The Writing Process

Learning to write is a developmental process. "The process approach to writing focuses upon the exploration and awareness of what writers actually do and what choices they make when they write" (Policy for English Language Arts, 1989, p. 23). A process approach to writing helps students to write as professional authors do, choosing their own topics and genres, and writing from their own experiences or observations. A writing process approach requires that teachers give students greater responsibility for, and ownership of, their own learning. Students make decisions about genre and choice of topics, and collaborate as they write.

Teachers who view writing as a process recognize the following:

• Writing is recursive in nature; the writer moves within the components as necessary, perhaps from pre-writing to drafting, then back to pre-writing again, then forward to editing and back to drafting before polishing a piece for sharing or publication. For some writers, drafting may occur during revision; for others, revision and editing may be naturally combined.

• Both the process and product of writing should be assessed and evaluated, allowing students and teachers to focus on and assess the learning that takes place during writing, rather than trying to ascertain what has been learned from the finished product only.

• The basic components of the writing process are similar from writer to writer, but each writer is unique and develops an individual writing process.

• Writing abilities are largely acquired by practice and frequent writing. While instruction may be required about some writing skills and knowledge, it must be conducted within the context of students' writing and should not be broken into isolated sub-skills, which are less likely to transfer to the students' writing. (It should also be kept in mind that many writers attribute their skill to frequent and varied reading.)

• Encouraging students to express their ideas and meaning in the form of whole "text" is preferable to focusing atomistically upon single, isolated parts of language.

• Creating meaning takes time and cannot be done on command.

• Although writing is a solitary activity for most writers, the social aspects of collaboration make writing groups appropriate for Middle Level students. However, for some students writing will always be private and solitary and teachers should be sensitive to this when planning group activities.

During the writing process, students engage in pre-writing, planning, drafting, and post-writing activities. However, as the writing process is recursive in nature, they do not necessarily engage in these activities in that order. The following describes the writing process:

Pre-writing: using pre-writing techniques to gather ideas

• brainstorm
  
• think/reflect
  
• talk/remember
  
• jot ideas/draw
  
• read/research
  
• observe/view

Planning: using structures to organize for writing

• outline
  
• map/diagram
  
• construct story frames
  
• consider purpose, audience, point of view, and format

Drafting: putting ideas down on paper; exploring new ideas during writing

• write rough drafts
  
• confer with peers and teacher
  
• revise for meaning (at the idea level)
  
• proofread and edit for mechanical and conventional accuracy

Post-writing

• polish for final draft
  
• share or publish
  
• select for portfolio assessment
  Assessing and Evaluating
  
• assess continuously throughout the process
  
• evaluate process and product

It is important for teachers to recognize that becoming an effective, independent writer takes time and practice. The chart on the following page presents one view of the stages through which writers travel as they progress from dependence to independence. Clearly, these stages are recursive rather than linear in nature, and students' performance levels may vary depending upon the type of writing task (e.g., students may create narrative with great independence, while being novices at writing expository material). As well, students arrive in the classroom at various levels in the developmental stages of writing, and it is the teacher's responsibility to assist students by encouraging, modelling, and supporting their growth when and where needed.

Pre-writing: A Place to Start

Pre-writing, the first stage in the writing process, begins long before the writer puts thoughts into writing. The experiences, observations, and interactions that students have prior to entering the classroom have an impact upon what they will write and how they will write it. Within the classroom, pre-writing prompts and activities can be integrated into the writing process by teachers as scaffolds to help students generate ideas for their writing and to practise the thinking skills inherent in the activity.

Developmental Stages of Writing: From Dependence to Independence

Stage 1 Novice Writer (unskilled, unaware, teacher-dependent writer)	has little, if any, individual style has little awareness of writing process has undeveloped skills and techniques seeks approval from teacher is reluctant to revise any writing believes good writing comes easily
Stage 2 Transitional Writer (transitional, self-involved, self-delineating writer)	needs support and coaching in order to develop learns from modelled behaviours is developing a degree of comfort with the craft is anxious to stand alone, yet is uncomfortable with peer collaboration is developing an awareness of personal needs, interests, and preoccupations
Stage 3 Willing Writer (peer-involved, willing writer)	is able to collaborate well with others requires external feedback to shape progress is able to profit from criticism is developing objectivity concerning work enjoys practising craft is developing a sensitivity to audience
Stage 4 Independent Writer (independent, autonomous writer)	makes highly objective self-assessments has developed a sophisticated personal style has developed a writer's voice takes risks and experiments is self-motivating and self-aware as a writer is a craftsperson

