Expository writing process
Five stages fit into assembly line
Each writing genre has a writing process that efficient, experienced
writers in that genre use.
The processes for imaginative literature are somewhat amorphous
and often recursive.
By contrast, the process used by experienced and professional
writers for thesis + support pattern nonfiction tends to
be more clearly defined, more linear, and more nearly self-contained
than the processes used for imaginative literature.
Writing proceeds in stages
Most textbooks talk about steps in the writing process. However,
even the comparatively linear expository writing process is not
so sharply defined that the term steps is a good fit.
I prefer the term stages, which suggests periods
of activity alternate with periods of rest as writers work toward
their finished product.
I tell students that each stage ends with some physical product
that allows them to mark their progress.
Stage 1 ends with a working thesis.
Topic. The first stage of the
expository writing process is what textbooks call finding a topic.
Outside of textbooks, topics find writers. Most people
write exposition because someone — a teacher or work supervisor
— gives them a topic to write about.
Assignment parameters. Typically
the person making the assignment specifies additional parameters
or the writer is in a position to get that information readily.
Besides the topic, the writer needs to know
Knowing this basic information allows writers to work efficiently
by selecting materials that fit the project, thus minimizing rewriting,
revising, and editing.
Working thesis. With the assignment
directions in mind, writers run through what they already know
on the given subject. Almost immediately, efficient writers construct
a short, single-sentence statement of an opinion that fits the
assignment.
The working thesis is a far cry
from the polished, graceful statements in finished essays. It is
a 'top of the head" statement. It summarizes the writers' initial
uneducated opinion before they do any deep thinking or research.
Because it is a complete sentence rather than a sentence fragment,
the working thesis provides a clear focus for thinking and research.
Test the thesis. Writers test
their working thesis to see if it's practical for the assignment.
This testing is a critical step in the expository writing process.
Stage 2 ends with a comprehensive plan.
Writing skeleton™. A convenient
way to begin testing the thesis is by using a writing
skeleton™ which links the thesis to reasons for believing
it to be true.
If the thesis doesn't hold up to scrutiny, writers can modify it
or scrap it and write another.
Do not allow students to feel trapped in a writing process from
which they cannot escape.
Evidence. If the thesis appears
workable, writers see if there is enough evidence to support
it. An efficient way of looking for evidence is the ripple
strategy.
(Ripple strategy is embedded in my Talk
It Out materials for student pairs to use in helping each other
develop good thesis + support essays.)
Efficient writers record evidence in single-sentence summaries
in an template for an outline
(which I prefer to call a comprehensive plan template).
Modify or start over. If they
can't find evidence, or the evidence indicates the working thesis
is wrong, writers can change their writing skeleton™ or start
over with a different working thesis.
You will not do anyone any good by insisting students stick with
a topic/thesis after they discover it is going to bomb. Efficient,
effective writers do their major rewriting early in the writing
process when a complete rewrite is a matter of sentences, not pages.
Insert into template. The working
thesis, writing skeleton and evidence summaries each slip into the
essay template. Thus writers are able to end stage 2 with all the
information they need for an essay in one place, ready to be transformed
into a composition.
Stage 3 ends with a completed draft.
The third stage of the writing process is composing
the paper. Composing is a rush job, like roping cattle: Get
out there, lasso the beast, and get it down.
Efficient writers draft do not stop to check their dictionary or
revise a sentence while they are composing their initial draft.
At the end of the composition session, writers may check to make
sure they can read their work, but serious revision and editing
should wait for another day.
Stage 4 ends with an revised draft.
After a break, efficient writers review their work, looking at
it as if seeing it for the first time. At this stage of the writing
process, they concentrate on the
content of their work. They sure no important point or
fact is missing.
In pushing to get their essay on paper, they might have omitted
one supporting point they intended to make. They also make sure
the organization is logical and clear. If they find anything missing,
anything unclear or illogical, they revise.
Stage 5 ends with a submitted document.
Edit. After revising their
drafts, writers have adequate content, appropriately organized and
developed. They still have to edit
their drafts to correct errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Format. Writers also must format
their work to meet the assignment specifications.
As time and their skill permits, writers may also edit their work
for usage and style.
Before they submit their work, writers check it carefully once
just to make sure no errors crept in during revision and editing.
Finally, they submit their work as the assignment directed.
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