The document outlines the stages of the writing process, including prewriting, writing, revising, and editing. It provides details on each stage, such as choosing a topic, determining the audience and purpose, developing a thesis, creating an outline, drafting and revising content, and editing for grammar and style. The goal is to produce a clear, precise, and concise final draft that is appropriate for its intended audience and context.

1. www.dunya.edu.af
Dunya Institute for Higher
Education

2. www.dunya.edu.af
The Writing Process

3. www.dunya.edu.af
Stages of the Writing Process
There are several stages to the Writing
Process. Each stage is essential.
Prewriting
Writing (Drafting)
Revising
Editing

4. www.dunya.edu.af
I. Prewriting
Choose/narrow your topic
Determine your
Audience
Purpose
Tone
Point-of-view
Tense
Explore your topic
Make a plan

5. www.dunya.edu.af
Choose/Narrow Your Topic
 Your topic should pass the 3-question test:
1. Does it interest me?
2. Do I have something to say about it?
3. Is it specific?

6. www.dunya.edu.af
Determine Your Audience
Your Audience is composed of those who
will read your writing.
Ask yourself:
Who are my readers?
What do my readers know about my topic?
What do my readers need to know about my
topic?
How do my readers feel about my topic?

7. www.dunya.edu.af
Audience continued. . .
What do my readers expect?
Standard Written English
Correct grammar and spelling
Accurate information
Logical presentation of ideas
Followed directions of the assignment!!!
 What are my length requirements?
 What is my time limit?
 What does the assignment consist of?
 Is research required?
 What format should be used?

8. www.dunya.edu.af
Determine Your Purpose
 Purpose is the reason you are writing.
 Whenever you write, you always have a purpose.
Most writing fits into one of 3 categories:
 Expressive Writing
 Informative Writing
 Persuasive Writing
 More than one of these may be used, but one will be
primary.

9. www.dunya.edu.af
Determine Tone
Tone is the mood or attitude you adopt as you
write.
Serious or frivolous/humorous?
Intimate or detached?

10. www.dunya.edu.af
Determine Point-of-View
Point-of-view is the perspective from which
you write an essay.
There are 3 points-of-view:
First person—”I, we”
Second person—”you”
Third person—”he, she, they”
One of the most common errors in writing
occurs when the writer shifts point-of-view
unnecessarily!

11. www.dunya.edu.af
Determine Tense
Tense is the voice you use to designate
the time of the action or state of
being.
Present tense
Past tense
Future tense

12. www.dunya.edu.af
Explore Your Topic
 Pre-writing Techniques:
 Brainstorming/Listing
 Freewriting
 Clustering/Mapping
 Questioning
 Discussing
 Outlining

13. www.dunya.edu.af
Make a Plan
Before you begin drafting your
essay, you should make a plan (a
roadmap).
Review, evaluate, and organize ideas
written in your pre-writing; then
make a plan for your essay’s
Thesis statement
Support
Order
Structure

14. www.dunya.edu.af
Thesis Statement
The thesis statement expresses the
MAIN IDEA of your essay, the
central point that your essay
develops/supports.

15. www.dunya.edu.af
Thesis continued. . .
Your thesis SHOULD:
Accurately predict your essay’s direction,
emphasis, and scope
Make no promises that the essay will not fulfill
Be direct and straightforward
NOT be an announcement, statement of
opinion, or statement of fact.

16. www.dunya.edu.af
Thesis continued. . .
• Analytical Paper:
– It breaks down an issue or an idea into its component
parts, evaluate the issue or idea and presents the
breakdown.
• Explanatory Paper:
– It explains something to the audience.
• Argumentative Paper:
– It makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with
specific evidence. The goal is to convince the audience.

17. www.dunya.edu.af
Thesis continued. . .
• Example of analytical thesis statement:
– An analysis of the college admission process
reveals one challenge facing counselors: accepting
students with high test scores or students with
strong extracurricular backgrounds.
• The paper that follows should:
– Explain the analysis of the college admission process.
– Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors.

18. www.dunya.edu.af
Thesis continued. . .
• Example of an explanatory thesis statement:
– The life of the typical college student is
characterized by time spent studying, attending
class, and socializing peers.
• The paper that follows should:
– Explain how students spend their time studying,
attending class, and socializing with peers

19. www.dunya.edu.af
Thesis continued. . .
• Example of an argumentative thesis statement:
– High school graduates should be required to take a
year off to pursue community service projects before
entering college in order to increase their maturity
and global awareness.
• The paper that follows should:
– Present an argument and give evidence to support
the claim that students should pursue community
projects before entering college.

20. www.dunya.edu.af
Support
Be sure to evaluate the information
in your prewriting carefully in order
to choose the best support for your
topic.
Primary Support—major ideas or
examples that back up your main
points
Secondary Support—details which
further explain your primary support

21. www.dunya.edu.af
Support continued. . .
Basics of good support
Relates to main point
Considers readers, i.e. provides
enough information
Is detailed and specific

22. www.dunya.edu.af
Order
The Order is the sequence in which you
present your ideas.
There are 3 types of order:
Time (chronological) order
Space order
Emphatic order (order of importance: least-to-
most, most-to-least)

23. www.dunya.edu.af
Structure/Organization
 Consider how your essay will be
organized; then create an Outline.
 Sample Outline of standard
5-paragraph essay:
A. Introduction
B. Body Paragraph 1
C. Body Paragraph 2
D. Body Paragraph 3
E. Conclusion

24. www.dunya.edu.af
II. Writing
During the Writing Stage, you should
Create your essay’s Title
Compose a draft
A Draft is the first whole version of all your ideas
put together; it’s a “dress rehearsal.”
You should plan to revise your Draft several times
throughout the writing process.

