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References:
  • Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
  • Columbia University's Guide to Copyright Law
  • Grolier Encyclopedia
  • Roget's Thesaurus
  • Webster's Dictionary
  • Letter writing rules
  • Research papers
    • Stages of the Writing Process


    PREWRITING - plan your writing.
    Choose a topic to write about.

    Ways to find a topic: ask "what it" questions, reflect on personal experiences, browse in a library, talk to people, freewrite, make a cluster chart, brainstorm
    Ask who, what, when, where, why, and how about possible topics
    Break possible topics into parts (weather, for example, can be broken down into clouds, forecasting, temperature, etc.)
    Who is your audience?

    Decide who you are writing for -- yourself, a friend, teacher, parent, neighbor?
    How much background information do you need to provide?
    How much does the audience already know about this subject?
    What can I do at the beginning of my writing to capture my audience's attention and interest?
    Are there any words, phrases or ideas in my writing that my audience will not understand?
    Will I have to provide explanations?
    What is your purpose or goal?

    Expressive writing is your own thoughts and feelings on paper.
    Most common forms for expressive writing are diaries and journals.

    Informative writing is communicating facts.
    News reports, memos, scientific and technical reports, essays and reports for school, directions, recipes and encyclopedia articles are informative.

    Persuasive writing is to convince others to believe or to do something.
    Common types of persuasive writing include editorials, sales letters, advertising copy, and political speeches.
    Persuasive writing requires solid reasons (support positions with facts) to convince readers.

    Creative writing attempts to amuse, thrill, delight, anger or scare the reader.
    It is imaginative, entertaining.
    It can take many forms: stories, poems, novels, cartoons, plays, or letters.
    Asking "what if" questions can get your imagination working.
    Choose a form of writing

    Some examples of forms writing may take: paragraph, editorial, poem, letter, research report, proposal, narrative, myth, mystery, newspaper, article, want ad, movie review, list, tall tale, thank you notes, song lyrics, resume, schedule, science fiction, sign, poster, skit, etc.
    How to gather ideas about topics?

    a. freewriting: simply writing whatever comes into mind

    b. clustering: write the topic in a circle in the center of your paper, then write subtopics in circles around the central topic and connect to central topic.

    c. questioning: ask who, what, when , where, why and how.

    d. analyzing: examine the parts of something in order to understand its essential features. Its a way to sort out and categorize information about a topic.

    e. observing: use your senses and chart how the topic reveals itself through your senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell)

    f. time lines: gives you an overview of the sequence of events during a particular time period. Time lines are especially useful planning a story or a historical report.

    g. story map: a chart that shows the elements of a work of fiction and its description
    Most story maps include these elements: setting, characters, plot, conflict, mood, theme.

    h. pro and con charts: list arguments for and against a particular position on some issue.
    Write a proposition (idea to be considered, a statement to be proved, or a policy to be debated), then list arguments in two columns (labeled "pro" and "con").

    i. interviewing: meet with someone and ask him or her questions

    j. using reference works: encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, atlases, indexes and more at the library
    arrange your ideas logically

    a. write a thesis statement

    b. main ideas and supporting details

    c. outline

    d. draft

    e. evaluate

    f. peer evaluate

    g. revising your writing: add, cut, replace, move

    h. proofreading

    i. proper manuscript form

    j. presenting or publishing your work