Planning Guide
Foundation Work for Writing
Some simple steps will help you write a well-thought out, correcly written essay or paper.
Reserve:
- plenty of time for thought and writing development
- a quiet place where you can concentrate
- computer time (If sharing a computer, reserve time with family, roommates, library or writing lab.)
Brainstorm
This activity is what writers spend the most time doing before they write. Before your pen touches the paper, learn all that you can about your topic.
- Discuss the topic with others to learn other points of view.
- Read all that you can about the topic to learn the facts. Use your text books, magazines, newspapers and encyclopedia.
- Research the topic on the internet to find out if there is anything new that you should know. Research Process (external link)
- Draw, take or gather pictures about your topic.
- Use your creativity and imagination.
The more time you spend thinking and brainstorming, at the beginning of an assignment, the less time you will waste while you are writing.
Organize
- Focus your topic so that you can effectively cover it. Ask yourself "Is this a good topic for an essay, or would I need to write a book to cover this topic?"
- Plan how you will order your support. Will you use 'time' or 'sequence', will you use 'order of importance', will you use 'spatial order'? Spatial Organization (VR example)
- Outline your ideas on paper. (Cooperate with another classmate: exchange outlines and offer each other suggestions to improve order or clarity. It is easier to make changes on your outline, than on a completed writing. )
Rough Draft
- Get your ideas on paper. Make sure they are your own. Remember your instructor doesn't expect you to be the originator of great ideas. You can synthesize (put together) ideas, cite the authors of the ideas and give your personal interpretation, which may become a great idea! Fair Use
- Use clear simple sentences at this stage. (You can add complex clause construction later.) Also, don't worry too much about the grammar yet. Just get your supporting points on paper.
- Follow your outline. Going 'off subject' often happens because the writer is following a 'stream of consciousness' instead of an organized plan. (Use your text book for ideas and suggestions for phrasing what you want to say.)
Edit 1
- Check for general errors first:, verb tense use, subject verb agreement.
(Use the editing check list below)
Verb Use: Present, Pres Perfect, Past, Passive - Check for your personal area of difficulty such as articles or subject verb agreement.
Redraft
Often when you look at a piece of writing the next day, you can find a lot of things that you missed in the first draft.
- Add descriptive words such as adjective modifiers and adverb modifiers, to your basic sentences to improve your writing.
- Get rid of wordiness by using connectors and clauses.
- Add transition words to make your writing flow better. Transition words (Then, Next, In addition, Finally,) help guide your reader through your writing by signaling the beginning of each new idea.
- Ask for a second opinion -- email and ask a friend to read through your essay.
Edit 2
Yes Again (It's so much easier on a computer.)
- Check for general errors.
- Check article, preposition and punctuation use.
- Use a dictionary to check the precise meaning and spelling of words if you are unsure about them.
- Ask a friend to read, check, and find logic gaps in your writing.
- Ask if any part of the writing is unclear or hard to follow.
Final
Correction Symbols
Each instructor has his or her preferred symbols. Below are some suggested symbols.
| CORRECTION SYMBOLS | EXAMPLES |
|---|---|
The correction symbols are placed before the word or phrase. Correction Symbols.doc |
|
| sentence boundaries (Create a new sentence or clause.) new paragraph |
Each sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with a period. ERROR: Jane went to work and helped her boss finish a project //and it had a lot of problems but came out well.
|
| fragment sentence
|
Each sentence must have an implied subject and verb to be a complete sentence. (Punctuation – fragments) ERROR: My friend, who is a priest who works in the rural areas of my country. FRAGOften in the city as well. CORRECTION: My friend, who is a priest and who works in the rural areas
of my country, often works in the city as well. |
| verb tense
|
Each verb must agree with the time frame or time word in the sentence: (present tense summary) (present perfect summary) ERROR: I Tlived here since 1992 .
Each verb must agree with the general time frame in the context the whole writing. Tense Unity: ERROR: Scientists at MIT discovered a new life form last year. They published their research in "The Journal of Biology ". Others Tare questioning the validity of their work.
|
| Active Voice
|
An active verbs is used when the subject is the "agent" doing the action. EXAMPLE: The pilot AVwas caused the accident. |
| Passive Voice
|
In the passive, the object of an active verb becomes the subject of a passive verb; the subject is the "receiver" of the action. (passive summary) ERROR: The accident PVcaused by the pilot. |
| subject-verb |
The verb must agree in number with the subject noun: (agreement summary) ERROR:
The number of students in community colleges SV-AGRare increasing. |
| number (singular-plural) |
The nouns and pronouns must agree within each sentence. (agreement summary) ERROR: Every one of the students N-AGRhave to carry N-AGRtheir books in N-AGRtheir backpacks. |
| article use |
Every noun needs to be considered for article use. Ask your self if the noun is count or noncount. ERROR: We saw the White House and ARTthe Buckingham Palace on our two trips last year. |
| preposition use |
Some rules cover preposition; however, most preposition use has to be learned as individual expressions: Preposition Summary. ERROR: I parked my car PREPon the parking lot and couldn't find it later. |
| spelling use
|
(When in doubt, look it up in your dictionary.) Right-clicking (Control or command + click) will bring up a dictionary feature on most operating systems. ERROR: The hotel SPaccomodations were very luxurious. |
| delete this
|
ERROR: My friend also attends [to] Stanford University. Avoid wordiness. Stating things simply improves readability. shortening clauses My friend [who was] born in Turkey was traveling with me. |
| instructor suggests or rephrase this way
|
ERROR: My friend is taking (choosing/considering ) a Business major. CORRECTION: My friend is considering a Business major. |
| word-use error
|
ERROR: <Their>, you can see ducks. CORRECTION: There, you can see ducks. (correct) |
| Word forms: WF – word form |
ERROR: The WF?fly-about kite was beautiful. |
N – noun |
ERROR: I love Nmysterious movies. |
ADJ – adjective |
ERROR:It was a ADJbeauty day. |
ADV – adverb |
ERROR:He ran ADVslow to his home. |
GER – gerund |
ERROR: GERRace horses was his career. |
INF – infinitive |
ERROR: I expect INFto seeing him today.
|
| CAP – capitalization error
|
ERROR: Mr.CAPjanowksi is coming at four o'clock.
- should be: ERROR: I will study there during the CAPFall semester. |
| P – punctuation error
|
ERROR: I am attending college P , because I want to
improve my English. |
AWK - awkward phrase or word use |
ERROR: He was trying AWKlooking important to everyone. |
WO - word order error |
ERROR: She gave WO to me the paper. |
Index Grammar-Quizzes | Writing Summary | Next Focus Topic