Rhetoric and Composition/Planning and Prewriting

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[edit] Overview of Planning and Prewriting

Although Gene Fowler's experience is not universal, many writers say the hardest part of writing is beginning. But "beginning" can have many starting points. In fact, many writers begin working on a topic long before sitting down to type. Most often, they have been discussing their ideas with others. Students are often advised (and sometimes even required) to talk about their intended paper topics with their instructors before investing time and energy on them. Often, they are given time to discuss their ideas with their peers, such as in small-group brainstorming sessions. Freelance writers typically submit a query or abstract to an editor before writing and submitting a full-length piece. A relatively new way to get feedback is through the Internet. Numerous discussion boards, forums and blog sites provide an opportunity to compose a sentence, paragraph or even longer "draft" about your ideas.

Writers, particularly student writers, often face a significant prewriting problem: what to write about. Many college courses require essays as a major component of the course grade. Students may struggle to find an appropriate topic or thesis to satisfy the requirement. Professors face a similar problem: Publications are required for tenure, but it is not always easy for an individual professor to find good ideas for articles, especially in saturated fields. Established poets and novelists sometimes find their brains congealing as they desperately search for new and interesting themes for their work. In short, one of a writer's greatest difficulties is simply finding something interesting or useful to write about.

Sometimes even when a writer has a good topic, other problems still make it impossible to begin writing. The most common problem is the infamous "writer's block." Writers suffering from writer's block can stare at the blank screen of their word processors for long periods of time, unable to compose a single sentence. Some writers find that this "block" is only lifted just before their deadline or due date, and they must work frantically and recklessly to meet the deadline.

Even if a writer has a good idea for a paper and is ready to begin the first draft, he or she may discover that some of his or her thoughts are unorganized. What should be put in the first section? Where does this paragraph really belong? Organization can be especially problematic in the planning and prewriting stage of writing large documents. Without a concrete plan, writers may find themselves repeating information, referring the reader to nonexistent passages, or begin stating incomplete passages to a hopelessly confused reader. If your readers have complained about incoherence or a lack of unity in your writing, you may be guilty of rushing into draft mode too soon.

Fortunately, there are sound strategies that can help to solve these problems. The discussion will begin with some prewriting strategies that can help you discover the best topics for your papers. Next, some strategies will be given to help you reduce writer's block or writing anxiety. Finally, you will be given tips on how to best plan your draft and reduce the likelihood of composing confusing or incoherent documents.

During the writing process, you can always ask yourself the questions: “why, what, which, who, where, and how.” For instance, you can ask why you are writing, what the subject is, which subject has the most potential to attract your readers, who your audience is, where does the background information come out, how you can persuade your readers, etc. Keeping these questions in mind while you are writing, it is possible help you to develop and produce your ideas efficiently in a limited period of time.

[edit] Finding a Topic

Perhaps the greatest fear most students experience in a writing class is whether or not they will be able to come up with a good topic for the papers required by their instructors. Students often desire a specific topic or thesis to write about, and occasionally instructors may be vague about what topics are acceptable. The reason for being vague is that professors do not want to limit the possibilities, by limiting the topic. Narrowly limiting the range of topics can prevent a student from pursuing a particularly fascinating or radical approach. Very few writing instructors care to read a stack of nearly identical papers. Professors want to be surprised by their students' ingenuity. Unfortunately, a student never knows whether their professor will judge their essay as "brilliantly original" or "totally unintelligible." The trick is to do something new or unexpected in conjunction with something tried and true.

Imagine that you are in an introductory literature course. The professor has assigned a 3-5 page essay, multiple sources required, on a Shakespearean play of your choice. You might try asking the professor to be more specific, or offer some suggestions. The professor may respond, "No, it's up to you. Surprise me." What do you do now?

The best thing to do is to travel to the library and start looking for scholarly journals on the Internet that cover Shakespearean studies. You might also try scholarly books about Shakespeare and his plays. Browsing these sources should give you some ideas about what aspects of Shakespeare, or his plays, scholars have found worthy of serious discussion. You might find that an idea you thought was "original" turns out to be embarrassingly passe. However, you shouldn't let this worry you. Eventually, dozens of potential theses and lines of inquiry will emerge. Scholars frequently engage in complex and long-lasting arguments that span across journal articles and books. The trick is to select an issue that you can reasonably cover given the time and space (page count) you have available and work out your own position on the issue. After that it's a simple matter of supporting your argument by bringing in relevant quotations from those who agree with you. You should also identify the counter-arguments and provide some general background on the issue.

This technique also works well for writing theses and dissertations. Instead of writing about "things never written about before," try to make a new contribution to one of the many ongoing conversations in the field. This approach is especially handy if you hope to publish your work, since some publishers tend to favor works that fit with their existing line of publications. Readers also expect you to be familiar with, and probably refer to, works of other scholars who have written on your topic. Think of your work as either extending existing work or taking it in a new direction.

