The Four Steps of the Writing Process: Step 1--Pre-Write

Whether you're writing an article or a book, following the Four Steps of the Writing Process will make the task more enjoyable and faster:

1. Pre-write
2. Organize
3. Write
4. Edit

Most people skip steps 1 and 2 and jump right into Step 3. And, that's where they usually get stuck. That's why, too. In other words, Steps 1 and 2 prime your writing brain muscle for the actual writing part of the whole process. In fact, the actual writing part, Step 3, is only about 20% of the entire process. That's right, writing is 80% preparation and editing, and 20% writing.

Pre-writing, Step 1, is all about getting the information, one of my favorite slogans in life. It's all about gathering the ideas that you might use in your actual writing. There are many techniques you can use in the pre-writing phase, such as free writing, brainstorming, concept mapping, and taping your voice as you discuss ideas with another person. The idea in this step is to write, or tape, without censoring your ideas as they flow. Just capture them and tell that internal censor of yours to go away, for now.
Once you get a lot of ideas down on paper, or tape, now is the time to sort through them and choose the two or three ideas you really want to commit to. This is Step 2. In grade school, our teachers often called it outlining. But I call it organizing because that is basically what you are doing - focusing your brain on a few ideas in an organized fashion. After you've chosen two or three ideas you want to focus on, go back to Step 1 and do some more free writing, brainstorming, or concept mapping around those two or three ideas.

Next, I'll tell you how to complete Step 2 and move on to the actual writing part of the process.
In the meantime, if you need my help on any current writing task or project, please contact me at:
sue at thewriterscottage dot com.

Happy Pre-Writing!!