The Writing Process

The five steps of the writing process, as taught in the Federal Way Public Schools, are:

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Key:

The pupil works to organize ideas. (drafting)

The pupil rereads the piece, re-wording ideas to clarify meaning and "spice up" the writing. (revising)

The pupil repairs faulty mechanics to make the piece error free. (editing)

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• Decide on a topic.

First, the writer narrowed his topic so it is better focused.

• Decide how to organize your ideas (use a graphic organizer).

The writer used a word map to brainstorm traits of the character.

• Brainstorm ideas related to the topic.

The writer brainstormed ideas for the introduction, conclusion, and supporting details.

• Choose the ideas that will most strongly support the topic.

The writer marked ideas he planned to use.

• Write your ideas in an organized way.  (paragraphs, bullets, or chart)

The writer chose paragraph form.

The writer did his revision on the computer. To see the changes made, compare the draft and published copies.

• Correct parts that don't make sense or aren't in logical order.
• Re-word ideas or add details to fully develop, clarify, or enhance the topic.
• Add powerful language, figurative language, detail, and description to engage the reader.
• Vary sentence beginnings and structure.
• Strengthen voice to show the person behind the words.

• Correct mechanical problems.

• Produce a neat, error-free final copy.

The writer used the computer to produce an error-free copy.