To initiate thinking and generate possible writing topics, it is important for students to explore ideas for writing topics using a variety of pre-writing strategies, such as the following:

• brainstorming
  
• constructing thought webs and graphic organizers
  
• interviewing a person knowledgable about the topic
  
• engaging in peer or teacher-student discussions and conferences
  
• listening to music
  
• reading about and researching the topic
  
• free writing or timed free writing about the topic
  
• viewing media such as pictures, movies, and television
  
• listing and categorizing information
  
• reflecting upon personal experience
  
• examining writing models
  
• responding to literature
  
• role playing and other drama techniques
  
• asking the 5 Ws--who, what, where, when and why.

Explain to students that writers use pre-writing ideas, such as the ones below, to help them explore topics about which to write. Teachers may want to post suggestions on the bulletin board for student reference. Students should be invited to add their own pre-writing strategies to ideas such as the following:

• brainstorming about people, places, and feelings. Write down or tell a partner the names of people you could describe, then quickly and briefly describe each one. Name several places you have visited and list descriptive words for each place. List and describe some memorable feelings you have had, and explain the situation in which they occurred.

• talking and listening in pairs or groups. Take turns telling about an interesting person, thing, incident, or object. Encourage the listeners to ask questions and add ideas. Record possible writing topics or ideas as they arise during the discussion.

• looking at art. Study paintings, photographs, drawings, or sculpture in magazines or art books. It may even be useful to take a trip to a local museum or art gallery. Jot down notes and questions about the artwork, the artist and the subject, and any topic ideas that come to mind during the observation. It may help to talk over your information and ideas with a partner or small group. Explain to a partner the stories in the art works.

• listening to music. Listen to music you like best or a variety of new and unfamiliar music. Listen to tape recordings or to the radio, closing your eyes and letting the music paint pictures in your mind. Record these images as you listen, or turn off the music and quickly record your ideas. It may be helpful to tell the story you have imagined to a partner or group.

• role playing. Pretend to be any character, ask peers to act as other characters, and dramatize an event or incident, and what happened as a result of that incident or event.

• observing, with all senses alert and engaged. Be aware of all that is happening around you, in the classroom, at home, in restaurants, in malls, and wherever you go. Listen closely to conversations of the people you observe, and try to capture the details of their manners and dress. Observe for issues, problems, or achievements in your community. Jot down ideas and notes as you observe them or as soon as possible after your observations.

• listing ideas and information. List such things as the activities that interest you, the sports you play, the clubs that you belong to, and the community and world issues that you know about from the media.

• reading such things as nonfiction books, novels, magazines, stories, newspapers, and poems. Jot down ideas that occur to you as you read and list questions you might investigate further. Keep track of interesting vocabulary, story plots, and characters.

• newspaper searches. Read the stories and captions that catch your interest. Jot down ideas for writing a newspaper article or ideas that can be developed into other kinds of writing.

• author visits. As the authors share their writing and discuss the craft of writing, students gain further understanding of the writing process and possibly get ideas for their own writing.

  Pre-writing prompts or activities planned by the teacher can serve as writing scaffolds for inexperienced writers who have difficulty accessing their own feelings, ideas, experiences, and knowledge. Teacher-planned pre-writing activities, such as the samples that follow, give students a place to start and make them aware of places from which to get ideas in the future. Students who have a place to start will be more motivated to continue developing their ideas and their own writing voices.

Sample Pre-writing Activity #1

Time allotment (5-10 minutes)

• Give each student any book or magazine to use (e.g., Readers' Digest, anthologies). The teacher should have a selection also, in order to model the process.
  
• Have students open their book or magazine at any page and choose a word at random--the first word that jumps off the page at them--and record this as Word #1; close the book. Continue this until each student has four words recorded.
  
• Students then focus for about one minute on each word separately, and list all their thoughts, ideas and associations that the word generates.
  
• Students then begin to make connections among the four words and their lists of personal associations by writing phrases, sentences, and ideas that demonstrate a relationship among the words.
  
• Students now have had a writing warm-up and may continue developing the ideas generated or bank these ideas for another day's writing.

Sample Pre-writing Activity #2

Time allotment (5-12 minutes)

• Teachers may request that students bring pictures of people, or the teacher may supply them (photographs or pictures clipped from magazines). Each picture should show several people in sufficient detail to reveal size, facial expression, dress, and other facets of character.
  
