Chapter 4 Writing Process at a Glance

 Identify a writing process that suits your writing style

 Plan your document
 Draft and revise your document
 Edit and publish your document
 Collaborate constructively with others

The writing process-

Introduction:
Writing is a process. Writers just do not sit down and come up with the final product. They
work at stages and steps. They even stop at various points and think or rethink. So, a good
writing is a process and the product. We need to remember that writing is:
- A process
- Collaborative,
- Recursive,
- Takes time and
- Is different for everyone.

 Writing process includes

I. planning,
II. drafting revising,
III. copyediting.
 The process of writing in technical writing is no different than the process in writing in
any other form like essay, novel, journal or song.
 However, each genre has its own challenges.
 In technical writing, not only does the writer must consider the audience, purpose, and
medium, he must also carefully plan this writing.
 Along with the words, they must also think about graphics and page design.
 Furthermore, technical writers often work collaboratively (team work).
 Collaborative writing is writing with other writers in a group.
 Sophisticated software too is a central part of the process.
 The nature of writing is recursive or circular. In other words, it does not move from one
step to next. It is a continuous process of forward-backward. It is an act of creativity.
 Writing takes time.
 Writing is different for everyone
Writing is Recursive:
Writing is an act of creativity. So, it does not always move from one step to the next
serially. Even though the final product has to be logical after careful planning, it is recursive.
Each step you take in your writing process will lead to other steps.
For example: after you have drafter an essay, you’ll do some verification. If in that process you
will discover that something you have written is false, you’ll go back to the draft and rectify it.
Your changes in one section might require you to loop back to a different section of the essay
and rewrite leading you to rethink the whole organization.
 Let’s say, that you are to write an article about new city bus routes of your town. You
begin by planning and researching. As you begin to write, you realize that you overlooked the
route of you own neighborhood. So, you go back and do some more research and gather more
information. Then, you come to know that some of the people around the city are not happy with
the proposed routes. You circle back and try to find out about their discontentment. Maybe, you
do some interview and revise the whole article.
Hence, documents keep changing.

Explain the recursive nature of the writing process. Why does the process take time? Why is the
process different for everyone?
Writing Takes Time:
Writing unequivocally takes time. Some writers need time to come up with ideas. The process
can be compared with baking bread. Before you start baking, you gather the ingredients. Then
you mix them, knead the dough, and place the dough in a warm place to rise. However, you
cannot hurry the process of the rise. The dough rises at its own time.
In the same manner, the ideas need to time to incubate.
The other stages may also need time. For some it may take a couple of weeks to conduct
research, while for others it may take just a day or so. The writing of the rough draft, revising
time may also take time but vary from individual to individual. Hence when you start of write,
allow time for the process.
Writing is Different for Everyone:
There are different states of writing. How people approach these sections or how they feel
varies. Some people enjoy prewriting and planning while dislike revising. Some may enjoy
revising but dislike doing research and planning.
 I. Planning
It is the first stage of the writing process. This is when the writer thinks of an idea and prepares
to develop and research it.
I. Choosing a topic- Writing can be easy if a topic is given- just consider audience,
purpose, scope and medium.
For example:
Let’s say you are asked to write an operating manual for a pizza franchise; include to open and
close the restaurant, how to order, how to prepare each dish, and how to calculate food costs.
This is straightforward and easy- interview managers, observe them in action and write the
procedures step-by-step.
When the topic is given, learn as much as possible about the task. Know your audience, purpose,
scope, and medium. Ask questions, and make changes based on the new information gathered.
It is easy to work on someone’s ideas.
However, you may not always get specific topic or writing assignment. You may be given a
general guideline and expected to come up with ideas and make a plan. In such a case,

Following the two strategies can help you choose or specify your topic.
a. Freewriting
b. Journaling

a. Freewriting: It is an excellent way to get your creative ideas flowing. It is writing freely
whatever comes to your mind without worrying about form, style, grammar, spelling or
sentence structure. However, it has to be written in paragraph form.
It is a writing exercise that writer conduct in order to generate ideas without the following
the constrains of traditional writing structure. It helps with the writer’s block.
Example:
The following is an example of a sixty-second freewrite: "The sun is bright today I need to clean
the windows. How do people's hands get so dirty? Thre's a lot t clean in this house. Clean clean
clean clean how much can i get done before we leave town? I hope tha th weather is nice out
there. There is no chance they will get me in the ater. I can't believe it's already october there are
christmas things in the stores already. That stuff was there in September. Too early. The holidays
will be good. So much better than last year."

