Prewriting and Revising

Successful writers, however, do not simply sit down and immediately write a good paragraph, letter, or longer essay. Instead, they use one or more prewriting techniques to get started. Successful writers also realize that after they have used one or more of those techniques to generate a piece of writing, they are not finished. They know that the only way to produce a piece of writing they can be proud of is to revise their first draft. This section discusses the two processes that come before and after writing the first draft; prewriting techniques and revising.

prewriting

Not every writer is the same. Some of the techniques discussed in this section will work better for you than others, and one might work better than another for a particular topic. It is important to try all techniques and then use the ones that give you the most ideas. Think of these techniques as keys to help you unlock ideas, memories, and feelings that can lead to a good piece of writing.

FREEWRITING

This is informal, personal writing in which the writer begins writing and keeps writing in order to capture thoughts and generate ideas. The key is to keep the pen or pencil moving steadily over the paper without pausing. The writer should continue long enough that the obvious thoughts are recorded and the brain has to “push” for new material. Trust this method. It has a wonderful ability to help you overcome worries about writing and to get your ideas flowing onto paper

the process;

Give yourself a time limit. Write for one or ten or twenty minutes, and then stop.

Keep your hand moving until the time is up. Do not pause to stare into space or to read what you've written. Write quickly but not in a hurry.

Pay no attention to grammar, spelling, punctuation, neatness, or style. Nobody else needs to read what you produce here. The correctness and quality of what you write do not matter; the act of writing does.

If you get off the topic or run out of ideas, keep writing anyway. If necessary, write nonsense or whatever comes into your head, or simply scribble: anything to keep the hand moving.

If you feel bored or uncomfortable as you're writing, ask yourself what's bothering you and write about that.

When the time is up, look over what you've written, and mark passages that contain ideas or phrases that might be worth keeping or elaborating on in a subsequent free-writing session.

let's take an example

Topic: Describe the most beautiful place you've seen

I remember climbing to the top of Smolenskii cathedral in autumn, the leaves of ST. Petersburg on fire, like an ocean of gold red leaving me breathless with its depth. Stretching out for miles and miles it was all I could see and suddenly the grime and sorrow of the city were drowned with beauty. God's love for everyone, his artistic touch meant just for me at this moment.

BRAINSTORMING

Brainstorming requires high energy for a short amount of time perhaps only five or six minutes. the purpose of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible so that you have something to work to choose from. select a topic; then write down everything that comes into your mind about that topic: words, phrases, ideas, and items, write it down anyway. Work quickly.

let's take an example

After you have finished brainstorming, read over your list; underline interesting ideas that you might develop further.

NOTE:

brainstorming simply means write any idea comes in your mind about a topic. Imagine yourself as a police inspector. He gathers many clues and signs, and he only picks the most important.

CLUSTERING

Clustering, sometimes called visual mapping, is another way to get ideas onto paper. To begin clustering, simply write an idea or a topic, a word, or a short phrase in the center of a piece of paper. Then let your mind make associations, and write these associations branching out from the center. When one idea suggests other ideas, details, and examples, write them around it in a cluster. After you finish, select the cluster that most interests you.

PRISM THINKING '' CUBING''

This prewriting technique asks you to look at one topic many different points of view. It is sometimes called cubing because one can imagine a cube having six different sides, A prism is an even better metaphor for this technique because it allows an unlimited number or points of view, not just six. A prism is one of many flat surfaces created when a jewel is made ready for wear.

Here are some points of view you can use. Not everyone will fit every topic, but you can use most, if not all of eleven points of view listed below as you approach each topic you plan to write about.

1-DESCRIBE-- what does it look like? feel like? Record the textures, sounds, shapes. Look at it from a new perspective '' above, below..''

2-ANALYZE-- how is it put together? if you took it apart, piece by piece, what would you have at the end? if your topic is something material, such as a library, you can easily use this point of view. But you can also use it for more abstract topics. For instance, what are the different parts of the problem of unemployment in Egypt?

3- COMPARE AND CONTRAST-- what is it similar to ? what is it different from?

4-APPLY-- what can use it for? what can you do with it?

5-ASSOCIATE-- what does it make you think of? does it bring certain people, places things, or ideas to mind?

6-ARGUE- is it a good thing? A bad thing? something in between? what do many people think about it? what is your strongest opinion about it? In what way could it be controversial? why do you feel as you do?

7- TEEL A STORY

8- CAUSE\EFFECT-what causes produce it? what effects does it have on people or events?

9-CLASIFFY - what group does it belong to?

10-PAST\FUTURE-- is your subject different now does it was ten, twenty, or a hundred years ago? Why? How might it change in the future?

11-DEFINE - What are its characteristics? What is it not? Give examples

REVISING

No matter how pleased you may be with a first draft, it can be improved. No one knows this better than professional writers. Here are some of their comments.

''I rewrote the ending of A Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied'' ERNEST HEMINGWAY

''I do not think any author can be satisfied with his work. If he were, there'd be nothing lift for him to do but cut his throat''
WILLIAM FAULKNER

''Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what one is saying'' JHON UPDIKE

the last act of writing must be to become one's own reader. it is, I suppose, a schizophrenic process. To begin passionately and to end critically, to begin passionately and to end critically, to begin hot and to end cold; and, more important, to try to be passion-hot and critic-cold at the same time'' . JHON CIARDI

THE PROCESS OF REVISING

when you revise, you rethink and rewrite your first draft and then make whatever changes, additions, or corrections are necessary to improve the paragraph. You might cross out and rewrite words or entire sentences. You might add, delete, or rearrange details.

As you revise, keep your reader in mind. Ask yourself these questions:

Is my topic sentence clear?
Can a reader understand and follow my ideas?
Does the paragraph follow a logical order and guide the reader from the point to point?
Will the paragraph keep the reader interested?
Is there a good tone ( serious, humorous, etc.)?
Have I provided enough support for my ideas?
Is my paragraph unified?
Are my sentences not only correct but also grateful, with good sentence variety?
Have I selected the most precise words?
Are visual details such as indenting, spelling, and punctuation correct?

To sum up, your ideas are important; give them the best possible presentation. Prewriting and revising techniques could help you to build a good piece of writing. Prewriting comes before you start writing. it gives you the ability to gather information about your topic and choose the best one. Revising is a process coming after writing your last draft. it is the perfect method to scan and survey your last sample; Is it good or not? Are there any spelling errors should correct?...etc

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Prewriting and Revising