Writing Effective Paragraphs and Essays

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Writing Effective Paragraphs and Essays
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The Writing Process

• Universal process for any writing task
• Consists of 6 distinct steps
• Prewriting
• Drafting
• Revising
• Editing
• Proofreading
• Publishing

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Prewriting

• Everything you do before you start an actual
  paragraph
• Thinking, planning, listing, brainstorming, and
  organizing
• What will I write? What will I say?-- dont
  stress!
• Choose a topic that interests you, or one that
  you know a lot about
• NARROW YOUR TOPIC! This is KEY to successful
  writing.

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Narrowing Your Topic

• How can you tell if a topic is too broad, too
  narrow, or just right?
• A rule of thumb
• If you can break your topic into more than five
  subtopics, it may be too broad. Try choosing one
  of those subtopics as your topic.
• If you cannot break your topic into more than two
  subtopics, it may be too narrow already.

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For example...

• TOPIC ANIMALS
• Reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, insects,
  fish
• Six subtopics TOO BROAD

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Another example...

• TOPIC FIRE-BREATHING DRAGONS
• Origin, specific types...?
• Two subtopics Possibly too narrow

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Prewriting Strategies

• Some helpful strategies to get you started
• Brainstorming- Choose a word or topic, and write
  down everything that comes into your head
• Freewriting- Choose a word or phrase, write
  everything that comes to mind for 3-5 minutes
• Clustering/Webbing/Mapping- Write your topic,
  circle it, then, write down ideas related to the
  center word, circle them, and connect to your
  topic
• For more on prewriting strategies, use your
  textbook- pages 9-12

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Drafting

• Occurs when thoughts and ideas are put into
  sentences and paragraphs
• Outline- a plan for a piece of writing that tells
  its most important points
• Think about your audience and purpose
• Who will be reading your piece?
• Is your purpose to inform, entertain, narrate,
  persuade...or a combination of these?

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Drafting Strategies

• FOCUS. Find a quiet place, or your favorite
  place to work. Fight the urge to quit when you
  hit a rough spot.
• Plan Ahead. Once youve begun your draft, dont
  look at it for a day or so. The time apart from
  your work may give you new or more ideas.
• Think in Sentences. Express ideas in complete
  thoughts. Vary structure and length of your
  sentences.
• USE YOUR OWN VOICE. Dont strain to use fancy
  words or long sentences. Be yourself! Be simple
  and direct.
• Be Flexible -) Be prepared to return to earlier
  stages of the writing process.

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Revising

• Looking for ways to make your writing better
• Concentrating on the big issues--content,
  organization, and style
• Will tell you how well youve done so far, and
  what still needs to be accomplished

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Revising Strategies

• The Three-Step Strategy Read your piece three
  separate times, concentrating on something
  different each time
• STYLE-- Does your tone sound right? Do you sound
  appropriately formal or informal, subjective or
  objective?
• CONTENT-- Did you say enough? Does what you said
  make sense? Check that each paragraph has a main
  idea and enough supporting details. Look for
  places where you may have wandered off track- add
  or delete details?
• ORGANIZATION-- Is content presented in a logical
  order? Possibly cut or move paragraphs. Check
  verb tenses, voice and person.

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Use the ARMS

• A- Add. What, if anything, do you need to add to
  the paper to make if flow better?
• R- Remove- remove any unnecessary information
• M- Move- what information would go better in
  another spot. Make sure that all of your
  paragraphs are on the same topic.
• S- Start over. If your piece isnt working, start
  over

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Editing

• Reviewing your writing at the sentence level and
  evaluating your word choices.
• Once you are satisfied with the content and
  organization of your piece, check for these
  items
• SENTENCES- Complete and clear. Eliminate
  fragments and run-ons. Check for varied sentence
  structure.
• CORRECT WORDS- Subject/verb agreement?
  Pronouns/antecedents-do they agree? Have you used
  all words correctly?
• WORD CHOICE- Are your verbs precise? Are your
  comparisons and descriptions interesting?

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Peer Editing

• Getting the advice of another reader or small
  group can be invaluable.
• Peer Editing often takes place during revising
• Involves giving/getting feedback to/from a
  classmate
• Peer editors make specific suggestions for
  improving a paper and ask questions about
  anything that is unclear
• They also provide positive feedback, telling the
  writer what they like best about the piece
• For more information on Peer Editing, see pg.
  16 in the text

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Proofreading

• Searching for and correcting mistakes in
  spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
• This is a quick process with a big payoff many
  readers find small errors in spelling and
  punctuation extremely annoying and distracting,
  so knocking them out during this phase is
  beneficial.

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Proofreading Strategies

• Spelling Even if you used spellcheck, check
  again! When in doubt, check a dictionary!
• Capitalization When in doubt, check a
  dictionary!
• Punctuation Look at every punctuation mark,
  especially dialogue and quotations.
• Apostrophes Be sure to check that you have used
  them correctly in contractions and possessive
  nouns. Remember! No apostrophes in possessive
  pronouns

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Publishing

• Sharing or presenting what youve written
• There is more than one way to publish
• Read your writing aloud
• Email your work to a friend