1、The process of writingI. SchedulingIt is important to schedule the writing of your papers with plenty of time before thedeadline to allow for sharing with others and revising. Scheduling the writing of yourpaper from the due date backwards will help you to plan the steps of your paper. Forexample, i
2、f your paper is due November 1st, use the last week of October to work on thefinal draft, use the 3rd week of October for working on and sharing drafts, write the firstrough draft a week before that, and so on. You will find that you need to start working insmall increments right away. This will giv
3、e you plenty of time to collect referencematerials and the effort will be less taxing both emotionally and physically in those lastfew days before the due date.II. Pre-WritingMost of us use pre-writing strategies without even knowing it. Any thinking,brainstorming, note-taking or discussing of a pap
4、er we are planning to write is prewriting.Many students think about and plan a paper weeks before they begin writing.Writing down or recording your thoughts, mapping your research or your plan for thepaper, or even recording your conversations about a paper will make your first drafteasier to write.
5、III. The First DraftThis is where many students find themselves procrastinating. Students who write theirpapers at the last minute probably have trouble getting the first words of their first drafton paper until the stress of a deadline forces them to start. Try not to procrastinate here;rush throug
6、h the first draft as soon as you can. Write anything and everything you wantand as you write, jot down notes on thoughts that are coming to you faster than you cantype. You will definitely write too much, but this is helpful; cutting and moving text ismuch easier than trying to pad text in order to
7、reach a page minimum.IV. RevisionYour first draft may be messy, but youve done the bulk of writing. Print out your paperand carry it around with you for a day or two. Pull it out when you have free time andread through your paper a few times. Sit down again and revise; cut and paste; use anextra pag
8、e at the end of your paper to hold onto large sections of text you are unsureabout, and rewrite sentences and paragraphs that do not make sense. Now is good time to ask someone to read your paper and give you feedback. This reader does not have to have any prior knowledge of your topic, but he or she should be able to provide constructive comments that guide your revisions.V. Final DraftAfter printing out your final draft, read carefully for grammatical or mechanical errors and listening for flow. Make sure to run spell-check. Double check your formatting, citations, bibliography, etc.
