster and more confidently you can edit.
Trust your Instincts if something doesnt sound write, there is probably something wrong, even if you cant figure out what it is.
27. RewritingProofreading Your Final Copy
Proofreading run a final check for copying or typing errors
Before reading through for the last time, leave it for a few hours to refresh yourself and increase your odds of finding the mistakes.
Proofread slowly