Prewriting Strategies

Five Strategies
Pre-writing strategies use writing to generate and clarify ideas. There are several other
effective prewriting activities. We often call these prewriting strategies “brainstorming
techniques.” Five useful strategies are listing, clustering, freewriting, looping, and asking
the six journalists' questions. These strategies help you with both your invention and
organization of ideas, and they can aid you in developing topics for your writing.

Listing
Listing is a process of producing a lot of information within a short time by generating
some broad ideas and then building on those associations for more detail with a bullet
point list. Listing is particularly useful if your starting topic is very broad, and you need to
narrow it down.

 Jot down all the possible terms that emerge from the general topic you are working
on. This procedure works especially well if you work in a team. All team members
can generate ideas, with one member acting as scribe. Do not worry about editing or
throwing out what might not be a good idea. Simply write down as many
possibilities as you can.

 Group the items that you have listed according to arrangements that make sense to
you. Are things thematically related?

 Give each group a label. Now you have a narrower topic with possible points of
development.

 Write a sentence about the label you have given the group of ideas. Now you have a
topic sentence or possibly a thesis statement.
Clustering

Clustering is also called mind mapping or idea mapping. It is a strategy that allows you to
explore the relationships between ideas.

 Put the subject in the center of a page. Circle or underline it.

 As you think of other ideas, write them on the page surrounding the central idea.
Link the new ideas to the central circle with lines.

 As you think of ideas that relate to the new ideas, add to those in the same way.

The result will look like a web on your page. Locate clusters of interest to you, and use the
terms you attached to the key ideas as departure points for your paper.

Clustering is especially useful in determining the relationship between ideas. You will be
able to distinguish how the ideas fit together, especially where there is an abundance of
ideas. Clustering your ideas lets you see them visually in a different way, so that you can
more readily understand possible directions your paper may take.
Free-writing

Free-writing is a process of generating a lot of information by writing non-stop in full

sentences for a predetermined amount of time. It allows you to focus on a specific topic
but forces you to write so quickly that you are unable to edit any of your ideas.

 Free-write on the assignment or general topic for five to ten minutes non-stop. Force
yourself to continue writing even if nothing specific comes to mind (so you could end
up writing “I don’t know what to write about” over and over until an idea pops into
your head. This is okay; the important thing is that you do not stop writing). This
freewriting will include many ideas; at this point, generating ideas is what is
important, not the grammar or the spelling.

 After you have finished freewriting, look back over what you have written and
highlight the most prominent and interesting ideas; then you can begin all over
again, with a tighter focus (see looping). You will narrow your topic and, in the
process, you will generate several relevant points about the topic.
Looping

Looping is a free-writing technique that allows you to focus your ideas continually while
trying to discover a writing topic. After you free-write for the first time, identify a key
thought or idea in your writing, and begin to free-write again, with that idea as your
starting point. You will loop one 5-10 minute freewriting after another, so you have a
sequence of free-writings, each more specific than the last. The same rules that apply to
free-writing apply to looping: write quickly, do not edit, and do not stop.

Loop your free-writing as many times as necessary, circling another interesting topic,
idea, phrase, or sentence each time. When you have finished four or five rounds of
looping, you will begin to have specific information that indicates what you are thinking
about a particular topic. You may even have the basis for a tentative thesis or an
improved idea for an approach to your assignment when you have finished.
Journalists' Questions

Journalists traditionally ask six questions when they are writing assignments that are
broken down into five W's and one H: Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?,
and How? You can use these questions to explore the topic you are writing about for an
assignment. A key to using the journalists' questions is to make them flexible enough to
account for the specific details of your topic. For instance, if your topic is the rise and fall
of the Puget Sound tides and its effect on salmon spawning, you may have very little to say
about Who if your focus does not account for human involvement. On the other hand,
some topics may be heavy on the Who, especially if human involvement is a crucial part of
the topic.

The journalists' questions are a powerful way to develop a great deal of information about
a topic very quickly. Learning to ask the appropriate questions about a topic takes
practice, however. At times during writing an assignment, you may wish to go back and
ask the journalists' questions again to clarify important points that may be getting lost in
your planning and drafting.

