Prewriting (Brainstorming)
What is the prewriting (brainstorming) stage?
The prewriting stage is when you think carefully and organize your ideas for your paragraph before you begin writing.
Six Steps:
1. Think carefully about what you are going to write. Ask yourself: What question am I going to answer in this paragraph or essay? How can I best answer this question? What is the most important part of my answer? How can I make an introductory sentence from the most important part of my answer? What facts or ideas can I use to support my introductory sentence? How can I make this paragraph or essay interesting? Do I need more facts on this topic? Where can I find more facts on this topic?
2. Open your notebook. Write out your answers to the above questions. You do not need to spend a lot of time doing this; just write enough to help you remember why and how you are going to write your paragraph or essay.
3. Collect facts related to your paragraph or essay topic. Look for and write down facts that will help you to answer your question. Timesaving hint: make sure the facts you are writing are related to the exact question you are going to answer in your paragraph or essay.
4. Write down your own ideas. Ask yourself: What else do I want to say about this topic? Why should people be interested in this topic? Why is this topic important?
5. Find the main idea of your paragraph or essay. Choose the most important point you are going to present.
6. Organize your facts and ideas in a way that develops your main idea. Once you have chosen the most important point of your paragraph or essay, you must find the best way to tell your reader about it. Look at the facts you have written. Look at your own ideas on the topic. Decide which facts and ideas will best support the main idea of your paragraph. Once you have chosen the facts and ideas you plan to use, ask yourself which order to put them in the paragraph. Write down your own note set that you can use to guide yourself as you write your paragraph or essay.
All of the six steps is helping me become a better writing. I always never know what to write about in high school but using these six steps really help and make writing easy for me. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic! Writing is like math -- it can be really intimidating if you don't know some of the rules and formulas to help you out. Once you get a better idea of the tricks of the trade, it becomes less scary and a lot easier to format your ideas. Good comment! Just make sure to leave your name so you can get credit for your post.
DeleteI think by actually following the six steps, it has help me become a better writer and I actually get to think about what I'm going to write instead of being rushed or stressed about the topic. I believe that if anyone were to follow the six steps, anyone can be a good writer. Cyrus I
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Cyrus! This is a very thoughtful post. Nice job! As you mentioned, thinking is a very crucial step when it comes to writing. A person could write 700 pages, but if he/she doesn't have a main point (or if the main point isn't clearly communicated), it is just a waste of space. On the other hand, a person can say A LOT in just a few sentences by following these guidelines.
DeleteThese six steps are a really useful tool. Especially for people like me that never know what to write. I think this is a good tool, not only for school, but also for life afterwards
ReplyDelete-Matt turner
Great comment, Matt!
DeleteThese six steps are really helpful to me right now as I am writing my psychology paper. It helps me keep my paper organized and to have my main idea clearly stated.
ReplyDelete-Norma L.
That's fantastic! Seeing how these skills apply in other areas of school or life is very important. It will give you confidence, increase your success, and help you understand the importance of why you are required to take English 43. Great comment!
ReplyDeleteWish I would have learned this in High School but I'm glad I learned it in this class.
ReplyDeleteDesalle J.
I never knew that there were steps to brainstorming. The concept is very simple and easy to apply and understand
ReplyDelete