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Introduction
Introduction
Prewriting is the stage of the writing process during which you transfer your abstract thoughts into more concrete ideas on paper or on a screen (computer, laptop, phone, tablet, etc.). Although prewriting techniques can be helpful in all stages of the writing process, the following six strategies are best used when initially deciding on what to write about:
Choosing a Topic
Using experience and observations
Reading
Freewriting
Asking questions
Narrowing the focus
Let's explore these prewriting strategies together.
Choosing a Topic
Choosing a Topic
In addition to understanding that writing is a process, writers also understand that choosing a good, general topic for an assignment is an essential step. Sometimes your instructor will give you an idea to begin an assignment, and other times your instructor will ask you to come up with a topic on your own. To figure-out what your situation is, check your assignment sheet, which can also be referred to as a prompt or directions.
Tip: A good topic not only covers what an assignment will be about, but also fits the assignment’s purpose and its audience.
At this stage in the writing process, it is okay if you choose a general topic. Later you will learn more prewriting strategies that will narrow the focus of the topic.
In this section, you will follow a writer named Mariah as she prepares a piece of writing. You will also be planning one of your own. The first important step is for you to figure-out the purpose of your writing (to inform, to explain, to entertain, or some other purpose) and your audience (for whom you are writing for). When you have figured these out, you can also determine what format (essay, presentation, letter, cause and effect, compare and contrast, process, etc.) would be best and what type of language or tone you should use in your writing (formal, slang, academic, jargon, angry, compassionate, funny, etc.).
Look at your writing prompt. If you do not currently have a prompt, choose one of these 35 sample prompts that interest you. Write your purpose and your audience on your own sheet of paper and keep the paper close by as you read and complete the exercises in this section.
My purpose: _______________________________________
My audience: ______________________________________
Format: ____________________________________________
Language and Tone: _______________________________
Using Experience & Observations
Using Experience & Observations
When selecting a topic, you may also want to consider something that interests you, something based-on your own life and personal experiences, everyday observations, or even something related to your major or future career. This last option is great to help you make a portfolio of your work within your field to get you prepared for your career.
After writers think about their experiences and observations, they often take notes on paper to better develop their thoughts. These notes help writers discover what they have to say about their topic.
Tip: Have you seen an attention-grabbing story on your local news channel? Many current issues appear on television, in magazines, and on the Internet. These can all provide inspiration for your writing.
Reading
Reading
Reading plays a vital role in all the stages of the writing process, but it first figures in the development of ideas and topics. Different kinds of documents can help you choose a topic and develop that topic. For example, a magazine advertising the latest research on the threat of global warming may catch your eye in the supermarket. This cover may interest you, and you may consider global warming as a topic. Or maybe a novel’s courtroom drama sparks your curiosity of a lawsuit or legal controversy.
After you choose a topic, critical reading is essential to the development of a topic. While reading almost any text, you evaluate the author’s point of view by thinking about their main idea and support. Try using the CRAAP Model when evaluating your texts. When you judge the author’s argument, you discover more about not only the author’s opinion but also your own.
Prewriting strategies depend on your critical reading skills. Reading prewriting exercises (and outlines and drafts later in the writing process) will further develop your topic and ideas. As you continue to follow the writing process, you will see how
Mariah uses critical reading skills to assess her own prewriting exercises.
Freewriting
Freewriting
Freewriting is an exercise in which you write freely about any topic for a set amount of time (usually three to five minutes). During the time limit, you may jot down any thoughts that come to your mind. Try not to worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Instead, write as quickly as you can without stopping. If you get stuck, just copy the same word or phrase over and over until you come up with a new thought.
Writing often comes easier when you have a personal connection with the topic you have chosen. Remember, to generate ideas in your freewriting, you may also think about readings that you have enjoyed or that have challenged your thinking. Doing this may lead your thoughts in interesting directions.
Quickly recording your thoughts on paper will help you discover what you have to say about a topic. When writing quickly, try not to doubt or question your ideas. Allow yourself to write freely and unselfconsciously. Once you start writing with few limitations, you may find you have more to say than you first realized. Your flow of thoughts can lead you to discover even more ideas about the topic. Freewriting may even lead you to discover another topic that excites you even more.