Possible generic questions you can ask using the six journalists' questions follow:
 Who? Who are the participants? Who is affected? Who are the primary actors?
Who are the secondary actors?

 What? What is the topic? What is the significance of the topic? What is the basic
problem? What are the issues related to that problem?

 Where? Where does the activity take place? Where does the problem or issue have
its source? At what place is the cause or effect of the problem most visible?

 When? When is the issue most apparent? (in the past? present? future?) When did
the issue or problem develop? What historical forces helped shape the problem or
issue and at what point in time will the problem or issue culminate in a crisis? When
is action needed to address the issue or problem?

 Why? Why did the issue or problem arise? Why is it (your topic) an issue or
problem at all? Why did the issue or problem develop in the way that it did?

 How? How is the issue or problem significant? How can it be addressed? How does
it affect the participants? How can the issue or problem be resolved?
 Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a method of generating ideas. It involves two steps: generating ideas and
selecting useful ideas. Brainstorming can be done by individuals to prepare for writing
and by groups to solve problems. Writers use brainstorming to generate ideas to write
about.

Brainstorming is a creative problem-solving technique where individuals or groups

generate a multitude of ideas to address a specific issue or challenge. This method
encourages open thinking and the free flow of ideas, promoting innovative solutions and
collaboration. Brainstorming sessions can be highly effective in various settings, from
business meetings to classroom activities, as they help unlock creativity and allow
participants to explore different perspectives. In this article, we will delve into what
brainstorming is, its benefits, and how to conduct an effective brainstorming session to
maximize productivity and creativity.

Brainstorming is a method used to solve problems and generate innovative ideas through
creative thinking. This technique involves bringing together individuals or groups to
generate a wide range of solutions or new concepts that can help a brand or project stand
out. By encouraging open and unrestricted thinking, brainstorming creates an
environment where new and creative ideas can emerge and be explored.

During a brainstorming session, participants are encouraged to think freely and propose
any idea that comes to mind, without fear of criticism or judgment. This approach helps
in uncovering unique solutions that might not be immediately obvious. Typically,
brainstorming is conducted in a team setting to leverage the diverse perspectives and ideas
of different participants. However, it can also be effectively done by an individual.

Importance
Creates Unique Identity:
Brainstorming helps brands develop a distinct identity that sets them apart from
competitors, giving them a competitive advantage.

Effective Problem-Solving:

When a problem is too challenging for an individual, a team can combine their unique
perspectives to find the best solution.

Encourages Diverse Approaches:

The flexibility of brainstorming allows for various approaches and ideas, leading to
innovative and unique solutions.

Enhances Team Collaboration:

Fosters teamwork and collective thinking, improving overall team dynamics and
productivity.

Promotes Innovation:

Encourages out-of-the-box thinking, driving fresh and creative ideas that can propel the
brand forward.

Improves Decision Making:

By considering multiple viewpoints, brainstorming helps in making more informed and

well-rounded decisions.

Boosts Engagement:

Engages team members by valuing their input and ideas, leading to higher morale and
motivation.

Increases Efficiency:

Rapid idea generation during brainstorming sessions saves time and accelerates the
problem-solving process.
Use of Brainstorming

To run a successful brainstorming session, follow these steps:

Step 1. Prepare

 Clearly define the problem or topic you're brainstorming about.

 If applicable, gather a diverse group of participants to enhance the variety of ideas.

 Set a comfortable environment to encourage free thinking.

Step 2. Generate Ideas

 Encourage open and unrestricted sharing of ideas, emphasizing quantity over

quality.

 Use techniques like free association, mind mapping, or listing to facilitate idea
generation.

 Ensure all ideas are recorded visibly for everyone involved to see.

Step 3. Review and Select

 After generating a wide range of ideas, review them to identify the most promising
ones.

 Evaluate these based on criteria like feasibility, impact, and resources required.

 Develop an action plan for implementing the selected ideas.

Brainstorming Techniques

Here are some important brainstorming techniques commonly used to generate creative
solutions:

1. Random Brainstorming
This method involves using ideas that come up first when the problem is presented. These
are spontaneous thoughts that occur without much deliberation. The first words or ideas
that come to mind can sometimes lead to unique combinations and optimal solutions.

