ADVANCED STAGES OF WRITING
Establishing a Thesis
A thesis is debatable (a main claim)
Must be something that people could reasonably have an opinion upon, or even differing
opinions, it must trigger thinking in the audience.
Must be debatable
A thesis needs to be narrow. This will depend on the scope (must have enough evidence
from a credible source).
A thesis is a summary of main idea of any piece of writing. It can be stated either in a
sentence or number.
It shows a clear path to follow in the course of writing.
It provides a clue about what the piece of writing is on.
Source of thesis
Source is pre-writing stage
Thesis can be improved through revision to make it focused.
Outlining
Comes after establishing a thesis
Provides a structure to the contents that the writer intends to convey to the reader
Helps to ensure that all the gaps are filled and details provided so that final draft is flawless.
i) The Informal Outline
Emphasis is put on the fact that it is casual
This is also referred to as a scratch outline to emphasize its preliminary, casual and tentative
nature. It is therefore a brief sketch that contains the writer’s main ideas and intentions. Since it
is open-ended, the, informal outline can be expanded as the writing is going on. The writer thus
can add some points that had not come to mind at the time of writing. The writer can also
remove or cancel some of the points after discovering that they are not useful to the essay.
This kind of outline is useful when writing short essays of two to four pages especially in an
examination context. It can also be used when writing short papers or articles. Longer and
more complex writing tasks would require a formal outline
The main components of the informal outline are:
The thesis
The main divisions of the topic including the introduction and the conclusion.
The key points to be developed
ii) The Sentence Outline
You are changing points to sentences just one step ahead of informal outline
This is a step beyond the informal outline. In the former, you map out the paragraphs indicating
the contents and topic sentence of each.
iii) The Formal Outline
Formal Outlines are useful when writing research papers. In some situations, it is a requirement
to write a formal outline first before embarking on the paper.
It uses conventions of outline such as roman numerals, capital and small letters. In writing the
formal outline, information to be included in the paper should be arranged logically showing the
major as well as minor points.
Formal outline aids clear thinking, organization and development of ideas.
Roman numerals are used for major points, capital letters for second level, Arabic for third level
and small letters for fourth level points
Outline must begin with the thesis statement.
Introduction and conclusion are not included in the formal outline.
Drafting
After pre-writing , collecting data planning and rhetorical situation, outlining, write the first draft
There is no standard procedure to follow in re-writing.
Guidelines
Write quickly with the aim of producing a complete draft.
Focus should be on fundamental matters of concepts, thesis and purpose.
Introduction and conclusion may not come easily. Skip them and move on with other
parts.
Do not try to refine and polish your work before you have come up with a complete
draft.
If transitions do not come easily, skip them and insert them later during revision.
Transition styles
Transition to emphasize, clarify, conclude and to add information
Once you have completed writing the first draft, the next step is to review it.
Go through the draft and ensure that:
The thesis is properly written and focused.
The thesis is properly supported with evidence.
All materials included are relevant to the thesis
The thoughts are arranged logically and follow organizational pattern.
Main points properly developed and supported with examples and illustrations.
Revising
Should not be confused with editing and proof reading
Is the process of fine tuning the structure and examining the content to find out if it conveys
the intended message.
Steps useful in revising
Find out whether your work reflects awareness of the rhetorical situation.
Ask yourself if your writing supports your thesis
All the paragraphs should relate to the thesis
This is the time to write an introduction if you had not started with one.
Use your outline to identify any problems with the structure and logic of the entire piece
of writing.
Ensure that your piece of writing has coherence.
Editing
Involves going through the draft and making corrections on everything as well as ordering the
work.
