What Is Prewriting?
Prewriting is the first stage of the
writing process and the point at which we discover and explore our initial
ideas about a subject. Prewriting helps us to get our ideas on paper, though
not usually in an organized form, and brainstorm thoughts that might eventually
make their way into our writing. Listed below are some of the most common types
of prewriting techniques. You should become familiar with all of these and
figure out the one that works best for you. The different types of prewriting
that we will explore here are freewriting, brainstorming, clustering,
tagmemics, and journalistic technique.
Some
Useful Prewriting Strategies
Freewriting
Freewriting involves jotting down on
paper all of the ideas you have on a particular topic before you even begin to
read about it or do research. You are not worried about complete sentences,
proper spelling, or correct punctuation and grammar. Instead, you are
interested in “dumping” all of the information you have on paper. You should
write everything that comes into your head—even if it doesn’t necessarily make
sense yet. Give yourself a set amount of time (maybe five to ten minutes), and
write down everything that comes to mind about your topic.
Example: I have to write a paper about the environment. I have no
idea where to start! I know there are many problems with the environment, but I
don’t know much about this topic. Maybe I could take a look at my biology book
to come up with some ideas. I know my biology professor is also really into the
environment, so maybe I could ask for his help. I remember he was talking about
hybrid cars in class the other day and how much better those are for the
environment. What is a hybrid car? I know it uses some sort of alternative fuel
and they are becoming very popular. Maybe that is something I could write
about…
Brainstorming
Much like freewriting, brainstorming
involves capturing all of the thoughts, ideas, and fragments in your head and
writing them down on paper. Often, brainstorming looks more like a list while freewriting
may look more like a paragraph. With either strategy, your goal is to get as
many ideas down on paper as you can.
Example:
Environment
Problems
Future
Cars
Alternative fuels
Hybrid cars
Costs
Benefits?
Clustering
With this technique, you start with
a circle in the middle that contains your main idea and then you draw lines to
other, smaller circles that contain sub-ideas or issues related to the main
idea. Try to group like ideas together so as to organize yourself.
Example: About the value of a
college education
Particle, Wave, Field (Tagmemics)
The basic idea underlying tagmemics
can be easily stated: an object, experience, or idea can be viewed as a
particle (a static unit), a wave (a dynamic unit changing over time), or a
field (a unit seen in the context of a larger network of relationships). Each
of these perspectives encourages you to ask different kinds of questions about
your subject (represented here as X).
- Particle perspective:
What is X?
- Wave
perspective: How has X changed
over time?
- Field
perspective: How
does X relate to Y or Z?
Example:
If you view something as a particle,
you focus on it as a static (still) entity. For example, if you were exploring
ideas for a sociology paper on the transformation of the American nuclear
family, you could use a particle perspective to ask questions like the
following:
- What does the term nuclear family mean?
- Who formulated the term nuclear family?
- What features characterize the nuclear family?
If you look at a subject from the wave
perspective, you view it as dynamic or changing over time. The wave perspective
would encourage you to ask the following questions:
- How long has the nuclear family characterized family
structure in America?
- When did the nuclear family begin to change?
- What factors have caused the nuclear family to change?
- How might these factors affect the American family in
the future?
Finally, if you look at a subject
from a field perspective, you ask questions about the way that the
subject functions as a part of a larger network of relationships. This
perspective would encourage you to ask questions like these:
- How are changes in the structure of the American family
related to other changes, such as those in the work force, organized
religion, the educational system, and divorce rates?
- What are the consequences of changes in the nuclear
family for American life in general? For politics? For social services?
For education?
Journalistic Technique
As you may know, journalists have
six important questions they need to answer about any story they report: who,
what, when, where, why, and how. By answering these questions, journalists can
be certain that they have provided the most important information about an
event, issue, or problem to their readers.
These questions are also useful to
you as writers when you are describing and event or writing an informative
essay. As with the exploded moment, this technique allows you to make sure you
have provided all of the important and specific details of a situation.
Example:
Suppose that your government
professor has asked to write about the political conflict in the Middle East.
Using the journalistic technique, you could begin working on the paper by
asking yourself the following questions:
- Who is
involved in the conflict?
