Making Decisions in the Writing Process

As you write, you discover that you are constantly making decisions. Some of these decisions are complex, as when you are trying to shape ideas; other are simple, as when you are trying to select the right words to convey a particular message, a certain way.

Each decision, large or small, affects every other decision you make so that you are continuously adjusting and readjusting your writing to make sure it is consistent, coherent, and clear. You can test the effectiveness of your decisions by measuring them against this dictum:

In every writing situation, a writer is trying to communicate a subject to an audience for a purpose.

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Initially, think of these three elements as prompters or ways to consider what you want to write about and how you want to write about it. And when you move through planning to drafting and revising, think of your prompters as touchstones, ways to assess what you set out to accomplish.

More importantly, think of them as guidelines, ways to control every decision you make throughout the writing process, from formulating ideas to refining sentences.

Basic Stages of the Writing Process

There are four basic stages of the writing process that lay the foundation for great creations.

Three stages are fundamental to building a concrete idea; the fourth stage is actually working with the process of the first three.

Whatever your writing environment and habits, they are simply the enabling conditions that allow you to enter and  complete your writing process.

They are the physical and psychological setting for the central action, which are the mental procedures you perform as you move through the stages of composition.

The writing process can be divided into three stages: planning, drafting, and revising.