1 Pre-Writing: Getti ng Read y to Write

In this unit, yo u will learn how to ...

• choose and narrow a topic.
• gather ideas.
• edit ideas.

:) What is pre-writing?
Befare you begin writing, you decide what you
are going to write about. Then you plan what
you are going to write. This process is called
pre-writing.

---·----

Choosing and narrowing a topic

:) How to choose a topic for a paragraph
A paragraph is a group of five to ten sentences that give infarmatio n about a tapie.
Befare you write , you must choose a tapie far your paragraph.
• Choose a tapie that isn't too narrow (limited, brief). A narrow tapie will not have
enough ideas to write about. The ages of my brothers and sisters is too narrow. You
can't write very much about it.
• Choose a tapie that isn't too broad (general). A broad tapie will have too many ideas
for just one paragraph. Most paragraphs are five to ten sentences long. Schools is too
general. There are thousands of things you could say about it.
A student could narrow this tapie by choosing one aspect of schools to discuss.
schools ~ secondary schools in my country
popular school clubs
university entrance exams

Choose three topics from this list. Narrow each of the three down to a paragraph
topic. Then compare with a partner.
a. festivals
b. friends
c. my country
d. dancing
e. cars

PRE-WRITING: GETTING READYTO WRITE 5

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Brainstorming
:) What is brainstorming?
Brainstorming is a way of gathering ideas about a
tapie. Think of a storm: thousands of drops of
rain, all coming down together. Now, imagine
thousands of ideas 'raining' down onto your
paper! When you brainstorm, write down every
idea that comes to you. Don't worry now about
whether the ideas are good or silly, useful or not.
You can decide that later. Right now, you are
gathering as many ideas as you can.
You will learn three types of brainstorming in this
unit: making a list, freewriting , and mapping.

:) Making a list
Write single words , phrases , or sentences that are connected to your tapie. Look at this
lista student made when brainstorming ideas to write about her tapie , 'What should I
study at university?'

history-learning about the past

maths (too dífficult, not ínterestíng'?)
What job do \ want later?
English for work'? Travel'?
writing?
scíence-bíology, chemístry
\ don't like physícs!
journalism
¡ like reading-literature?
art-drawing, painting, sculpture
photography'?
studying / homework
friends / social life

2 Work with a partner or small group. Choose one of these topics. List as many ideas as
you can in five minutes.
a. teenage fashions
b. things to do at the beach
c. driving a motorbike

3 Work alone. Choose a topic from exercise 1 on page 5, and listas many ideas as you
can in five minutes.

6 PRE-WRITING: GETTING READYTOWRITE

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:) Freewritin g
When you freewrite, you write whatever comes into your h ead about your tapie, without
stopping. Most freewriting exercises are short- just five or ten minutes.
Freewritin g helps you practice fluency (writing quickly and easily). When you freewrite ,
you do not need to worry about accuracy (having correct grammar and spelling). Don't
check your dictionary when you freewrite. Don't stop if you make a mistake. Just keep
writing!
Here is an example of a student's freewriting :

There are ft:tt:J so many suh¡ects to study at universdy, d is dtffecult to choose one.
!'ve always hael!!ººel marks tÍ1 maths, but / elon't like d very much. / elon't !t"ke
p/.ry~i~Ifhysics or any sctence very much. Wrdil1!J- l've always !t"keel wriftÍ1!J. WouM
/ournaksm be a!!ººel course to take? NewsfafeYs have fidures, too, so maybe
thoto!fYafhJ wouM be!fººd !'m mztybe ele(inttely looktÍ1!f (orwarel to medtÍ1!f new
(nenels at umºversi-fy Anel what about reatÍtÍ1!J? ReatÍtÍ1!f is a fªrl o(any course, but
!t"terature tnclueles a loto(reatÍtÍ1!f anel it f robably tnclueles a loto( writil1!J, too.

Notice how the writer's ideas jump around.

When she makes a mistake , she just crosses
it out and continues writing. One thought
(writing) leads to another (journalism) , and
then to another (photography). There are
sorne details that are not exactly about her
tapie (looking forward to meeting new
friends), but that's OK in freewriting . You
want to get as many ideas on paper as you ----:::::::::-
can. You can take out unnecessa ry words ~
and sentences later. ------- h J.

