4 Chapter 4 – The Writing Process

Communication skills, including writing, are some of the most important soft skills (employable skills that have more to do with emotional IQ such as common sense, communication, problem-solving, and collaboration) that students learn when they are in college because most professions require high competency in written communication, which can be a chance for one to shine or to falter. With emails, memos, letters, texts, and even Tweets, most people spend a fair amount of time at work communicating via the written word. Whether you are messaging a colleague, writing to your manager, creating the company newsletter, or writing a press release to the media, your writing skills can boost or hinder your career easily, even if you do not have a “writing” profession. Basically, writing skills make a difference in how you are perceived in college and in the workplace.  That is the reason it is important to be sure you are following expected guidelines, always using the steps of the writing process, and making sure that all of your writing is coherent, concise, credible, and correct.

3. What is a thesis statement?

Once the topic has been narrowed to a workable subject, then determine what you are going to say about it; you need to come up with your controlling or main idea.  A thesis is the main idea of an essay.  It communicates the essay’s purpose with clear and concise wording and indicates the direction and scope of the essay.  It should not just be a statement of fact nor should it be an announcement of your intentions.  It should be an idea, an opinion of yours that needs to be explored, expanded, and developed into an argument.

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence somewhere in the introductory paragraph that presents the writer’s argument to the reader. However, as essays get longer, a sentence alone is usually not enough to contain a complex thesis.  The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the readers of the logic of their interpretation.

If an assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that the writer needs a thesis statement because the instructor may assume the writer will include one. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively.

How do I get a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. (See chapter on argument for more detailed information on building an argument.)  Once you have done this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis,” a basic or main idea, an argument that you can support with evidence.  It is deemed a “working thesis” because it is a work in progress, and it is subject to change as you move through the writing process.  Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic to arrive at a thesis statement.

For example, there is the question strategy. One way to start identifying and narrowing a thesis idea is to form a question that you want to answer. For example, if the starting question was “Do cats have a positive effect on people with depression? If so, what are three effects?

The question sends you off to explore for answers. You then begin developing support. The first answer you might find is that petting cats lowers blood pressure, and, further question how that works. From your findings (research, interviews, background reading, etc.), you might detail how that happens physically or you might describe historical evidence. You could explain medical research that illustrates the concept. Then you have your first supporting point — as well as the first prong of your thesis: Cats have a positive effect on people with depression because they can lower blood pressure . . . .

When you start with a specific question and find the answers, the argument falls into place. The answer to the question becomes the thesis, and how the answer was conceived becomes the supporting points (and, usually, the topic sentences for each point).

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there is time, run it by the instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center (https://tinyurl.com/ybqafrbf) to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own.

When reviewing the first draft and its working thesis, ask the following:

• Is my thesis statement an opinion, and is it a complete thought?  Beware of posing a question as your thesis statement.  Your thesis should answer a question that the audience may have about your topic.  Also, be sure that your thesis statement is a complete sentence rather than just a phrase stating your topic.

• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it is possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.

• Is my thesis statement provable? Can I establish the validity of it through the evidence and explanation that I offer in my essay?

• Is my thesis statement specific? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: Why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?

• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is, “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.

• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It is okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.

• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

To create a thesis statement simply follow this formula:

TOPIC  +  CLAIM  =  THESIS STATEMENT

Examples:

1. Animals + Dogs make better pets than cats. =When it comes to animals, dogs make better pets than cats because they are more trainable, more social, and more empathetic.
2. Movies & Emotions + Titanic evoked many emotions. = The movie Titanic evoked many emotions from an audience.
3. Arthur Miller & Death of a Salesman + Miller’s family inspired the Loman family. = Arthur Miller’s family and their experiences during the Great Depression inspired the creation of the Loman family in his play Death of a Salesman.

For more information on bad, good and better thesis statements from the writing center at the University of Evansville, go here (https://tinyurl.com/y8sfjale).

Once a working thesis statement has been created, then it is time to begin building the body of the essay.  Get all of the key supporting ideas written down, and then you can begin to flesh out the body paragraphs by reading, asking, observing, researching, connecting personal experiences, etc. Use the information from below to maintain the internal integrity of the paragraphs and smooth the flow of your ideas.

4. How to organize and arrange?

Once you have generated supporting ideas for the main idea of your paper, you need to arrange those ideas in some type of order. Clustering and outlining can help organize the ideas.