If you intend to publish fiction, it's a good idea to first familiarize yourself with the work of successful fiction writers and consider what it is about their work that appeals to publishers. There is no shame in following the same roads that led to their success. This isn't the same as "copying" or "ripping off" an author; there is a difference between duplicating techniques and duplicating content.

In essence, the easiest way to find a topic to write about is to see what other writers are writing about and join their "conversation." The conversation metaphor is a very useful way to understand what scholarship is all about. Rather than thinking of essays or books as isolated units of scholarship, try envisioning them as parts of a massive network of scholars who converse with each other via scholarly documents, conference presentations, e-mail, phone calls, and other forms of communication. Research what is available and where you can make the most valuable contribution.

[edit] Discovering Ideas

Before writing, you should explore your ideas and let your mind think without restraint. Remember, the ideas may pop up to your mind anytime and anywhere. Always prepare to record the new inspiration; for example, writing down on a napkin when you are eating, recording yourself on a tape recorder, or taking a picture of what you see that inspires you.

For the freshman composition student, a good way to get good ideas is to read and listen actively. Your texts and professors are going to discuss issues in the field. They will bring up controversies. They might make comparisons to related ideas or other thinkers. Be alert to these sources for good ideas.

The biggest mistake a novice writer can make is to rely solely on "inspiration." You cannot write about something or even have an informed opinion about it until you know something about the subject. You have to know something before you can elaborate on it. This means you should be alert to the clues your professors and texts provide. What are the controversies in the field? What ideas are being debated about the subject?

[edit] Dealing with Writing Anxiety

Students are often faced with the concern that, even though they feel well-versed about a subject, they will not be able to express themselves well on paper. Many, if not all writers (not just first year college writers) will experience this fear at least once and perhaps multiple times. The good news is most writers have found a way to get over this fear and move on to a point where they are actually able to write. For many, the process of writing can become easier after writing just one or two sentences.

What happens if you're still stuck? Is there ever going to be hope for you? Of course there is!

Many writing instructors believe that students should complete long and intense prewriting exercises before they will be prepared to write. Students may be asked to complete a questionnaire designed to encourage them to think about their topic. This is called a heuristic exercise. Instructors sometimes assign activities like "brainstorming" or "clustering," in which students are expected to write whatever words pop into their heads as they contemplate a topic. Other instructors advocate for "freewriting," which means to simply start writing and continue writing no matter what -- even if you're forced to write sentences like "I don't know what to write next, I don't know what to write next," and so on. Some students find it helpful to just start writing about anything just to get their "writing juices" flowing, and then make the jump to addressing the assigned work. For other students, all it takes is one sentence to connect to another sentence. Although the introduction to a paper is the most important paragraph when introducing a thesis, skipping past the introductory paragraph and typing other information can often help a student crash through a mental blockade.

Students have sometimes found it helpful to record themselves. Simply talking about the subject at hand, as if you are informing a friend about what you have discovered through your research can often bring ideas to mind. Other students find creating an outline about what you want to share helpful (see the example below this section for ideas). You could also try the technique of mind-mapping, in which you construct a map of all your ideas and how they relate to each other. An appointment could also be made at your university's writing center and to talk through your assignment with a writing tutor.

You may be asking yourself, do these activities really help writers get started? Perhaps they offer the same benefit as stretching or warming up before a workout. Exercises like brainstorming and freewriting may help writers ease into the "zone," or the state of intense concentration and focus necessary to write good prose. The best advice anyone can offer is to try these things for yourself to find one that works for you. If none of these specific strategies work, you may want to come up with a strategy of your own. Remember, what works for others to get started on the writing process may not always be what works for you. What matters in the writing process is that you find a method that works.

[edit] Determining Your Audience

Ask yourself one simple question: "Who is my audience?" That will help you to decide what subject and purpose you want to inform, persuade, or explain to your readers. For instance, you might want to provide plenty of evidence in order to persuade readers, especially for those readers who tend to disagree with you. Alternately, you might want to inform your readers who have never heard of the subject about which you select to write. Therefore, determining whom you are writing for will also help you to develop ideas to present on your paper.

[edit] Developing an Outline

Developing an outline, such as the examples below, can be helpful because you can keep an overview of what you want to say, check whether you have covered everything, and find what is out of scope and should be excluded. The outline can grow during the process of writing the body text as you extend it with new points coming to mind during the process.

Outline example I

Outline example II

[edit] Generating ideas

Once you have a topic to write about, think about the kind of information you want to include in your work. Try brainstorming for ten minutes and list every idea you have about your topic. If you create an outline, you can easily organize these ideas and you can see which ideas don't fit anywhere that you can get rid of. Talking to your peers about your writing is a great way to generate ideas and gain a fresh perspective about your topic. Talking to someone also can lead to ideas that you hadn't considered and more ideas to research.

There are several methods for generating ideas for your writing, some of which are included in the following.

