| Have you ever seen a statue you liked especially well? You can enjoy looking at a statue without knowing exactly how the artist cut and chiseled the stone. You can admire its smoothness and shape, without being an expert. Imagine, however, that you tried to carve a statue. You would face the same problems sculptors face. You might try the same techniques. You would begin to see every other statue in a new way. As a sculptor yourself, you would appreciate the skill it takes to make a beautiful statue. Reading can be compared to seeing a statue. You can enjoy a good poem or story without understanding the skill that went into it. However, understanding what went into it helps you appreciate that poem or story even more.
Pre-Writing The first stage of writing is pre-writing. Some writers say it is the most important stage. Pre-writing is a time for thinking and planning. In one sense, pre-writing can include almost everything that a writer experiences. The writer can make use of bits of knowledge and experiences years later. Carol Ryrie Brink, author of Caddie Woodlawn, advises young writers to "begin to make your five senses work for you. See, hear, smell, taste, and touch the things around you." Many writers keep journals where they record interesting ideas, striking details, and colorful events. Isaac Bashevis Singer explains his approach to collecting ideas:
My stories are all based upon things that have come to me in life without my going out to look for them. The only notes I take are notes on an idea for a story. When such an idea comes to me, I put it down in a little notebook I always carry around. When you want to begin a specific writing activity, the pre-writing stage prepares you. It includes these steps: Choose and limit a topic. If you are about to write, think about areas that interest you or make you curious. List experiences which you have strong memories. With these subjects in mind, list specific ideas for topics. Look over the topics and choose a favorite. Every writer begins with a topic that interests at least one person - the writer. Almost any idea can be considered. Walter Edmonds, author of Drums Along the Mohawk, tells how he finds a topic: I get ideas from all sons of sources—old newspapers, books, or letters written from readers.-
Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, explains how she collects ideas:
My story ideas are somewhat like a big, old-fashioned French stove, with several pots on the back keeping warm. As ideas come along. I drop them into the appropriate pot, and, when one book is finished, I pull I forward onto the fire whichever pot seems most ready to be written into book. I get my ideas from everywhere, everybody, and everything.
Kurt Vonnegut gives this important advice: "Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about." Once you have such a topic, limit it. Make sure the topic is narrow enough to be handled in the form you are using.
2.Decide on a purpose. You need to keep in mind a general goal. What do you want your writing to accomplish? Should it ask questions or answer them? Should it make the reader laugh or get the reader angry about a problem? What and how you write depend on your purpose.
3. Consider your audience. Some authors write for children, while others gear their writing to adults. Some authors want to reach members of a certain group, such as hockey players or stamp collectors. These writers write in a way that will interest their special audiences. When you write, think about who your readers will be. For different audiences, you would write differently. For example, in writing to young children, you would use simple words and clear action. For adult readers, you would use a more formal style. Knowing your audience will help you reach that audience. Nobel Prize-winning writer John Steinbeck thinks of his audience in this way:
In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know or an imagined person—and write to that one.
4.Gather supporting information. Writers must gather facts. They want their writing to be accurate as well as interesting. Their research includes reading, interviewing, and observing first-hand. If you have been keeping a journal for some time, review it before you begin a specific writing activity. It may already hold descriptions, facts, and phrases that could help you. Best-selling novelist Irving Wallace gives advice on researching a subject:
Read all you can about it, interview experts on it, even travel to the sites of the story to guarantee authenticity and get a feel for the background. In my case, this process takes six months to a year.
Writers gather information until they feel thoroughly familiar with their subject. Short story writer Paul Gaffico explains how he gets to know his subject:
I spend two or three days writing character sketches, setting down all and everything I know about each of the characters in the story. Like the iceberg, seven-eighths of this material remains submerged and doesn't show, but the characters have now taken on life for me, and I am able to think and speak and act as they might.
Make a list of questions you need to answer about the topic. Then use all the resources you can to answer these questions. Don't rely on your memory. As you do your research, take notes.
