Process of Writing
Writers have their own writing process as per their preference and they follow those steps
naturally. Whenever they get stuck with some tough topics, they follow the steps which are
familiar to all to stimulate their ideas in a right manner. It starts with prewriting and ends with
publishing. However, 5 basic stages of the writing process are prewriting, drafting, revising,
editing and publishing. Each stage is precisely discussed here to represent a clear perception
about the entire process of writing.
Prewriting: Prewriting is important as it is the first stage, where a writer chooses the topic and
narrows down the points as well as he determines the purpose of his writing. Additionally, the
writer should consider his audience whom he needs to address. Find your idea and then try to
develop your idea and accumulate pertinent information that supports your idea. The next step is
to plan and structure your idea.
Drafting: Drafting is nothing but putting your points and ideas on paper and arrange these points
in a readable manner. Writers usually research about their topics at the prewriting stage and then
they accumulate the entire information at this stage. First, the writers do a rough draft and then
they try to arrange their points in a best possible way and gradually prepare a final draft.
Revising: Revising is another imperative stage, where a draft is scrutinized thoroughly and
points incorporated in the draft are rearranged. At this stage, new points are added and some
points are replaced and removed as per the requirements. However, revision is indispensable to
make the outlook of the writing catchy and cogent.
Editing: Fine the tone of the writing and check each line thoroughly. Check spelling, grammar,
punctuation, sentence structure, document format and other things. Check the entire content as
mistakes should not leave behind. However, editing is the stage where writers can modify their
lines as well as theme. It is always better to give your writing to someone for editing.
Publishing: Publishing is the last stage where writers submit their work to the publisher. Make
sure your written document should be completed before giving to the publisher. However, each
writer’s goal is to publish his work and reach to the readers.
Four Types of Writing
A writer’s style is a reflection of his or her personality, unique voice, and way of approaching the
audience and readers.
However, every piece writers write is for a specific purpose—for example, writers may want to
explain how something works or persuade people to agree with their point of view. While there
are as many writer's styles as there are writers, there are only four general purposes that lead
someone to write a piece, and these are known as the four styles, or types, of writing. Knowing
all four different types and their usages is important for any writer.
1. Expository Writing
Expository writing's main purpose is to explain. It is a subject-oriented writing style, in which
authors focus on telling you about a given topic or subject without voicing their personal
opinions. These types of essays or articles furnish you with relevant facts and figures but do not
include their opinions. This is one of the most common types of writing. You always see it in
textbooks and how-to articles. The author just tells you about a given subject, such as how to do
something.
Key Points:
● Usually explains something in a process.
● Is often equipped with facts and figures.
● Is usually in a logical order and sequence.
When You Would Use Expository Writing:
● Textbook writing.
● How-to articles.
● Recipes.
● News stories (not including opinion or editorial pieces).
● Business, technical, or scientific writing.
2. Descriptive Writing
Descriptive writing's main purpose is to describe. It is a style of writing that focuses on
describing a character, an event, or a place in great detail. It can be poetic when the author takes
the time to be very specific in his or her descriptions.
Key Points:
● It is often poetic in nature
● It describes places, people, events, situations, or locations in a highly-detailed manner.
● The author visualizes what he or she sees, hears, tastes, smells, and feels.
When You Would Use Descriptive Writing
● Journal or diary writing
● Nature writing
● Descriptive passages in fiction
● Poetry
3. Persuasive Writing
Persuasive writing's main purpose is to convince. Unlike expository writing, persuasive writing
contains the opinions and biases of the author. To convince others to agree with the author's point
of view, persuasive writing contains justifications and reasons. It is often used in letters of
complaint, advertisements or commercials, affiliate marketing pitches, cover letters, and
newspaper opinion and editorial pieces.
Key Points:
● Persuasive writing is equipped with reasons, arguments, and justifications.
● In persuasive writing, the author takes a stand and asks you to agree with his or her point of
view.
● It often asks for readers to do something about the situation (this is called a call-to-action).
When You Would Use Persuasive Writing:
● Opinion and editorial newspaper pieces.
● Advertisements.
● Reviews (of books, music, movie, restaurants, etc.).
● Letter of recommendation.
● Letter of complaint.
● Cover letters
● 4. Narrative Writing
Narrative writing's main purpose is to tell a story. The author will create different characters and
tell you what happens to them (sometimes the author writes from the point of view of one of the
characters—this is known as first person narration). Novels, short stories, novellas, poetry, and
biographies can all fall in the narrative writing style. Simply, narrative writing answers the
question: “What happened then?”
Key Points:
● A person tells a story or event.
● Has characters and dialogue.
● Has definite and logical beginnings, intervals, and endings.
● Often has situations like actions, motivational events, and disputes or conflicts with their
eventual solutions.
Examples of When You Would Use Persuasive Writing:
● Novels
● Short stories
● Novellas
● Poetry
● Autobiographies or biographies
● Anecdotes
● Oral histories
