How to succeed@the writing process
Here you can learn about the writing process, how to use it
and how it can help you. Remember that this leaflet is a
summary.
Visit succeed@solent for further information and
downloadable resources.
Contact your Learning Skills Tutors, Carina Buckley and
Helen Capstick, in ML002 for further guidance and support.
Email: [email protected]
What is the writing process?
The writing process is a series of steps you should take in
order to make sure your paper is well thought out, well
researched and easy to understand.
These steps include:
Pre-writing (analysing the question,
brainstorming, planning and researching)
Drafting
Editing and revising what you have written
Pre-writing
3. plan
improve the grades you get
get you started on your paper confidently
make writing your paper easier
help you match your word limit
avoid unstructured, rambling, unclear writing
stop you handing in a paper full of mistakes
Analyse the question
Your first step in writing an essay MUST always be to
analyse the question. If you don’t understand your
question properly, you will write the wrong essay
4. research
5. draft
The writing process will:
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1. analyse the
question
2. brainstorm
Why use the writing process?
Repeat as
necessary
6. edit/proofread
The key to this is to:
identify the PROCESS
identify the TOPIC
identify the LIMITS
Process
You identify the process of your paper from the process
word in your essay question (e.g. evaluate, analyse).
Topic
7. final draft
Some people may prefer to change the order slightly, e.g.
doing some research before they start planning, and some
stages may have to be repeated.
succeed@solent
Email: [email protected]
Web: mycourse.solent.ac.uk/succeed
What are you going to write about? The topic is the
main idea, concept or phenomenon.
Limits
In which years? In which countries? For which set of
ideas? Look for obvious instructions, ‘any two examples
of’, ‘within the last ten years’, ‘with reference to’.
Brainstorm
Research
A lot of people begin with a brainstorm. When you
brainstorm, you write down everything you know about
the topic as it occurs to you. Don’t stop. Don’t pause.
And it’s important that while you write, you don’t
correct or edit yourself. You can tidy up your notes
after the brainstorm.
Get guidelines, know what’s required to reach your
tutor’s expected standard without spending too much
time on the paper, and then plan your research.
Plan
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The importance of planning
Planning your writing in advance is a very good idea:
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You can bring all of your ideas together
You begin to get organised
You can plan the flow and structure of ideas
You can identify the research you need to do
You can work out how to fit into the word limit
Where to start
The first place to start planning a paper is with your
analysis of the question or title. Understand your
question, so that you know the essay structure.
Whether you use spider-grams, linear notes, sticky notes
or whatever else, having your essay structure in mind
will lead all your planning in the right direction.
Ways of planning
There are a number of different approaches to planning.
The one you use is entirely up to you. Generally, by
experimenting, students quickly find a preferred
method. It might be visual (with diagrams), logical (with
lists) or physical (moving around sticky notes). Try them
all out. Experiment. Find the one that works for you.
Diagrams
Do you doodle on the corner of the page? Do you draw
funny faces at the end of letters or notes? When
someone asks for directions, do you draw a map?
It could be that you are the kind of person who is best
planning your writing in a visual style. Try these:
 Spider-grams or idea-maps
 Flow charts
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Be directed in your research – write out specific
questions that you want answered.
Use the journals and books that your tutor
recommends.
Know the library catalogue system.
Don’t just look at the title of a book – go into the
contents or index to check relevance.
Read books and journals actively – set yourself
questions and read to find the answers.
Don’t get bogged down in reading irrelevant material.
Be very wary of what you find on the Internet – it
goes from highly reliable, to extremely dodgy.
Use smart search techniques to limit the number of
hits in a web search.
Get into the habit of writing down the bibliographic
details of all sources you look at.
Draft
Each draft is a complete but unfinished version of your
paper. Look at your draft and decide if there is anything
that could be changed in it (edit and proofread). Your
target is to get it as close to the point of ‘no mistakes’ as
you can. When you have done everything you can with
your paper, let someone else read it to check for errors
and ease of understanding.
Edit and proofread
Editing checklist:
With each draft of your paper, check:
Does the paper answer the question?
Does the structure reflect the process?
Is the structure of the paper clear?
Are the connections between ideas clear?
Does each paragraph relate to the question?
Is there only one main idea in each paragraph?
Does each paragraph have a topic sentence?
Lists
Proofreading checklist:
Do you write out a list when you go shopping and tick
off the items you buy? Do you write yourself a ‘to-do
list’ when you have a busy day? If someone asks you for
directions, do you give them a list of steps? It could be
that you are the kind of person who would benefit most
from plans based on logical sequence – lists. Try these:
 Linear notes or bulleted lists
 Sticky notes
Look closely at your paper and check:
Examples of all these notes are in the online tutorial.
succeed@solent
Email: [email protected]
Web: mycourse.solent.ac.uk/succeed
Correct spelling (e.g. ‘its’ or ‘it’s’)
No contractions used
The language is all academic and formal
Correct punctuation
Quotes and references in the correct format
Every sentence is complete
Subjects and verbs agree
Sentences are not over-long or complex
Clauses all connect to their reference