Chapter I. Prewriting

Chapter I.

Prewriting[1]

A.    Getting Started

1.  “For many writers, getting started is the hardest part. You may have noticed that when it is time to begin a writing assignment, you suddenly develop an enormous desire to straighten your books, water your plants, or sharpen your pencils for the fifth time. If this situation sounds familiar, you may find it reassuring to know that many professionals undergo these same strange compulsions before they begin writing” (Wyrick 3).

2.  “But no matter how you actually begin putting words on paper, it is absolutely essential to maintain two basic ideas concerning your writing task. Before you write a single sentence, you should always remind yourself that”

a. “You have some valuable ideas to tell your reader, and

b. More than anything, you want to communicate those ideas to your reader” (3).

3.  “These reminders may seem obvious to you, but without a solid commitment to your own opinions as well as to your reader, your prose will be lifeless and boring. If you don’t care about your subject, you can’t very well expect anyone else to. Have confidence that your ideas are worthwhile and that your reader genuinely wants, or needs, to know what you think” (4).

4.  “Equally important, you must also have a strong desire to tell others what you are thinking. One of the most common mistakes inexperienced writers make is falling to move past early stages in the writing process in which they are writing for—or writing to—themselves only. In the first stages of composing an essay, writers frequently ‘talk’ on paper to themselves, and so on. The ultimate goal of a finished essay, however, is to communicate your opinions to others clearly and persuasively” (4).  

5. “Whether you wish to inform your readers, change their minds, or stir them to action, you cannot accomplish your purpose by writing so that only you understanding what you mean” (4).

6.  “commit yourself to becoming increasingly aware of your reader’s reactions to your prose” (4).

7. “Am I moving beyond writing just to myself? Am I making myself clear to others who may not know what I mean?” (4).  

8. “Much of your success as a writer depends on an unflagging determination to communicate clearly with your readers” (4).

B.     Selecting a Subject

1.  “Start early.”

2. “Find your best space. Develop some successful writing habits by thinking about your very own writing process. When and where do you usually do your best composing?” (4).

3. “Select something in which you currently have a strong interest.”

a. If you aren’t enthusiastic enough about your subject . . ., pick something else. Bored writers write boring essays.”

b. “Essays do not have to be written on lofty intellectual or poetic subjects—in fact, some of the world’s best essays have been written on such subjects as. . . .”

c. “If a search of your immediate or past personal experience doesn’t turn up anything inspiring, you might try looking in the campus newspaper for stories that arouse your feelings.”

d. “take a closer look at your environment: your own life—past, present, and future; your hometown, your college town; your state; your country; and your world. . .” (5).

4.  “Narrow a large subject” (6).

C.     Finding Your Essay’s Purpose and Focus (6).

1.  A specific purpose for your essay

2.  Find a clear focus/ direction for your essay.

D.    Pump-Primer Techniques

1.  Listing

2.  Freewriting

3.  Looping: general subject to the more focused idea.

4. The Boomerang. “it invites your mind to travel over a subject from opposite directions to produce new ideas” (10).  

5.  Clustering (mapping)

6.  Cubing

7.  Interviewing

8.  The Cross-Examination

9.  Sketching

10. Dramatizing the Subject

E.    Discovering Your Audience

1. “Before you can decide what information needs to go into your essay and what should be omitted, you must know who will be reading your paper and why. Knowing your audience will also help you determine what voice you should use to achieve the proper tone in your essay” (19).

2. Who ?

3. “. . . ask yourself some questions about their motivation or reasons for reading your essay” (19).  

4. “what knowledge your audience has of your subject” (20).

5. “Pose some questions about their attitudes and emotional states” (20).

6. “think of any special qualities that might set your audience apart from any other” (20).

F. “a few tips to keep in mind about all audiences, no matter who your readers are or what their reasons for reading your writing” (21).

1. Readers don’t like to be bored.

2. Readers hate confusion and disorder.

3. Readers want to think and learn.

4. Readers want to see what you see, feel what you feel.

5. Readers are turned off by writers with pretentious, phony voices.

G.    Keeping a Journal (Talking to Yourself Does Help) (26).

1.  Conquer the blank page.

2.  Improve your powers of observation.

3.  Save your own brilliant ideas.

4.  Save other people’s brilliant ideas.

5.  Be creative.

6.  Prepare for class.

7.  Record responses to class discussions.

8.  Focus on a problem.

9.  Practice audience awareness. . . .

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[1] The following materials are selected from Jean Wyrick. Steps to Writing Well. Ninth Edition. United States: Thomson, 2005.

ê A brief summary of what you have learned about the prewriting stage of your writing process.

1.       2.       3.       4.       5.       6.