This document discusses the writing process used to create television shows and other media. It describes the 5 key steps as pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Pre-writing involves preparing ideas such as considering the role, audience, format and topic. Drafting is when the initial writing is done. Revising is re-reading drafts to improve them. Editing checks the work for spelling, grammar and mechanics. Publishing is the finalized work, free of errors. The writing process turns ideas into finished works.

1. Are any of you familiar with
this show?
All Simpson images were taken from www.thesimpsons.com and #http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/gallery/simpsonspictures.shtml

2. What is the longest running cartoon show in the history of TV?
How many of you watch it?
How many of you love it?

3. How many of you are aware that
this television show starts off a
story written down on paper?
No
Really? Are
way!
you
Say it isn't nuts?
so!

4. YES – IT IS TRUE!
EVERY TV SHOW YOU
WATCH STARTED AS A
STORY WRITTEN ON PAPER!
(Or a word processor, of course!)
AND—GET THIS: EVERY WRITER OF EVERY STORY YOU READ OR
TV PROGRAM YOU WATCH OR MOVIE YOU GO TO OR EVEN EVERY
VIDEO GAME YOU PLAY USES A SPECIAL PROCESS WHEN THEY
ARE CREATING YOUR FAVORITE SHOWS, MOVIES OR GAMES.
IT'S CALLED:
THE WRITING PROCESS

5. So, what is The Writing Process?
Well, The Writing Process involves these 5 steps:
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Pr Wit
e- r ing
E ing
dit
Dr ft
a ing
Publ
ishing

6. Step 1: Pre­Writing
● Pre­writing is a warm­up stage, where writers prepare to write
● To help prepare, used R.A.F.T.S:
R.A.F.T.S
– Role – Who am I? What is my role in writing this piece?
(reporter, detective, alien, yourself, family member, animal, etc.)
– Audience – Who am I writing this for? (Mom & Dad, teacher,
friend, sibling). What stance should I take (formal, informal)
– Format – Which format should I use? (Short story, poem, essay,
letter, report, speech, picture book, recount?)
– Topic – what is my topic? What do I need to say about it?
– Strong Verb (reason for writing) – what am I trying to do in this
piece of writing? Convince? Entertain? Request something?
Complain? Evaluate? Annoy?

7. Step 2: Drafting
● Drafting is when you actually put words on your paper.
● It involves risk­taking! It's hard to get started sometimes!
● You need to concentrate and write in a quiet place.
● Don't worry about spelling or grammar – just get your ideas down.
● You might want to write on every other line, or only on one side of
the paper, to give yourself room to add notes or ideas later.
● Date or number each draft to show how they have changed and
improved from one draft to another.

8. Step 3: Revising
● Revising is taking the time to RE­READ your original drafts – to
take a second look. Why? Because even professional writers revise
and make their work better – the writers of the Simpsons never take
their first draft and create the show – it would be AWFUL!
● You may want to add more information to your story, change the
order of your paragraphs, or choose some more descriptive,
exciting words. Put away the “worn­out” words – words like big,
fun, great, nice, pretty, small, very – and try to find other words
that do a better job of describing what is happening in your story.
● While revising, ask yourself: Is this my best work? Is it boring?
Confusing? Does it make sense, or are their big gaps in my story?

9. Step 4: Editing
●
What is the difference between editing and revising? Well, editing
looks at the grammar and mechanics of a piece of writing.
●
You need to check your work for spelling errors, punctuation
problems, capitalization errors, grammar and sentence structure.
●
Sometimes it is good to let another set of eyes look at your paper, so
let a classmate or parent look it over as well. Just make sure that
YOU correct the errors, not your editor – they just need to point out
the problem.
●
Get in the habit of reading and re-reading your work over and over
again – you will always be find another way to make your work better.

10. Step 5: Publishing
● Yippee! Finally done! It's the best job I can do!
● Also known as a final draft, this piece of writing should be free of
spelling and grammatical errors. It should be perfect (or as close to
perfect as you can make it). How many times have you found a
mistakes in a book you read? Not very often!
● Celebrate! Share! Get other
people to read it!

11. One last thought . . .
● Every writer working on The Simpsons
was a kid who sat in a desk, just like you
are right now.
● They also struggled with writing, just like
you. But look where they are now!
● Follow in their footsteps, use The Writing
Process, and you too might be creating
your own TV show some day!