2. Reverse Brainstorming

In this method, the focus is on the end goal rather than the problem itself. The team
considers the outcome and tries to predict future possibilities. This helps identify potential
problems and outcomes, allowing the team to avoid specific obstacles and improve the
overall process.

3. Rapid Ideation

Here, everyone in the team writes down his first thoughts privately. Unlike random
brainstorming, where ideas are spoken aloud, this method ensures that each member has
the privacy to jot down their thoughts, leading to more unique and creative solutions. This
can provide multiple perspectives on the problem.

4. SCAMPER Brainstorming

SCAMPER stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate,
and Reverse. This technique involves looking at a problem from various angles to generate
a variety of ideas. Each idea is tested and refined through a series of questions, resulting in
a well-rounded solution.

5. Star bursting Brainstorming

In this technique, team members ask questions instead of presenting ideas. This helps in
identifying potential issues and exploring different perspectives. By breaking down the
problem into multiple questions, it provides a step-by-step solution and a thorough
understanding of the problem.

Benefits of Brainstorming
Brainstorming offers numerous advantages, making it a valuable tool for problem-solving
and idea generation. Here are some key benefits:

 Different Perspectives: Brainstorming sessions allow team members to provide

various viewpoints on a problem. Using different brainstorming techniques can
bring in innovative ideas and help the team look at the problem from multiple
angles.

 Increases Creativity: Encouraging open and unrestricted idea generation helps

bring out creativity in team members. With no predetermined process to follow,
each participant can create unique approaches to the problem, fostering a highly
creative environment.

 Team Collaboration: Brainstorming promotes collaboration among team members.

Working together on a problem helps reveal each member's strengths and
weaknesses, improving teamwork and understanding of each other's thinking
processes for future sessions.

 Enhanced Problem-Solving: By combining different ideas and approaches,

brainstorming leads to more effective problem-solving. The collaborative effort
results in well-rounded solutions that might not be achievable individually.

 Boosts Engagement: Brainstorming engages team members by valuing their input

and ideas. This leads to higher morale, motivation, and a sense of ownership over
the project's outcomes.

 Encourages Risk-Taking: In a brainstorming session, participants feel free to

suggest bold and unconventional ideas without fear of criticism. This openness
encourages risk-taking and exploration of novel solutions.

 Accelerates Decision Making: By quickly generating a wide range of ideas,

brainstorming speeds up the decision-making process. Teams can evaluate and
select the best ideas efficiently, saving time in the long run.
  Improves Communication: Brainstorming sessions facilitate better
communication among team members. Sharing ideas and discussing potential
solutions enhances overall communication skills and fosters a collaborative work
environment.

Conclusion
Brainstorming involves thinking about different solutions which can help in solving
problems and coming up with new innovative ideas that can help the brand.

Different Types of Brainstorming methods can be used to tackle a problem which can help
to come up with the best and most optimal solution for a problem. It helps build
teamwork between members and increase creativity. Different ideas should be considered
and worked on.
 Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is a powerful technique to help you visually develop and organize ideas
and information. Let’s take a look at what mind mapping is and how you can use it.

What is Mind Mapping?

Mind maps provide a structured way to capture and organize ideas and information. They
help users to understand concepts by breaking them down into their component parts.
The technique is used to develop new ideas, or to break down and better understand
existing information.

Whether developing new ideas or organizing existing information, mind maps help you
see how information fits together. Mind maps provide an expansive and flexible structure
to support your thinking.
Characteristics of Mind Maps
Single Central Topic

Unlike other visual diagrams, a mind map is built around a single central topic. All the
information on your map is “anchored” to the same start point. By placing the main idea
at the center, it’s easier for others to understand the core focus of the mind map.

Expansive Tree Structure

Tree-like branches make up a mind map. They can expand and grow as you develop your
ideas. Each branch shows information organized as topics and subtopics, based on
categorizations and connections identified by the map creator. The result is a structured
hierarchy of information at all levels of the mind map.