5. Organize your ideas. At first, organizing ideas is like cleaning a closet. The writer goes through his or her notes and throws away what is not needed. He or she sorts into groups the ideas that should be kept. As you organize your ideas, you may discover that you need more information or more details. If so, go back for more research. Once you are satisfied with your list of ideas, you should arrange the ideas in order. For example, in stories it's usually best to arrange events in time order. For writing meant to persuade or convince, it's best to arrange reasons either from most important to least important or from least important to most important. Best-selling author Stephen King stresses the need for planning and organization:
All good writing has some kind of underlying structure or framework. It must, no matter how powerful the writing might be. Without a framework, it is as useless as a mass of muscle would be without an underlying structure of bone.
Many writers use outlines of some type to help them organize the material. Jean George, author of Julie of the Wolves, compares her outline to "the pencil sketch an artist renders before he starts to paint." Its purpose, she says, "is to get the story into my head before I begin the first draft." Some writers use a formal outline. Others simply list their ideas in order. Some writers make complete outlines in their heads before they write. However it's done, every writer arranges ideas in a way that makes sense to that writer. Writing the First Draft The pre-writing stage ends when a writer begins the first draft. How does an author know when it is time to start writing? "When it becomes more painful not to," playwright Edward Albee answers. Patricia Highsmith describes a similar feeling:
I often reach a point beyond which I cannot think, cannot make an outline, and I become impatient to see something on paper, and so I begin.
When you write a first draft, try to follow your outline and your pre-writing notes. However, if a better idea occurs to you, you may choose to change the outline. Write— and write quickly. At this stage, concentrate on getting ideas onto the paper, not on grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Humorist Stephen Leacock points out what happens if your main concern is to avoid mistakes:
You can't avoid anything if you are writing nothing. You must write first and "avoid" afterwards. A writer is in no danger of splitting an infinitive if he has no infinitive to split.
After you finish writing your first draft, it is time to take a good look at what you have written. It is time to revise.
Revising Revising means making changes to improve a piece of writing even famous writers don't get everything right the first time.
New ideas and new material are added or rejected, as the case may be. Details are changed or developed further. Most of all, each paragraph, each sentence, each word is worked over and over. This takes a lot of time.—H.A. and Margaret Rey
I rewrite and rewrite and rewrite. My record is eight complete differentdrafts!—Jean George
Most authors agree that when you revise you need to stand back and look at your own work objectively.
The writer must survey his work critically, coolly, and as though he were a stranger to it. . . . He must be willing to prune, expertly and hard-heartedly. —Eleanor Estes
To revise your writing, review it carefully. Don't be afraid to ut something that does not add to your main idea. Isaac Bashevis Singa says, "The wastepaper basket is a writer's best friend." The following questions will help you improve your writing.
1.Is your writing interesting? Will it attract readers?
2.Have you stuck to your topic? Do all ideas and details belong in this piece of writing? Are any ideas or details missing?
3.Is your organization logical? Do your ideas flow together smoothly? Are the paragraphs in the clearest possible order? In each paragraph, do all the sentences stick to the main idea?
4.Have you used the most exact, clear words you can find? Does your language match your audience?
Mark up your first draft with your additions and corrections. Draw arrows to show changes in paragraph order or sentence order. Cross out parts that aren't needed. You may find that your pages are becoming crowded with notes. Eleanor Estes says, "At the end of each revision, a manuscript may look like a battered old hive, worked over, torn apart. pinned together, added to, deleted from, words changed and words changed back." If your pages begin to look unreadable, recopy them.
Many writers find it helpful to read their work aloud as they Ruth Stiles Gannet uses this procedure:
Now it is time to read it aloud and listen to how it sounds. Does it smoothly, with some sense of rhythm? When it doesn't, I rearrange or substitute to avoid awkward word combinations. Have I used too many words or dull words? If so, I cut them out.
Another technique many writers use is seeking the opinion of others. Madeleine L'Engle explains how she gets feedback:
I don't try ideas on anyone, but I do like to read bits and pieces of manuscript to people—either children or grown-ups. whoever is available.
Finally, many authors find it helpful to set aside their work for a time. When they read it again later, they often notice ways to improve it. Poet Myra Cohn Livingston explains how she gets a fresh viewpoint:
Searching for the right form to express certain ideas takes time. 1 try to put poems away, once written, and take them out much later.
Proofreading. A final stage in the revising process is proofreading. Proofreading is a last check on punctuation, grammar, spelling, and capitalization. When you proofread, your goal should be to make your writing clear and correct. Mark your corrections on your final draft.
Making a Final Copy.
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