• Quickly walk the students through this activity, question by question, so they record the first thoughts and reactions that the pictures generate, rather than dwelling too long on one question. The teacher should ask students to examine their pictures closely, and explain that they will need to use their imagination for the activity. Some questions the teacher might ask are:
  • Who is the main character in the picture?
    
  • What is an appropriate name for this character?
    
  • How old is this character?
    
  • What emotions is this character showing in the picture? Describe the evidence that you have for this (e.g., facial expression, gestures).
    
  • What kind of work might the character do for a living? Give reasons to support your decision.
    
  • What might the person be thinking or saying? What makes you imagine this?
    
  • What other characteristics are revealed by the character's dress and stance?
    
  • What might have happened before the picture was taken? What might happen next?
    
  • How are the other characters in the picture related to the main character? What evidence makes you think so?
    
  • What is the attitude of the main character to the other characters? What is the attitude of the other characters to the main character? What are some possible reasons for these attitudes?
    
  • What might it be like to be the main character or one of the other characters?
  
  
• Instruct students to record ideas briefly, using phrases and words rather than sentences.

• Students then may take the opportunity to develop their ideas further, or save their notes and ideas for use at a later date.

Sample Pre-writing Activity #3

Time allotment (5-8 minutes)

• Prepare the students for free writing by explaining that they should write whatever thoughts enter their head from the moment that the teacher says "go" to the moment he/she says "stop", even if it means writing and rewriting, I don't know what to write. I don't know what to write. When the pen or pencil hits the paper it does not stop for pauses, erasures, or corrections. Eventually, most students begin to focus and the writing flows.
  
• Students then have the opportunity to develop these pre-writing ideas further or save them for another day.

Planning: Organizing for Drafting

After students have generated some ideas, they must decide what they will say about their chosen topic. Students develop an initial plan for the product they will compose. As they do so, they must consider the purpose, audience, point of view, and format because these elements have implications for both the planning and the drafting of the written product.

To develop an initial plan for drafting:

Using such structures as outlines, story frames, maps, diagrams, charts, and concept webs, students organize the information they have generated during pre-writing.

To consider purpose:

Writers write to express ideas, feelings, emotions, and opinions, and students must ask themselves, "What is my purpose for writing this piece?" Some purposes for student writing are:

• to express personal feelings or viewpoints
  
• to imagine "What if ...?"
  
• to narrate
  
• to entertain and/or amuse
  
• to describe
  
• to inform or explain
  
• to persuade or convince
  
• to request
  
• to inquire or question
  
• to explore and experiment with ideas and formats
  
• to clarify thinking.

To consider audience:

Writers must consider who they are writing for and students must ask themselves, "Who is my intended audience?" Some possible audiences are:

• familiar, known audiences: self, friends, peers, family, teachers
  
• extended, known audiences: community, student body, local media
  
• extended, unknown audiences: wider range of media and other publications

To consider point of view:

Writers must determine from which point of view their ideas or information will be expressed, so students need to ask themselves, "Who is telling this story/describing the events?" Some points of view for student consideration are:

• physical point of view: where is the narrator in relation to the action?
  
• objective and subjective point of view: what emotional involvement does the narrator have in relation to the situation?
  
• personal point of view: who is the narrator of the story? (The narrator may take a first person, third person, or an all-knowing omniscient point of view.)

To decide what information will be gathered and how it will most effectively be gathered:

Students who decide that they need to conduct interviews or go on field trips to gather information will need to brainstorm and construct a list of questions, while students who require library research will need to decide the types of resources and references to consult.

To consider format:

Students will use audience and purpose to determine format and genre. They will have the opportunity to write in a variety of narrative, descriptive, expository, and poetic formats such as:

• advertisement
  
• article
  
• advice column
  
• autobiography/biography
  
• ballad
  
• comic strip
  
• letter of complaint/request/inquiry
  
• campaign speech
  
• diary/journal
  
• readers theatre/role play/monologue
  
• book review
  
• report/essay
  
• fable/fairy tale
  
• greeting card
  
• game rules
  
• directions
  
• horoscope
  
• interview
  
• obituary/eulogy
  
• news article/editorial
  
• poem/song
  
• anecdote/personal experience story
  
• sports column
  
• short story
  
• research paper.

Drafting: A Time to Splurge

At this point in the process, the emphasis is on content and meaning rather than on mechanics and conventions. This is the time for writers to get down their ideas and thoughts, composing rough drafts based upon pre-writing and planning activities and considerations. As they compose, writers begin to determine what to include and exclude, and make initial decisions about how these ideas will be organized. During the drafting

stage of the writing process, meaning begins to evolve.

