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All About Writing: A Guide for Aspiring Young Writers

By Jessica Cisneros

Table of Contents:
Introduction

Its a Process

Prewriting
Drafting
Revising and Editing
Publishing

4
5
6
7

Genres

The Traits of Writing

The Writing Workshop

10

Why Write

11

References

12

Introduction
Writing is like any other subject, it is one that must be studied. Like
Math, Science, or Reading, sometimes things will be easy, and other
times they can be a little more difficult. Writing is something that
requires practice to do well, and not all of the components of writing are
mastered at the same speed. However, this must not deter an aspiring
author from seeking greatness as everything we know about good
writing can be taught. If it can be taught, it can be learned. This of
course means that there is a potentially great author in all of us.
Lucky for the reader who stumbles on this book, I have combined all of
the necessary ingredients for good writing in one easy to read format to
help give even the most novice writer a solid foundation in which he or
she may grow. Its important to realize that writing is a learning process
that takes time and effort. If done properly, the reward of good writing
far outweighs any struggle in reaching success. Enjoy!

Its a Process!
The writing process is more than just a fancy name writers use to describe their
effort. It is a formal guideline to help writers to create their works as efficiently as
possible (Tompkins, 2012).

The Writing Process

1. Prewriting
2. Drafting
3. Revising
4. Editing
5. Publishing

But what does it all mean? Its easier to break them apart and discuss them
individually.

Prewriting is when we make a plan for our writing. Typically this begins with a
topic and we must work to figure out what were going to say, who were going to
say it to, and how are we going to say it all. Although it sounds simple, it is so
important to develop these ideas thoroughly so there is no getting stuck needing
more later on in the process.

Luckily, there are many ways to accomplish this task and get started. Asking a few
questions is one way to get those thoughts rolling

What is my writing about?

Who will be reading this?
Why am I writing this?
Do I have all the information I need?
How will I present this information?

Using planning pages or outlines is a great way to get these ideas organized and on
paper for further use (Tompkins, 2012).

Drafting is when we take the ideas from our prewriting plans and actually put
them on paper. We call this a rough draft. It is not designed to be perfect at first;

its just to get your thoughts into paragraphs. We will have time to make improve
it later.

Its important to start with a solid beginning that will grab the readers interest. It
should have a logical middle that is the real substance of the writing, and an
ending that will satisfy that the writing is complete.

Revising is when we take our rough draft and look for ways to improve it. There
are several ways to improve a draft, but it is much easier to have peers to help look

for anything that may be unclear. Revising starts by proofreading the paper,
sharing it with a group, and making any changes to heighten the overall substance
of the paper.

Revising is easier when there is a focus for any changes. For example, first read
and fix any transitions that arent clear with a partner. Then re-read and make
changes with unclear wording, or sentences. Its easier to focus on one step at a
time rather than many steps all at once. Making these changes in centers or with
the help of a checklist is one way to complete this stage in the process.

Editing is like revising except instead of changing how the paper sounds, we are
improving how it looks. Editing is an opportunity to correct grammar, punctuation,
spelling, and capitalization errors. Proofreading marks are a simple way to help
with this task (Tompkins, 2012).

Publishing happens after we have gone through the entire process to make our
writing as good as possible and put all our changes neatly together for
presentation.

Publishing might mean submitting a final copy to a teacher, a publisher, or even

presenting the work to an audience (Tompkins, 2012).

Publishing is the final stage of the writing process. As you can see, it took a lot of
work to get to the final step. This process, once learned, is fluid and does not have
to go in a specific order. Good writers find ways to make it their own and still
make sure to accomplish every task.

Genre
Although the writing process is long to a new writer, it can be applied to every
genre in writing. The genres of writing usually include:

Personal Narratives A personal story about an event in life

Descriptive Writing Writing meant to paint a picture for the reader
Poetry Writing Writing poems
Narrative Writing Writing a story
Expository Writing - Writing to inform
Persuasive riting Writing topersuade

Deciding which genre is appropriate starts in the prewriting process. It is up to the

writer to decide what kind of writing he or she is trying to accomplish.

