The Long Process of Writing

Writing is the process of molding the ideas from our mind to the piece of paper. There are four basic steps that we have to go through to make our writing consider as good.

· The first step is: Assessing the Assignment

This step is the easiest than the other steps. We only have to listen to the rules of our writing assignment that gave by the lecturer carefully. You need to be clear on the length of the paper, its due date, and its format. Another important point is to know the sources of information that you may use.

· The second step is: Generating Ideas

The purpose of this step is to think about a certain topic and generate as many ideas as possible. There are many ways to do this; two of the most effective are brainstorming and free writing.

o   Brainstorming can be done individually or in group. If I may choose, I prefer doing it in groups. It would be very helpful for us, because each member of group could mention their ideas, so we got a lot of ideas from each individual. Remember, this is not the time to evaluate how good or bad they are.

o   Free writing is similar to brainstorming. I could do it only in peace situation. Do not let anybody distract our concentration. The important point is let our ideas and imaginations flow. The most important aspect of free writing is not to allow ourselves to stop.

· The third step is: Organizing our Ideas

We need to organize the idea that we got in the step two by use topic outlines and tree diagrams.

o  Topic Outlines, first we have to decide what the main idea of the paragraph is. After that, we need to consider which points to include in order best supporting our main point. In an outline, we do not have to use complete sentences. For me, it is like listing process. I only have to straighten it from the most important point to the less important point.

o  Tree Diagram is a kind of visual outline format. We start with the main idea and then make branches to points that support our idea. It is suggested for people who have more visual skills, but the branches that consist in tree diagram make me confused.

· The  last step is: Writing the First Draft

We have already our ideas generated and an organizational pattern to follow; now we can write the first draft.

The fourth basic steps have already explained, but the process of writing was not ended here. As a good writer, we should make sure to read our writing carefully and patiently, in order to make changes and give the corrections before finalizing. After finalizing our writing, we should do a proof reading. It is very unusual in our culture, but actually it is very important to do. We need a proof reader to correct and evaluate our writing in order to make our writing understandable for the readers. A proof reader would give attention to the small details, such as grammatical error, punctuation, and another rules in writing. Proof reading must do by a professional. Proof reading is the hardest one in the process of writing because I have to master grammar and rules of punctuation. Finally, we know that the process of writing is very long and need a concentrate to finish.