Keyword Focused

Keywords, rather than long sentences or blocks of text, make up a mind map. Topics on a
map branch often include one or two words that best represent an idea or piece of
information. This makes it easier for readers to scan the information presented without
having to read an excessive amount of text.
Whether you’re mapping by hand or using a mind mapping software tool, there are
three key ways mind mapping helps develop and organize ideas and information:

Simplification

Mind maps help to simplify any information on a page because they are composed of
keywords (rather than long sentences). Distilling knowledge into keywords and short
triggers creates a structured visual summary that is easier and faster to process.

Categorization
A mind map structure helps you to categorize and sub-categorize information in a way
that makes it easier to understand and navigate. Categorization helps our brains to make
sense of complexity. And mind maps provide a hierarchical category structure that helps
us navigate information more easily. It’s like moving around the aisles in a supermarket
to find the particular product we need.

Contextualization

The tree-structure of a mind map means that every piece of information connects to at
least one other piece of information. Connections include a higher level (parent) topic, and
potentially the same level (siblings) topics, or lower-level (child) topics.

Every item has context because of what it is attached to, and what connects to it. With
mind maps, the information doesn’t exist in isolation. You can see how ideas and
information relate to each other more clearly.

Mind mapping is used by people in business, education, government, the charity sector,
and at home.
In business, people use mind mapping for project planning, strategic thinking, and
managing meetings. Mind mapping software helps teams to develop their ideas more
collaboratively. Online mapping allows people to build off each other’s ideas and develop
a shared understanding of a situation. It can also break down complex projects into more
manageable parts.

In education, students of all ages use mind maps for note taking, summarizing subject
information, and planning written assignments. Educators are using mind maps for lesson
planning, innovative homework assignments, and group exercises in the classroom.

Outside of these fields, many individuals use mind maps to help with their organization
and future planning. People often use mind maps to plan their weeks, their goals, and
their careers.
 Listing
Listing is a prewriting strategy in which the writer develops a list of words and phrases,
images and ideas. The list may be ordered or unordered. Listing can help
overcome writer's block and lead to the discovery, focusing, and development of a topic.

Listing is probably the simplest prewriting strategy and is usually the first method writers
use to generate ideas. Listing means exactly what the name implies—listing your ideas and
experiences.

Generating ideas on a topic through freewriting, brainstorming, and creating questions

has a purposeful messiness to it. It is the time to let your creativity run riot and to push
your thinking in new and sometimes unexpected directions. Once you have generated a lot
of material on your topic, however, it is time to take stock and begin to narrow down and
organize your ideas as you move towards writing a focused essay. Listing helps you
to select certain ideas and organize them by grouping related concepts together. This is
the most informal kind of outline in which you jot down your main supporting points and
possible evidence and analysis. This kind of outline is for you only, and you don’t need to
worry about making it more comprehensive if it does the job for you. Many students find
this kind of outline helpful in taking timed essay exams because it is brief, and it doesn’t
take much time to produce.

IMPORTANCE

When you are just beginning to write an essay, rather than making a formal outline, you
can make a list. A list is a very user-friendly technique because you don’t yet need to craft
full sentences but instead select your most promising ideas and start to look for
connections between them. Listing is important because it takes all the free-form ideas you
generated and helps you to see how you could narrow and focus the material to present a
convincing, logical argument.
METHOD

Start with a blank piece of paper or computer screen. Stay focused by keeping your essay
assignment and/or the annotated text you are analyzing next to you. Begin making a list of
everything you think you would like to write about to fulfill the assignment or to respond
to in the text. Use keywords or phrases; it’s not necessary to write in complete sentences
when listing. Using a bullet-list format is helpful.

Once you have made your list, go back and organize it into logical units; for example, you
can use a numbering system to indicate what you want to include in your introductory
paragraph, your body paragraphs and your conclusion. Arrange the ideas in the body
paragraphs into a logical order. To illustrate your body paragraph points, you can add
quotes, examples, or information to further research. You may find it useful to make a
second, more detailed list or you may decide to turn your list, once it is full enough, into
an outline.

 Listing helps you see what you already know about your topic.

 Listing identifies gaps in your knowledge that you should research later.

 Listing can help generate subtopics. These subtopics can expand or narrow your
topic.