Tip: Some prewriting strategies can be used together. For example, you could use experience and observations to come up with a topic related to your course studies. Then you could use freewriting to describe your topic in more detail and figure out what you have to say about it.
Asking Questions
Asking Questions
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? In everyday situations, you pose these kinds of questions to get more information. Who will be my partner for the project? When is the next meeting? Why is my car making that odd noise
You seek the answers to these questions to gain knowledge, to better understand your daily experiences, and to plan for the future. Asking these types of questions will also help you with the writing process. As you choose your topic, answering these questions can help you revisit the ideas you already have and generate new ways to think about your topic. You may also discover aspects of the topic that are unfamiliar to you and that you would like to learn more about. All these idea-gathering techniques will help you plan for future work on your assignment.
Tip: Prewriting is very purpose driven; it does not follow a set of hard-and-fast rules. The purpose of prewriting is to find and explore ideas so that you will be prepared to write. A prewriting technique like asking questions can help you both find a topic and explore it. The key to effective prewriting is to use the techniques that work best for your thinking process. Freewriting may not seem to fit your thinking process, but keep an open mind. It may work better than you think. Perhaps brainstorming a list of topics might better fit your personal style.
Mariah found freewriting and asking questions to be fruitful strategies to use. In your own prewriting, use the 5WH questions in any way that benefits your planning.
Narrowing the Focus
Narrowing the Focus
Narrowing the focus means breaking up the topic into subtopics, or more specific points. Generating lots of subtopics will help you eventually select the ones that fit the assignment and appeal to you and your audience.
The prewriting techniques of freewriting and asking questions helped Mariah think more about her topic, but the following prewriting strategies can help her (and you) narrow the focus of the topic:
Brainstorming
Idea mapping
Searching the Internet
After rereading her syllabus, Mariah realized her general topic, mass media, is too broad for her class’s short paper requirement. Three pages are not enough to cover all the concerns in mass media today. Mariah also realized that although her readers are other communications majors who are interested in the topic, they may want to read a paper about a particular issue in mass media.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is similar to list making. You can make a list on your own or in a group with your classmates. Start with a blank sheet of paper (or a blank computer document) and write your general topic across the top. Underneath your topic, make a list of more specific ideas. Think of your general topic as a broad category and the list items as things that fit in that category. Often you will find that one item can lead to the next, creating a flow of ideas that can help you narrow your focus to a more specific paper topic.
Idea Mapping
Idea Mapping
Idea mapping allows you to visualize your ideas on paper using circles, lines, and arrows. This technique is also known as clustering because ideas are broken down and clustered, or grouped together. Many writers like this method because the shapes show how the ideas relate or connect, and writers can find a focused topic from the connections mapped. Using idea mapping, you might discover interesting connections between topics that you had not thought of before.
To create an idea map, start with your general topic in a circle in the center of a blank sheet of paper. Then write specific ideas around it and use lines or arrows to connect them together. Add and cluster as many ideas as you can think of.
Searching the Internet
Searching the Internet
The internet, or other sources of information, can be a helpful tool to help you narrow your focus. You may use sites like Google or YouTube to find-out more information about your topic in order to discover what you want to write about in particular, or what narrowed-focus you feel you have enough information to write about.
Mariah, for instance, used the internet to research issues in mass media. In doing so, she decided to write about the dangers of media bias.
More Prewriting Techniques and Tips
More Prewriting Techniques and Tips
If you need help with creating a structure for your prewriting (like an idea map, for instance), please use one of the many pre-made graphic organizers at "Free Graphic Organizers for Planning and Writing."
You may find that you need to adjust your topic as you move through the writing stages (and as you complete the exercises in this lesson). If the topic you have chosen is not working, you can repeat the prewriting activities until you find a better one. Trust me, this happens all of the time, even with the most experienced and professional writers.
If you find yourself starting over with the writing process or nearly doing so, know that you did not waste time earlier. Your brain is now warmed-up to your assignment and warmed-up to writing, making the process quicker for you.
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
All writers rely on steps and strategies to begin the writing process.
Prewriting is the transfer of ideas from abstract thoughts into words, phrases, and sentences on paper.
A good topic interests the writer, appeals to the audience, and fits the purpose of the assignment.
Writers often choose a general topic first and then narrow the focus to a more specific topic.
Section Completed -- Onto the Next One
Section Completed -- Onto the Next One
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