Clustering (also called idea mapping) is a way of visually arranging ideas. Begin clustering by writing the topic in the center of a sheet of paper. Circle the topic, and then surround it with words and phrases that identify the major points to be discussed in the paper. Continue the process until all supporting details and secondary details have been listed. Many writers like this method because the shapes show how the ideas relate or connect, and writers can find a focused topic from the connections mapped. Using clustering, you might discover connections between topics that you had not thought of before.

Figure 4.2 Clustering

Outlining lists the major supporting details in a tentative order and includes secondary supporting details.

Figure 4.3 Traditional Formal Outline

Before you write, you need to decide how to organize your ideas.  You need to determine the rhetorical mode(s) that will be used and the order of the supporting ideas. Simplistically speaking, there are nine basic rhetorical modes.  They are as follows:  narration, description, exemplification, process, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, classification and division, definition, and argument.  However, most complex writing begins with an argument of some sort and then uses a combination of modes to relay one’s message.

Structure of a Paragraph and Essay

All formal paragraphs and essays have a title, a beginning or an introduction, a middle-a body of supporting paragraphs, and an end or conclusion.

A title is at the top of your paragraph or essay, but it is often the last thing that you create because until the paper is complete, you do not really know what your final product will be.  A good title makes people want to read your paper; it does not merely repeat the topic sentence or thesis statement; it hints at your main idea.  It is not a complete sentence, but it is a phrase or phrases that indicate your topic.

An effective introduction captures your readers’ attention and arouses their curiosity.  In a paragraph, it is often your topic sentence, and in an essay, it usually includes your thesis statement, which narrows your subject, claims something specific and significant, and conveys your purpose and often your form of organization.  You can include a question, tell a story, use a quotation, give interesting facts or statistics, give background information, or outline a problem and/or a solution.  Do not tell the reader what your topic is–show them.  Do not be vague and mysterious.  Do not refer back to your title.  Do not apologize for what you are about to say, and be original.  The important thing is that you hook your readers’ attention and motivate them to continue reading.

Your body of supporting evidence should be organized, unified and coherent.  The support can be organized using chronological order, spatial order, or emphatic order.  Each supporting detail should have its own topic sentence and be developed with valuable supporting details.  In an essay, the supporting ideas should support your thesis statement.  You should use transitional words or phrases to establish connections between paragraphs and different ideas. You should use parallel structure  throughout your paper and use repetition sparingly and only when it is effective and necessary.  Be consistent in tense, number, and person throughout your paper as well.  The entire body of supporting evidence should be focused on supporting your main idea without straying off topic or including unrelated ideas.

Your conclusion should let the readers know that you are finished and not leave them with any unanswered questions.  It may recommend a call to action, or it may just summarize a long and complex paper.  The conclusion may repeat some of the ideas from the introduction, but it should not be a replica of that paragraph.  It may restate your main idea.  The conclusion can be either hopeful or hopeless depending on the mood of your paper.  You may leave your reader with some final important facts, or a compelling example, or a final visual image.  It is important that you do not go off in a new direction in your conclusion.  Do not make sweeping generalizations, and again do not apologize for any of your ideas.  Once these arrangements and ideas have been decided, then an outline should be constructed.

Figure 4.4 The Essay Structure

Using a Clear Organizational Pattern

Depending on your topic, you might find it beneficial to use one of these common organizational patterns, either within individual paragraphs or within the entire essay:

5. How to Write a Rough Draft.

Make the Writing Process Work for You! What makes the writing process beneficial to writers is that it encourages alternatives to standard practices and motivates you to develop your best ideas. For instance, the following approaches, done alone or in combination with others, may improve your writing and help you move forward in the writing process:

• Begin writing with the part you know the most about. The purpose of a first draft is to get ideas down on paper that can then be revised.  Consider beginning with the body paragraphs and drafting the introduction and conclusion later. You can start with the third point in your outline if ideas come easily to mind, or you can start with the first or second point   Although paragraphs may vary in length, keep in mind that short paragraphs may contain insufficient support. Readers may also think the writing is abrupt. Long paragraphs may be wordy and may lose your reader’s interest. As a guideline, try to write paragraphs longer than one sentence but shorter than the length of an entire double-spaced page.

• Write one supporting point at a time and then stop. As long as you complete the assignment on time, you may choose how many paragraphs you complete in one sitting. Pace yourself. On the other hand, try not to procrastinate. Writers should always meet their deadlines.