To produce a first, rough draft:

• Students record their ideas rapidly in order to capture the essence of what they have to say.
  
• Students make little or no attempt to revise or edit at this point.
  
• Students begin to develop a personal style as their voices emerge.
  
• Students focus on talking to the reader.

To write subsequent drafts:

• Redrafting is often accomplished by crossing out, adding, and rearranging ideas directly on the page, and does not necessarily require an entire rewrite at this time.
  
• Word processing programs enable students to add, delete, and rearrange portions of text efficiently.
  
• By reflecting upon their own writing, and through conferences with peers and the teacher, students get constructive feedback and support that help to shape their writing.

To revise the draft for content and clarity of meaning:

• Students will reorganize and sequence relevant ideas, and add or delete details as they strive to make their meaning clear.
  
• Revisions can take place to words, sentences, paragraphs, or the whole piece (e.g., the writer may decide that the ideas would have more impact as poetry instead of prose).
  
• Rereading and reflecting upon their own work helps students to clarify meaning.
  
• Writing conferences with the teacher and peers about ideas and meaning can assist revision.

To edit the draft for mechanical and conventional concerns that detract from and obscure meaning:

• Students proofread for accuracy and correctness in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and usage.
  
• Self-editing checklists are useful tools.
  
• Peer editing and editing partnerships or groups can be established to assist students who are at this stage in the process.

To focus purpose, audience, and point of view, and confirm appropriateness of format:

• These variables, which were considered during the planning stage, are confirmed and used to shape the draft.

To confer with peers and the teacher:

• Writing conferences are useful because they provide an immediate audience for trying out ideas.
  
• By reflecting upon their own work, and by having writing conferences with their peers and the teacher, students get constructive feedback and support that help to shape their writing.
  
• A set of questions or a checklist can be used to assist writers and conference partners as they strive to help the writer make meaning clear.

Some suggestions for scaffolds at the drafting stage include the following:

• Post the major stages of a writing process (pre-writing, planning, drafting, post-writing) and brief information about each so that students can determine where they are at any time in the process.

• Help students develop criteria or tips for writing a particular genre or format (e.g., haiku, short story, letter), then post these on a bulletin board or have students record them in their notebooks for reference as they write.

• Set up a section of the classroom as a writing reference area and make available language resources such as dictionaries, thesauri, and grammar and usage texts. Encourage students to use these as needed individually or with peers and the teacher.

• Encourage students to use word-processing programs. This may be done in co-operation with teachers of Computer Science, Information Processing, or other areas of study where computers are used.

Post-writing: Preparing To Go Public

When students have an authentic audience and purpose, they want to rework their written drafts, polishing them for presentation or publication. Going public means taking a huge risk; the student's self-esteem is on the line, so the decision about how and with whom to share their writing must be up to the student writer. Teachers may encourage students to share certain pieces or determine the number of pieces that students are required to share or publish within a set time period, but ultimately the decision about which pieces to share, and with whom, should be left up to the writer.

To prepare a final, polished draft:

Students may write in legible handwriting or use a word-processing program to prepare a polished written work.

To decide if and how the written work will be shared or published:

Sharing provides students with an immediate audience. Some examples include the author's chair, which provides opportunity for students to share their writing aloud with the whole class; sharing in small groups or with a partner; and using bulletin board space assigned to a specific genre or to a class of students. At times, students should be provided with opportunities to decide if they wish to share their written work, and whether they will share in pairs, in small groups, or with the whole class. Students may choose to publish their writing in such formats as:

• class booklets
  
• school or local newspapers
  
• yearbook
  
• writing contests
  
• magazines (e.g., Golden Taffy).

To decide if the written work will be placed in the student's assessment portfolio:

Teachers can negotiate with students to generate guidelines about the number and variety of pieces that they are required to place in their portfolio for assessment and evaluation purposes. Contracts may be useful to address individual student needs and abilities. Students should be involved in making choices about which of their written pieces will become part of their portfolios.

Some suggestions for post-writing scaffolds include the following:

• Discuss or develop with students criteria for polished pieces. Post these or provide them as handouts for students to refer to as needed.

• Provide opportunities for students to use computer word-processing programs to create final drafts.

• Have students share their final compositions with classmates or with others in the community, such as younger children or elderly people.

• Post or publish students' work in the classroom and provide opportunities, when appropriate, for students to submit to publishers outside the classroom.