25. www.dunya.edu.af
Creating Your Title
 Your essay’s title should:
 Be original
 Be a reasonable length
 Reflect your topic
 Be lively and attention-getting
 Your title should NOT:
 Be generic
 Be in ALL CAPS
 Be in boldface, “quotation marks,” underlined, or italicized
 Be followed by a period

26. www.dunya.edu.af
Titles, continued
Capitalization Rules for Titles:
Always capitalize the first letter of the first word
and the last word.
Capitalize the first letter of each “important” word
in between the first and last words.
Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the)
Do not capitalize coordinating conjunctions (and, but,
or, etc.)
Do not capitalize prepositions (on, at, in, off, etc.)

27. www.dunya.edu.af
Effective vs. Ineffective Titles
 Topic: Cheating in College
 Effective Titles:
 Cheaters Never Win!
 Cheating in Higher Education
 Why Do Students Cheat?
 Ineffective Titles:
 Don’t Do It!
 Cheating
 Students Cheat for Many Different Reasons.

28. www.dunya.edu.af
Writing a Draft
Basics of a good draft:
Has a fully developed introduction and
conclusion
Has fully developed body paragraphs, each
containing a topic sentence, at least two
examples, and detailed support
Follows standard structure and uses complete
sentences

29. www.dunya.edu.af
Write Your Introduction
Your introductory paragraph should do the
following:
Be a minimum of 4-6 sentences
Tell the audience what to expect from your
discussion (thesis)
Move from general to specific, with the thesis as
the last sentence in the intro
Get the reader’s attention
Set the tone for the rest of the essay

30. www.dunya.edu.af
Introduction, continued
Strategies for developing an Introduction
include
Providing background information
Telling a personal anecdote
Beginning with a quotation
Asking a question

31. www.dunya.edu.af
Write Your Body Paragraphs
Each body paragraph should develop one of
the specific points mentioned in the thesis.
Each BP should contain:
Topic Sentence—main idea of BP
Primary Support—examples
Secondary Support—details

32. www.dunya.edu.af
Body Paragraphs: Topic Sentence
 A Topic Sentence expresses the main idea of the
body paragraph.
 Begin each body paragraph with a Topic Sentence
that
 Narrows the focus of the paragraph
 Accurately predicts the direction of the paragraph
 Refers back to the Thesis statement

33. www.dunya.edu.af
Body Paragraphs continued
Body paragraphs must have
Unity—everything refers back to main point
Support—examples and details
Coherence—all points connect to form a whole;
one point leads to another

34. www.dunya.edu.af
Body Paragraphs: Unity
Unity is achieved when everything refers back
to the main point
ALL SENTENCES SHOULD RELATE BACK TO TOPIC
SENTENCE & THESIS.
Do not include any ideas that are irrelevant or off-
topic.

35. www.dunya.edu.af
Body Paragraphs: Support
 Support is achieved through adequate examples and
details.
 Each body paragraph should include at least two
examples to support the main idea of the paragraph.
 Each example should include at least one specific
detail that further illustrates the point.

36. www.dunya.edu.af
Body Paragraphs: Coherence
Coherence is achieved when all points
connect to form a whole; one point leads to
another.
Coherence is mainly achieved through the use
of transitions.
Transitions—words & phrases which connect your
sentences so that your writing flows smoothly.

37. www.dunya.edu.af
Write Your Conclusion
The concluding paragraph should
Contain a minimum of 4 sentences
Refer back to the main point, but not simply
repeat the thesis
Make an observation on what is written
NOT introduce any new ideas
Create a sense of closure

38. www.dunya.edu.af
III. Revising
 Revising is finding & correcting problems with
content; changing the ideas in your writing to make
them clearer, stronger, and more convincing.
 Revising looks at the “Big Picture”—the Idea level.

39. www.dunya.edu.af
Revision Strategies
 Look for
 Unity
 Does everything refer back to main point?
 Does each topic sentence refer to the thesis?
 Does each sentence in each BP refer back to the topic sentence?
 Detail and support
 Does each BP contain at least two examples?
 Is each example followed by at least one supporting detail?
 Coherence
 Are all points connect to form a whole?
 Are transitions used to move from one idea to the next?

40. www.dunya.edu.af
Revision Tips
Take a break from your draft before attempting
to revise.
Read your draft out loud and listen to your
words.
Imagine yourself as your reader.
Look for consistent problem areas.
Get feedback from peers.
Get help from a tutor!

41. www.dunya.edu.af
IV. Editing
Editing is finding and correcting problems
with grammar, style, word choice & usage,
and punctuation.
Editing focuses on the “Little Picture”—Word
level.

42. www.dunya.edu.af
Editing Strategies
Keep an Error Log to help you identify your
problem areas and improve your writing.
When editing, review your paper for one type
of error at a time; don’t try to read through
looking for everything at once.

43. www.dunya.edu.af
Editing Tips
Work with a clean printed copy, double-
spaced to allow room to mark corrections.
Read your essay backwards.
Be cautious of spell-check and grammar-
check.
Read your essay out loud.
Get feedback from peers.
Work with a tutor!

44. www.dunya.edu.af
Self-Review
 You should never move to peer review without first
completing a self-review (revising & editing); you
want your peer to look for mistakes that you were
unable to catch yourself!
 After you have reviewed your own work, make the
necessary corrections and print a clean, revised copy
before moving on to peer review.

45. www.dunya.edu.af
Peer-Review
 It is important to make the peer review process
useful.
 Basics of useful feedback:
 It is given in a positive way
 It is specific
 It offers suggestions
 It is given both verbally and in writing

46. www.dunya.edu.af
Summary
Clarity: make it easy to understand
Precision: say what you mean
Conciseness: don’t waste words
Good writing is appropriate to context
Good writing is easy to understand