There are three variations of free writing:

i. Open freewriting- write about anything for a period of time (5-10 minutes) and
see where you go with it. Let your ideas flow.
ii. Focused freewriting- It is a process of writing without stopping or editing about
a specific topic. Choose a topic, prompt or question and freely discuss the ideas.
Though it is a form of freewriting, you have an overarching idea you are working
toward. Although u can write anything, you are generally heading towards some
intended outcome
iii. Looping- write for five minutes, stop and summarize in a sentence what you have
written. Stay focused on the summary sentence, write again for five minutes,
stop, and summarize. Repeat the process until ideas appear.
b. Journaling: it is the process of keeping record of everyday experiences and exploring the
ideas when they want to write. Not only can the everyday experience be including in a
 journal, thoughts, ideas, feelings, questions and observation can also be written in a
journal.

II. Shaping an idea- after choosing a topic, you begin shaping the topic. In other words,
give a direct. The following actions can help you focus on your idea and shape your
writing:
a. Questioning- Ask yourself questions like who will benefit from learning about the
topic. What do they need to know? When and where can they use this information?
b. Reading- Read the journal, notes or information you have kept.
c. Mapping- Map your ideas. Writing down a central theme (which sits in the middle
of your diagram), then adding new, related subtopics and ideas, which span out from
the center. Those subtopics then have their own ideas branching out — just like in the
example below.

d.

Outlining:

Organize according to the document’s purpose.

 Chronological order
 Spatial Order
 Cause-to-effect Order
  Comparing and contrasting
 Classifying
 Problem and solution
Ways to organize meeting both the needs of the reader and your purpose
 General to specific
 Background before new information
 Familiar to less familiar
 Simplest to most complex
 Most important to least important
For longer documents use the following organizational strategy:
 Problem and solution
 Cause-to-effect order
 Background before new information
 Simplest to most complex
II. Drafting:
a. Drafting
 The Introduction
- Relate to your readers
- Hold your reader’s attention
- Forecast
- Identify questions
- Identify the problem to be solved
- Give the background of the situation
- Give a research overview
 The Body
- Long or sh
-
- ort example
- Testimonials
- Quotations
- Statistics
- Historical facts
- Financial facts or estimates
 The Conclusion
III. Revising
b. Revising

1. Copyediting and Publishing

a. Copyediting
b. Publishing
2. Writing Collaboratively
a. Advantages of Collaboration
b. Disadvantages of Collaboration
c. Organizing Collaborative Projects
d. Using Positive Work Habits
 Writing
Process

Planning
Drafting &
Revising Copyediting

Choosing a
Topic
Inroduction,
Shaping Body
the Idea
Conclusion
[Link]
2. Reading
According to 3. Mapping
the needs of for longer Revising
Free Writing Journaling 4. Outlining
the reader & documents
your purpose

1 . Open Free The needs of

According to both the reader Longer
Writing
the purpose of and your Documents
2. Closed Free the document purpose
Writing
3. Looped

Chronological Cause-to-effect Comparing and Problem and

order Spatial Order Order Classifying solution
contrasting
 Shaping an Idea

According to the
For Longer
needs of the reader
Documents
& your purpost

Background before Familiar to less Simplest to most

General to specific Most important to
new information familiar complex least important

For longer documents use the following organizational strategy:

 Problem and solution
 Cause-to-effect order
 Background before new information
 Simplest to most complex