 Listing is more structured than just freewriting. The points are not ordered, but
they are separated from each other.

 Listing helps you get your ideas out quickly on the page, which can then allow you
to focus on other aspects of your paper, or start to see relationships between the
points you’ve written out.

Outlining
Outlining is a focused prewriting and visualization technique that helps writers organize
their ideas for an essay to meet a word count requirement, to decide which evidence and
appeals will best suit their purpose and audience, and keep arguments and
counterarguments focused on the main idea.

An outline is a tool for planning your essay's organization and content. map of your essay.
It helps you see the structure your essay will take, including the relationship between its
different kinds of content and how you will order that content. Most outlines use numbers
and/or bullet points to arrange information and convey points.

Why create an outline?

Creating an outline can help you organize your ideas, visualize your paper’s potential
structure, and further flesh out and develop your points. It allows you to understand how
you will connect information to support your thesis statement and the claims. An outline
provides you with a space to consider ideas easily without needing to write complete
paragraphs or sentences.

Creating your outline:

Before beginning an outline, it is useful to have a clear thesis statement or clear purpose
or argument, as everything else in the outline is going to work to support the thesis. Note:
the outline might help inform the thesis, and therefore your thesis might change or
develop within the outlining process.

Organize your outline in whatever format fits into the structure needed for the type of
paper you are writing. One common outline format uses Roman numerals, letters, and
numbers. Other outlines can use bullet points or other symbols. You can use whatever
organizational patterns work best for you and your paper, as long as you understand your
own organizational tools. Outlines can be written using complete sentences or fragments
or a mix of the two.
Remember! After creating your outline, you may decide to reorganize your ideas by
putting them in a different order. Furthermore, as you are writing you might make some
discoveries and can, of course, always adjust or deviate from the outline as needed.

Sample Outlines:

As you can see in the outline below, the writer chose to separate the outline by topics, but
could have utilized a different structure, organizing the outline by separate paragraphs,
indicating what each paragraph will do or say.

Example 1:

I. Introduction
A. Background information
B. Thesis

II. Reason 1
A. Use quotes from x
B. Use evidence from y

III. Reason 2
A. Counterargument
1. They might say…
2. But…

IV. Conclusion
A. Connect back to thesis
B. Answer the “so what” or “what now” question
C. End on a memorable note

Note: The sample outline above illustrates the structure of an outline, but it is quite vague.
Your outline should be as specific as possible.

Proposal Outline:
 I. Summary/ Synopsis of proposed project
• Rationale
• Specific aims and objectives
• Experimental approaches to be used
• The potential significance

II. Specific Aims

•X
•Y
•Z

III. Background and Significance

• Background
• Significance to current project
• Significance to long-term research objectives
• Critical evaluations of existing knowledge
• Forward progress

IV. Preliminary Data

• Description of prelim data to justify the rationale
• Demonstrate feasibility of the project

V. Experimental Design and Methods

• Details of design and procedures
• Protocols
• Means of data analysis and interpretation
• New methodology and its advantages
• Potential technical difficulties or limitations/ alternative approaches

VI. References
• Citations
Note: Outlines can look quite different. You might use Roman numerals to indicate the
main point or function of that section, and then letters to indicate separate sub-points, and
then even bullet points or numbers to indicate specific information, like using certain
quotes, sources, evidence, or examples.

Questioning
Questioning is an important writing technique that can be used to gather more details
about a specific situation. Here are some questioning techniques:

Closed questions: generally invite a one-word answer, such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

 Open questions: require a little more thought and generally encourage wider
discussion and elaboration.
 Probing questions: ask for specific details.
 Leading questions: suggest a particular answer.
 Loaded questions: contain an assumption that is likely to be disagreed with.
 Funnel questions: start with broad questions and then narrow down to specific
details.
 Recall and process questions: ask about past experiences or how something was
done.
questioning is a five-step process which allows you to:

 recognize the richness and diversity of your subject (exploration);

 gather as much information as possible about this aspect (discovery);
 make some sense out of the body of information you’ve assembled (classification);
 determine what you want to say to the reader, and the order in which you want to
say it (selecting and ordering).