;-- -r
4 Choose one of the narrowed down topics you thought of for exercise 1 on page 5.
Practise freewriting for five minutes. Remember, do not stop, erase, or go back. Just
write as much as you can.

PRE-WRITING: GETTING READYTOWRITE 7

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~ Mapping
To make a map , use a whole sheet of paper, and write your tapie in the middle, with a
circle around it. Then put the n ext idea in a circle above or below your tapie, and
con nect the circles with lines. Th e lines sh ow that the two ideas are related.
Th e example below shows a map of 'What sh ould I study at university? ' The writer
connected favourite subjects to the main idea. Art and English are connected to favourite
subjects to sh ow that th ey are related .

Become a the past

tea eher?

too mu ch read ing?

favourite
s ubject s

scu lpture

biology

good subjects
for j obs least favourite
s ubjects

good money

boring? experiments

5 Choose another narrowed down topic you thought of for exercise 1 on page 5. Make a
map in five minutes. Share your map with a partner. Explain how the circles are
related to each other.

~ What's the best way to brainstorm?

There is n o best method of brain storming. Sorne writers like to use lists because they
don't have to write complete senten ces. Sorne writers like freewriting because they can
write quickly and ideas come easily. Sorne writers prefer mapping because they can easily
see the relationship between ideas. Experiment with all three methods, and then choose
the on e that works best far you.

8 PRE-WRITING : GETTING READYTOWRITE

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Editing
:) How to edit
After you have gathered plenty of ideas, you will need to go back and edit them. This is
the time to choose which ideas are the most interesting, and which are the most relevant
to (important or necessary for) your tapie. Of course, you can still add new ideas if you
think of something else while you are re-reading your list. For example, the student
writing 'What should I study in college?' edited her list like this:

history-learning about the pas~ . . e.

l'9'1!5lt.!<1s (tea óli#icult, 1'1Gt i1'1taf6st11'11~f?)
Not mterestmg to m
What job do 1 want later? Describe more.
English for work? íravel?
writing? lmportant in many subjects.
sciai'1ca 15'ielet'.JJ', cl'1al'9'1istry
d . 1
1 óle1'1't lika ~l'1J'sics! I don't want to stu y sc1ence.
journalism
¡ like reading-literatu re?
art-drawing, painting, sculpture
photography?
studying ¡ homework What about it?
friai'1ó!S / 580 ¡13 ¡ lifo Not related.

To edit freewriting, cross out

sentences or parts of sentences
that aren't related. You can
add more ideas in the margin
or add more sentences at the
bottom. To edit a map , cross good subjects
far jobs
out circles that don 't belong,
and add new ones if you get
more ideas. You might also
change the lines you have
drawn.

6 Look at the list you made in exercise 3 on page 6, the freewriting you did in exercise 4
on page 7, or the map you made in exercise 5 on page 8. Edit your brainstorming. Show
your work to a partner. Explain how you edited your brainstorming.

PRE-WRITING: GETTING READYTOWRITE 9

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Review
7 Complete the crossword puzzle.
7.

2. 3. 5.

l.

9.

8.

4.

6.

Each paragraph has only one tapie. If the tapie is too l. n_, you will not be able to
write enough about it. On the other hand, if the tapie is too 2 · b_, you will have too
many ideas far just one paragraph.
After you choose a tapie , you will need to 3 · b_ sorne ideas to write about in your
paragraph. One way to do this is to make a 4 · l_. Another way of brainstorming is
5 · m_ . After you h ave written down many ideas , you can go back and decide which

ones are the most interesting and the most 6 · r_ to your tapie.
F_ is a useful way to help you write more easily and naturally. In this kind of
7·

writing, you are working on 8 · f_, and not 9 · a_.

8 Look again at the note about brainstorming at the bottom of page 8. Brainstorm a list
of pros (good things) and cons (bad things) about each of the three methods of
brainstorming.

10 PRE-WRITING: GETTING READYTOWRITE