Overview

The five stages of the writing process—prewriting, drafting, revising, editing/proofreading, and publishing/presenting—allow you to fully investigate your thoughts and write them down to share with others.

Start prewriting by developing your ideas through freewriting, brainstorming, or clustering. Determine your main idea by identifying your purpose and audience. Then, using your prewriting notes, begin drafting paragraphs. State the main idea in the topic sentence of each paragraph. Develop the paragraph by adding details such as facts, examples, or reasons that support the main idea. Link these details with transition words or phrases. Your topic and purpose will help you determine the most effective way to order your details.

Revise by reading through your draft to check its coherence and then fixing any problems. After you are satisfied, edit and proofread your work by focusing on grammar and mechanics.

Once your writing is finished, you can publish it. Consider your audience when you think about where to present your work. With a computer, you can prepare a professional-looking paper. You might even want to collaborate with your classmates on a class publication.