[edit] Brainstorming

Brainstorming is used to generate a large number of ideas relatively quickly. You can brainstorm with others or you can brainstorm by yourself, which sometimes turns into freewriting. To effectively brainstorm, write down whatever ideas come to your head. Sometimes it works better to write down each idea on a separate piece of paper. It also helps to ask yourself some questions:

1. What do I care about or what am I interested in?
2. What do I know that I could teach others?
3. What irritates me?

In order to capture more thoughts in your mind, you may want to brainstorm a few times until you have enough ideas to start writing.

Examples

Imagine you are in a class and your instructor tells you that you will have to write a paper on your favorite free-time activity and that you must persuade your reader to try it.

First ask yourself, What do I care about? or What am I interested in?

It is easier to write about a topic that you are interested in. This could be anything from gardening to ice skating, or from writing poetry to playing the piano. Your list, in this example, would then read:

1. gardening
2. ice skating
3. writing poetry
4. playing the piano

At this stage, every idea is good since you are trying to come up with as many ideas as possible.

Second, ask yourself, What do I know that I could teach others?

You may be able to teach someone else something that you really enjoy. Good for you! If you are not, don't worry. You are still just brainstorming. Perhaps you teach swimming lessons or t-ball, or maybe you bake really well and are able to teach some of your insights. Your list, in this example, would then read:

1. swimming lessons
2. t-ball
3. baking

Anything is fine. You are still brainstorming.

There are no wrong ideas in a brainstorm!!!

Let's think of another example. How about the common situation where the instructor wants you to write about "something you care about" or an "issue you have"?

Again start by asking yourself a question. Ask yourself, What irritates me?

Everyone has things that irritates them, some small and others larger. An example of something small that's irritating could be people in your dorm who leave trails of toothpaste by the sink and never clean up after themselves. A personal example can be useful as a bridge to a larger issue that will be your topic -- in this case it could be community living and personal responsibility.

In academic writing with a less personal slant, the source of irritation is often another writer/theorist with whom you disagree. Your "irritation" then would lead to an effective piece about why you have a better conception of what's really going on. A less direct version of this would be a writer/theorist who makes some good points but lacks something in his/her argument that you can add to the "conversation."

A majority of academic writing begins with brainstorming. Go ahead! Try one or many of the ideas for brainstorming either by yourself or in a group. Working together to come up with ideas means that there are more ideas coming from many different minds.

[edit] Clustering

Clustering is the process in which you take your main subject idea and draw a circle around it. Then you draw lines out from the circle connecting topics that relate to the main subject in the circle. Clustering is very useful in making sure that all aspects of main topic are covered.

Example

After using the brainstorm example, let's say you decided on the topic of gardening. Your main idea of gardening would be in the center of your page circled. Anything else that you want to say about gardening would be connected to the circle with lines. You can also add more lines to extend the ideas that relate to thoughts around the circle. When finished, clustering chart might look like the following:

[edit] Freewriting

Freewriting is useful in generating ideas or simply in setting your ideas in motion. All you have to do is start writing without worrying about grammatical or spelling errors. You should write down your ideas naturally and spontaneously so that you can get many ideas quickly. Do not look back at what you wrote until you are satisfied that you have written enough. An easy way to freewrite is to set a time limit that you will write for and then begin writing. You can write anything at all, but at the end, you often find some quality ideas scattered throughout your writing.

Example

1. I set my kitchen timer for a specific amount of time. Let's say 5 minutes.
2. I just begin writing without worrying about what I am putting onto the page.

3. The timer went off, so I stop writing.
4. At this point, I review what I have written and decide which point(s)
to elaborate on.

With these simple writing tips you should be able to find a topic and begin the process of writing the assigned paper. Brainstorming, clustering, and freewriting are used even by established and published authors, so do not feel ashamed using these techniques. They can be very helpful in overcoming writer's block or writing anxiety. If none of these work for you, try to come up with your own strategy. What works for someone else may not work for you. After all, these prewriting strategies are just ways to put your ideas on the paper that allow you to edit your ideas in depth at a later time. Last, try to enjoy the moment you are writing instead of seeing writing as only finishing an assignment that teachers gave you. Then, writing might become an interesting hobby that you will get pleasure from of it and also benefit your thinking techniques.

Focused Freewriting

Focused freewriting is a technique that is used once you have some idea of the topic but are not sure what you want to say. It works much like freewriting, except that you write only on the topic you have already chosen.

Focused freewriting can help you determine the direction you want to go with your paper. It can also give you good phrases to put into your paper. And it can help you get over the fear of writing on the topic, because you will have already written on the topic by creating the focused freewriting.

[edit] External Links

• Finding a Topic
• Developing a Thesis
• Additional Advice on Preparation
• Tips for Getting Started On a Paper
• Prewriting Strategies
• Developing a Thesis Statement
• Fighting Writer's Block

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