- What
issues most clearly divide those engaged in this dispute?
- When
did the troubles in the Middle East begin, and how have they developed
over time?
- Where
does the conflict seem most heated or violent?
- Why have
those living in this area found it so difficult to resolve the situation?
- How might
this conflict be resolved?
Using the journalistic technique
helps you make sure you have answered all of the important questions.
Other Useful Strategies
Aside from the strategies listed on
these pages, it is also sometimes useful to discuss your ideas with a
classmate, friend, or professor. Often, brainstorming aloud and hearing your
ideas in auditory fashion can help you think about ways to start your paper. A
great resource is the Writing Lab. You do not have to have a rough draft to go
the lab; often, it is useful to go there and brainstorm ideas with one of the
tutors. Finally, before you begin your prewriting techniques, make sure you
thoroughly understand the purpose and audience for the assignment. Ask
questions if you are unsure what you are supposed to do. It is difficult to
prewrite if you do not understand the assignment.
Why Use these Techniques?
Though you have already used
brainstorming, clustering, or any of a number of other prewriting techniques,
the particle, wave, field and journalistic techniques are slightly more formal.
Try these new ways of prewriting and compare them to the previous strategies
you used. The key to any prewriting is finding something that works for you and
also finding a technique that is comprehensive enough. Jotting down a word or
sentence or two for prewriting is usually not enough; the more ideas you can
get on paper in the early stages of writing, the stronger your final paper will
be.
Parting Words
Remember to save all of your
prewriting! You will have to turn in this step with the rest of your writing,
so make sure you put is somewhere safe until the paper is due. Also, your
prewriting will often look very different from the final draft. That’s ok—remember
that this is just the first step to get you started writing. Your writing will
evolve in each step you take it through.
Works
Cited
Ede, Lisa. Work in Progress: A
Guide to Academic Writing and Revising. 5th ed. Boston:
Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2001.
Dawson, Melanie, and Joe Essid.
“Pre-Writing: Clustering.” University of Richmond
Writing
Center. 31 August
2005.
Prewriting Strategies
What Is Prewriting?
Prewriting is the first stage of the
writing process and the point at which we discover and explore our initial
ideas about a subject. Prewriting helps us to get our ideas on paper, though
not usually in an organized form, and brainstorm thoughts that might eventually
make their way into our writing. Listed below are some of the most common types
of prewriting techniques. You should become familiar with all of these and
figure out the one that works best for you. The different types of prewriting
that we will explore here are freewriting, brainstorming, clustering,
tagmemics, and journalistic technique.
Some
Useful Prewriting Strategies
Freewriting
Freewriting involves jotting down on
paper all of the ideas you have on a particular topic before you even begin to
read about it or do research. You are not worried about complete sentences,
proper spelling, or correct punctuation and grammar. Instead, you are
interested in “dumping” all of the information you have on paper. You should
write everything that comes into your head—even if it doesn’t necessarily make
sense yet. Give yourself a set amount of time (maybe five to ten minutes), and
write down everything that comes to mind about your topic.
Example: I have to write a paper about the environment. I have no
idea where to start! I know there are many problems with the environment, but I
don’t know much about this topic. Maybe I could take a look at my biology book
to come up with some ideas. I know my biology professor is also really into the
environment, so maybe I could ask for his help. I remember he was talking about
hybrid cars in class the other day and how much better those are for the
environment. What is a hybrid car? I know it uses some sort of alternative fuel
and they are becoming very popular. Maybe that is something I could write
about…
Brainstorming
Much like freewriting, brainstorming
involves capturing all of the thoughts, ideas, and fragments in your head and
writing them down on paper. Often, brainstorming looks more like a list while freewriting
may look more like a paragraph. With either strategy, your goal is to get as
many ideas down on paper as you can.
Example:
Environment
Problems
Future
Cars
Alternative fuels
Hybrid cars
Costs
Benefits?
Clustering
With this technique, you start with
a circle in the middle that contains your main idea and then you draw lines to
other, smaller circles that contain sub-ideas or issues related to the main
idea. Try to group like ideas together so as to organize yourself.
