Writing is a process that calls upon the use of particular strategies at each phase. Introducing and discussing a broad array of such strategies helps students build a repertoire of tools to choose from as they approach each writing activity. The writing process can be summarized as follows:

Prewriting: using prewriting techniques to gather ideas; choosing a purpose and an audience.
Drafting: putting ideas down on paper; exploring new ideas during writing.
Revising: creating a structure that highlights most important points; considering clarity and organization of ideas; considering feedback from readers of first draft.
Editing: correcting errors in sentence structure, usage, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

Prewriting strategies
The purpose of prewriting is to engage students in the writing process and help them discover what is important for them about the subject. Strategies include:

• Brainstorming
• Focused free writing (i.e., nonstop writing on an intended subject to get out ideas and feelings)
• Mapping and webbing (i.e., drawing thought webs or graphic representations of the topic)
• Using reporters' questions (i.e., Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?)
• Reading other writers for inspiration and modeling of style and organization
• Using catalysts (pictures, texts, quotes, etc.) to stimulate thoughts and ideas

Drafting strategies

• Identifying the most important ideas generated by prewriting activities and elaborating on them
• Identifying an audience and purpose for writing and using it to guide the creation of a draft
• Conferencing with peers to refine and clarify your ideas
• Considering various ways of organizing ideas, depending on purpose and form, such as:
• A chronological or step-by-step arrangement of ideas by time or sequence
• Order of importance
• Comparison and contrast
• Cause-effect
• Problem-solution
• Pros and cons

Revising strategies
Drafts reflect the struggle to get words down on paper and, as such, they are usually rough and incomplete. Revising brings a work to completion. It is a complex process of deciding what should be changed, deleted, added, or retained.

Useful strategies for revising ideas and form include:

• Reading text aloud and seeing how it sounds to you.
• Getting feedback from peers (about what stood out for them, etc.) to assess how effectively you've communicated your message. Does it make sense?
• Asking yourself a set of questions that draw your attention to various aspects of the writing: Is my purpose clear? Is my message clear? Have I addressed the needs of my audience? Is my tone appropriate to my audience and purpose? Have I included the right level of detail?
• Making an outline of your paper. Is there a logical organization to what you've written? Is there a beginning, middle, and end?

Editing strategies
Editing involves reading for conventions rather than content. The conventions of writing are the generally accepted mechanics of language. They include:

• Form (e.g., paragraph, essay)
• Sentence structure (syntax)
• Word choice
• Usage
• Spelling
• Punctuation and capitalization
• Appearance (e.g., spacing, indentation, handwriting)

Here are some examples of stra tegies to address these mechanics:

Spelling: the most effective way of learning to spell is proofreading one's own writing. You can become a more effective speller by:

• Analyzing your own spelling problems and describing the spelling rules that give you trouble
• Pronouncing words carefully (e.g., accept/except)
• Using mnemonic devices (e.g., "stationery" where the "e" stands for envelope)

Punctuation and Capitalization: Punctuation and capitalization are not just sets of rules. They help the reader understand a text by helping them know how to read and interpret each sentence. Strategies for improving punctuation and capitalization include:

• l Reading your writing aloud, to see where you would naturally pause
• Discussing various ways of punctuating a text, and how they affect the meaning
• Remembering the purposes of punctuation—to mark pauses (commas, semicolons, etc.), to set text apart (dashes, parentheses), to note quotations, etc.
• Correcting an unpunctuated and uncapitalized copy of a composition

Much information on this page was drawn from: Saskatchewan Education. (1998). English Language Arts 20: A Curriculum Guide for the Secondary Level. Regina, SK: Saskatchewan Education.

More strategies can be found at: literacy.kent.edu/eureka/strategies/writing.html

Andy Nash is the EFF coordinator and the civic participation coordinator at NELRC/World Education in Boston, MA. She may be reached at: anash@worlded.org