• Take short breaks to refresh your mind. This tip might be most useful if you are writing a multipage report or essay. Still, if you are antsy or cannot concentrate, take a break to let your mind rest, but do not let breaks extend too long. If you spend too much time away from your essay, you may have trouble starting again. You may forget key points or lose momentum. Try setting an alarm to limit your break, and when the time is up, return to your desk to write.

• Be reasonable with your goals. If you decide to take ten-minute breaks, try to stick to that goal. If you told yourself that you need more facts, then commit to finding them. Holding yourself to your own goals will create successful writing assignments.

• Keep your audience and purpose in mind as you write. These aspects of writing are just as important when you are writing a single paragraph for your essay as when you are considering the direction of the entire essay.

• Of all of these considerations, keeping your purpose and your audience at the front of your mind is key to writing success. If your purpose is to persuade, for example, you will present your facts and details in the most logical and convincing way you can for the particular audience you have in mind. If your audience dwells on logic, for example, points that use reason, facts, documented information, and the like, will provide the persuasion to which those readers best respond. Some writers find it useful to keep the purpose and audience at the top of every page, highlighted in some way, as a reminder of the targets of each point.

• Your purpose will guide your mind as you compose your sentences. Your audience will guide word choice. Are you writing for experts, for a general audience, for other college students, or for people who know very little about your topic? Keep asking yourself what your readers, with their background and experience, need to know to understand your ideas. How can you best express your ideas, so they are meaningful and memorable and your communication is effective?

• Write knowing that the revision and editing processes lie ahead, so leave plenty of time for those stages.

Maintaining Internal Integrity of Paragraphs

A paragraph needs to provide links between the ideas, and here are techniques that you can put into practice.

Using Transitions

Transitions within paragraphs are words that connect one sentence to another so that readers can follow the intended meanings of sentences and relationships between sentences. Transitions may also smooth the flow between body paragraphs.  The following table shows some commonly used transition words:

What Point of View Should Be Used in Academic Writing?

The dominant perspective in argument writing should be third person (he, she, it, and they).  What do you gain by using third person?

• Third person puts the topic and argument at the center, where they should be.

• Third person implies a critical distance between the writer and the argument, which can reassure readers who might disagree with your perspective that you are not being overly swayed by emotional attachment, i.e., that you can be objective.

Figure 4.5 Point of View

What this means is that writers should minimize the first person (I, me, we, us).  The use of I in writing is often a topic of debate, and the acceptance of its usage varies from instructor to instructor.  Some instructors demand all removal of first person from argument writing, but other instructors do not mind it.  (This is changing fast, though. Many academic journals now encourage first-person writing because it is more active, immediate, and interesting to read. The deciding factor is to follow the instructions of your instructor.) While you may feel more comfortable using first person because you still think of an argument as the same as an opinion, be aware that using first person in argument writing comes with damaging effects:

• Using I shifts the focus from the topic and argument to the one making the argument.  You are not the focus of the essay; your argument and its support are. The insertion of I into a sentence alters not only the way a sentence might sound but also the composition of the sentence itself. I is often the subject of a sentence. If the subject of the essay is supposed to be, for example, smoking, then by inserting yourself into the sentence, you are effectively displacing the subject of the essay into a secondary position.  Note the difference in these two sentences:

Smoking is bad.

I think smoking is bad.

In the first sentence, the rightful subject, smoking, is in the subject position in the sentence. In the second sentence, the insertion of I and think replaces smoking as the subject, which draws attention to I and away from the topic that is supposed to be discussed. Remember to keep the message (the subject) and the messenger (the writer) separate.

• Too many I-statements make your argument sound weak.  Excessive repetition of “I think” or “I feel” or “I believe” will eventually make it look like you are overemphasizing your beliefs because you don’t have enough confidence in them.  Perception is important.  You may actually be incredibly confident in your argument, logic, and evidence, but your overuse of I-statements will undermine that.

• Too many I-statements make your argument sound biased.  Too much use of I will make your readers think you cannot be objective, and they may doubt your support because they think you are too personally attached to the argument to reasonably and objectively weigh data and logic—even if you are doing that throughout the essay.

• I-statements make your sentences wordier.  Good academic writing is shark-like, and when declaring arguments and supporting points, you especially want to cut through the noise and confusion with strong, straightforward, economic writing.  Refer again to the two sentences above.  The first is boldly declarative (Smoking is bad.  Boom!). The second is wordier, which drains energy and punch from the claim.

Writers may use the first person POV in personal, reflective or narrative writing.  However, the second person POV (using you) is usually avoided in any form of academic writing.