Example: About the value of a
college education
Particle, Wave, Field (Tagmemics)
The basic idea underlying tagmemics
can be easily stated: an object, experience, or idea can be viewed as a
particle (a static unit), a wave (a dynamic unit changing over time), or a
field (a unit seen in the context of a larger network of relationships). Each
of these perspectives encourages you to ask different kinds of questions about
your subject (represented here as X).
- Particle perspective:
What is X?
- Wave
perspective: How has X changed
over time?
- Field
perspective: How
does X relate to Y or Z?
Example:
If you view something as a particle,
you focus on it as a static (still) entity. For example, if you were exploring
ideas for a sociology paper on the transformation of the American nuclear
family, you could use a particle perspective to ask questions like the
following:
- What does the term nuclear family mean?
- Who formulated the term nuclear family?
- What features characterize the nuclear family?
If you look at a subject from the wave
perspective, you view it as dynamic or changing over time. The wave perspective
would encourage you to ask the following questions:
- How long has the nuclear family characterized family
structure in America?
- When did the nuclear family begin to change?
- What factors have caused the nuclear family to change?
- How might these factors affect the American family in
the future?
Finally, if you look at a subject
from a field perspective, you ask questions about the way that the
subject functions as a part of a larger network of relationships. This
perspective would encourage you to ask questions like these:
- How are changes in the structure of the American family
related to other changes, such as those in the work force, organized
religion, the educational system, and divorce rates?
- What are the consequences of changes in the nuclear
family for American life in general? For politics? For social services?
For education?
Journalistic Technique
As you may know, journalists have
six important questions they need to answer about any story they report: who,
what, when, where, why, and how. By answering these questions, journalists can
be certain that they have provided the most important information about an
event, issue, or problem to their readers.
These questions are also useful to
you as writers when you are describing and event or writing an informative
essay. As with the exploded moment, this technique allows you to make sure you
have provided all of the important and specific details of a situation.
Example:
Suppose that your government
professor has asked to write about the political conflict in the Middle East.
Using the journalistic technique, you could begin working on the paper by
asking yourself the following questions:
- Who is
involved in the conflict?
- What
issues most clearly divide those engaged in this dispute?
- When
did the troubles in the Middle East begin, and how have they developed
over time?
- Where
does the conflict seem most heated or violent?
- Why have
those living in this area found it so difficult to resolve the situation?
- How might
this conflict be resolved?
Using the journalistic technique
helps you make sure you have answered all of the important questions.
Other Useful Strategies
Aside from the strategies listed on
these pages, it is also sometimes useful to discuss your ideas with a
classmate, friend, or professor. Often, brainstorming aloud and hearing your
ideas in auditory fashion can help you think about ways to start your paper. A
great resource is the Writing Lab. You do not have to have a rough draft to go
the lab; often, it is useful to go there and brainstorm ideas with one of the
tutors. Finally, before you begin your prewriting techniques, make sure you
thoroughly understand the purpose and audience for the assignment. Ask
questions if you are unsure what you are supposed to do. It is difficult to
prewrite if you do not understand the assignment.
Why Use these Techniques?
Though you have already used
brainstorming, clustering, or any of a number of other prewriting techniques,
the particle, wave, field and journalistic techniques are slightly more formal.
Try these new ways of prewriting and compare them to the previous strategies
you used. The key to any prewriting is finding something that works for you and
also finding a technique that is comprehensive enough. Jotting down a word or
sentence or two for prewriting is usually not enough; the more ideas you can
get on paper in the early stages of writing, the stronger your final paper will
be.
Parting Words
Remember to save all of your
prewriting! You will have to turn in this step with the rest of your writing,
so make sure you put is somewhere safe until the paper is due. Also, your
prewriting will often look very different from the final draft. That’s ok—remember
that this is just the first step to get you started writing. Your writing will
evolve in each step you take it through.
Works
Cited
Ede, Lisa. Work in Progress: A
Guide to Academic Writing and Revising. 5th ed. Boston:
Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2001.
Dawson, Melanie, and Joe Essid.
“Pre-Writing: Clustering.” University of Richmond
Writing
Center. 31 August
2005.
