What is the writing process?
The writing process involves a complex set of skills and different steps that lead to a finished piece of writing. Each person possesses different skills; therefore, each person harnesses a different writing process element, but the stages remain consistent. I believe that every person can be a successful writer if they discover the right elements of the stages, so let’s identify what the 5 writing stages are:
What are the 5 stages?
Pre-writing:
This stage is one of the most personal stages. To produce good work, you need to ensure different elements:
- Brainstorm and research
- Generate ideas. Research general topics and see how you can improve on them.
- Build an outline
- Even if it is in your head, make sure you have a direction you want to follow.
- Build simple visuals on a piece of paper
- Draw some pyramids, some squares and arrows, and put your thoughts into something visual. This will actualize your thought process.
- Consider your audience
- Make sure that your content and ideas align with the goal(s) of your work.
- Set up the right work environment
- This is personal. For me, it involves loud psytrance music for focus, a warm cup of tea for anxiety, and TV news on mute in the background to not feel alone. Find your work environment and see what boosts your focus and limits other obstacles you usually face while writing. Keep improving and implementing your successful strategies.
After you have a topic idea, enough headlines to expand your thoughts, and a plan and a place to work, you will be ready for the next stage, “Research”.
Research (When needed):
This stage is technical and requires focus, patience, and understanding regarding your writing topic. My researching elements differ based on the purpose of my writing, but in general terms, you should:
- Consider and determine your information sources
- Are you pursuing academic sources? Will you use business or commercial articles? Should you Google it or research offline publications? Do you need to interview your sources?
- Do your research
- Write down your research outcome using bullet points
- This will help you in the long term, especially if you are working on a longer piece. Having headlines and bullet points as source references will save you a lot of time when writing. Trust me on this one.
After completing your research, the next stage of the writing process is “Drafting”
Drafting:
This is often the most time-consuming parts of writing and, in most cases, requires multiple rounds.
- Start by putting your ideas into words, sentences, and finally paragraphs.
- Don’t focus on your grammar or writing style.
- The draft is usually more writer-centered rather than reader-centered, meaning that you are telling yourself what you know and think of your topic and realizing the conclusions you want to reach.
- Finalize your audience and purpose.
After drafting your ideas into words comes the next stage:
Revising:
This is the “make it better” stage. In my opinion, this is the most important stage for me when I write. Usually, my drafts tend to be very chaotic and the revising stage is where my random paragraphs turn into logically organized paragraphs.
- Read what you just drafted.
- Rearrange your words, sentences, and paragraphs.
- Replace overused words.
- Re-research your weak points.
- Take out the fluffy and repetitive parts.
- Ensure your ideas connect.
- Read it out loud to yourself and ask yourself, does this make sense?
- Maybe one of our native speakers can proofread it for you?
After revising, comes the next stage, “Editing”.
Editing:
The editing stage is where I need to be more focused as my drafting tends to be more chaotic. So, what I do is I blast the fast-paced repetitive beat music and clean up my writing! Start by rereading your work and make sure:
- Your sentences are finished.
- Spelling, punctuation, and capitalizations are correct. These are the most common mistakes.
- Find synonyms for repetitive or hard words (depending on your audience).
- You use the correct style of formatting.
- Your sentences are concise and accurate.
It is important not to start editing until the previous steps are complete as you might end up editing work that will be wasted. The entire writing process may be complicated, but that’s where Best Edit specializes. When you want to ensure your writing efforts and ideas don’t go to waste, contact us and get a quote for our editing services. Our professional writers at Best Edit will make certain you receive expert, native level editing services.
That’s it. You’ve just reviewed the 5-steps of the writing process and are well on your way to completing your writing project. If you have any questions about your manuscript, let us know!