6.  What Is revising?

Once a rough draft is created, take some time to step away from the essay to get a newer and better perspective.  Then begin revising.  Revising means reexamining and rethinking the first draft, adding and deleting ideas extensively; rearranging any of the ideas, sentences, or paragraphs in the first draft; rewriting sentences and paragraphs for more variety, better flow, and more precise word choices.  Often times, you may have three or four drafts before you are finally satisfied with a final draft.  For easier revision, follow the following tips:

• Take time between the first draft and the later revisions to approach it more objectively.

• Revise on hard copy rather than on the computer screen.  Do not delete any drafts!  Do label each successive one. Allow yourself and others to annotate (comment on and give suggestions to improve) your draft.

• Read the draft aloud.  Better yet, have someone else read it aloud.

• Take advantage of opportunities to get feedback; however, do not become overwhelmed by feedback.

• Do not allow ego to get in the way of a successful paper.

• Revise in stages–
  1. Revise for overall meaning and structure. Does the essay develop a central point clearly and logically and are the purpose, tone, and point-of-view suited for the audience of the essay?
  2. Revise for paragraph development. Check that your paragraphs are logically ordered, unified, and specific.
  3. Revise sentence structure. Make your sentences consistent with your overall tone, varied in type and length, emphatic, and economical.

• Finally, revise for word choices. Aim for an appropriate level of diction, word choices that do not overstate or understate, specific rather than general terms, strong verbs, only necessary modifiers, and original and nonsexist language.

• When you get your essays back, read the essay and heed your instructor’s comments.  They can help improve your future essays.  If you do not understand your grade or the instructor’s comments, schedule a conference to discuss them with her.  As you revise your future essays, revisit the mistakes made before and be sure you avoid repeating them.

7.  What is done during editing & proofreading & formatting?

• To edit, search for grammatical errors, check punctuation, check spelling, and look over sentence style and word choices one last time. See chapters 8, 9, and 10 for additional help.

• To proofread, look for surface errors, such as typos, incorrect spacing, or formatting problems.

• To format, be sure that you are following the formatting style your instructor requires whether it is Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), etc. For more information, see the Brown Library Citation Styles Guide (http://infoguides.virginiawestern.edu/citations).

• Overall, look carefully for any error, large or small, that may weaken the essay’s message or undermine its credibility.

8. What are other types of academic writing?

There are many different types of writing that you will be asked to create during your academic and professional careers.  Always be clear what your boss or professor expects in an assignment before you begin writing.  Below is just a sample of the various assignments you may be given:

Personal/reflective writing assignment–personal expression about an experience, event, situation, or information.

Expository writing assignment–writing that explains, describes, or informs.

Case study–a written report about a situation, group, or person that one has studied.

Review–summarizing as well as analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a piece of writing, a show, or an event.

Technical report–clear, detailed report of the procedures undertaken and the results obtained during a scientific or technical procedure.

Lab report–writing that details the steps taken and the results of a scientific experiment.

Book report–writing that summarizes the contents of a book as well as some commentary concerning the writer’s opinion of the book.

Critical analysis/critique–writing an informed review and an analysis of the significance of a piece of writing or an event.

Bibliography–writing a full list of all resources consulted during a research project.

Annotated bibliography–writing not only a list of all resources consulted for a research project, but also including a summary and analysis of each resource.

Literature review–writing that focuses on a specific research topic and the critical aspects of the literature consulted during the research process.

Research paper–the final product following an extended period of research, critical thinking, and composition that encompasses the writer’s own ideas supported by a combination of primary and secondary sources.

E-mail–writing in electronic mail

Web writing–writing web content, which needs to be direct, concise, and credible.

Oral presentation of written report–developing an effective summary of a project to be delivered in front of an audience; may include visual aids.

Midterm/final exam essay–exams often include short essay questions that need to be written in a short amount of time.

Resume & other ‘business’ writing–writing that must communicate pertinent information in a concise, easy-to-read format.

CC Licensed Content, Shared Previously

English Composition I, Lumen Learning, CC-BY 4.0.

Rhetoric and Composition, John Barrett, et al., CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Writing for Success, CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0.

Image Credits

Figure 4.1 “The Writing Proces,” Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College, CC-0, .

Figure 4.2 “Clustering,” Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College, CC-0.

Figure 4.3 “Traditional Formal Outline,” Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College, CC-0.

Figure 4.4 “The Essay Structure,” Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College, CC-0.

Figure 4.5 “Point of View,” Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College, CC-0.