This process can be applied beyond writing as well for creating forms of media.
From games and movies to podcasts and YouTube videos, the process of planning,
drafting, revising, and editing is heavily present (Young, 2012, 76).

The Six Traits of Writing

How do we accomplish all the goals of the writing process? What are we looking
for in a good paper to be able to plan, draft, revise, and edit before publishing it?
In writing there are seven major traits that we use to make sure that we are writing
effectively, but we call them the Six Traits of Writing.
1. Ideas developed in the prewriting stage, these are the major ideas you
want to discuss in your work.
2. Organization developed in the drafting stage, although it does take
planning, organization is a way to emphasize your big ideas to make it clear
to the reader. This is often refined in the revision stage.
3. Voice the personality in your paper that is usually developed in your draft
and dependent on your audience from the prewriting stage.
4. Word Choice words chosen to convey a specific message in the draft and
often enhanced in revision centers focusing on this trait.
5. Sentence Fluency The way each sentence sounds alone and with
surrounding sentences, this is another important part of the draft that is
important in revision. The sentences should vary and be interesting.
6. Conventions Correct punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and grammar
that make the paper easy to read. Conventions are critically reviewed in the
editing stage.
7. Presentation the final copy of a work that has been revised, edited, and
carefully re-written to be the best display of the authors work for the
intended audience.
It is important to clearly address these traits during each stage of the writing
process. Altogether, these traits represent the writers craft (Tomkins, 2012).

The Writing Workshop

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Now that we have discussed all the critical elements of developing the writers
craft, we have to find a way to employ them.

The writing workshop has many moving parts.

Minilessons - Just like the writing process, the six traits of writing must be taught.
Reading about the process does not help us employ it in practice. There are various
ways we can learn about the process and the traits to guide our writing.
Explicit instruction is way that is taught directly. These traits can be taught
my being modeled first, then guided practice, and soon the writer can work
in groups or independently.
Mentor texts are texts that demonstrate the desired concept so that it can be
assimilated into our knowledge base for later use.

Collaboration is important. Allow a peer read any writing to check for clarity or
errors that may need revision.
Technology is an invaluable tool in the writing workshop. Research can be done in
the pre-writing stage while word processing can make the drafting stage smoother
as well as revision and editing. Publishing can be done using different forms of
software that best meet the needs of the author.
Independent work is the most important as it allows the writer to use what he or
she knows to create their work.

Why Write?

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To be prepared in the world around us, it is important to know how to write.

Although many people may not write professionally, we need to know how to
write in a professional setting. We write emails to co-workers, we write journal
entries at home, we write sick notes for our kids now or in the future. Writing is
here to stay, and technology is only making the need for good writing more
evident.
In the 21st century, we live in a world where we are competing on a global scale for
jobs, not just with our neighbors. In order to have an edge, we must be able to
conduct ourselves well in person and in our writing. Often the few times we speak
to a boss or important political figure are through email; we must know how to
communicate effectively in writing. This writing process is the starting point on
how to do these things well, and can be applied easily to almost any form of work
beyond writing that is requested.

References

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Tompkins, G. E. (2012). Teaching writing: Balancing process and product (6th ed.). Boston:
Pearson.

the

The writing process has clear and direct methods of teaching students how to write. Each
stage of the process has clear goals which can be completed with the help of various
strategies to guide the students. This process not only benefits students, but teachers as
well because just using mentor texts or modeling writing is not enough to demonstrate
complexities in writing. By lining out the process and working explicitly with each one,
leaving plenty of time for guided practice and scaffolded support, we can ensure that they
master the steps in writing to reach the eventual goal of independent writing.

Young, J. S. (2012). Linking learning: Connecting traditional and media literacies in 21st
century learning. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 4(1), 70-81.
In both new and traditional literacy, writers must go through the process of
brainstorming, gathering information, drafting, revising, re-drafting, and editing, which is
demanded by the CCSS. This study points out that students manipulating various
forms of media were very clearly using the writing process in their work. When crating
videos, they planned, made the videos, and then fixed parts as they went along before
finishing with their final published copy. This process occurs outside of writing, and
demonstrates that using technology applications outside of paper and pencil copies of
work can be a great motivator for learning, as students really take well to modern
technology, while still helping them through the process required for writing.