The writing process consists of the strategies and techniques writers use to gather information, transform ideas into written words, and organize and revise their work based on their audiences requirements.

What Writing Is and What It Is Not

Writing is not something mysterious done according to some secret formula. Anyone can learn to write well. It does not proceed in a set or predictable way, with introductions always written first and conclusions last. Instead, writing is a dynamic process, requiring judgment calls and evaluation. Good writing requires a certain amount of effort, but the time it requires costs less than the misunderstandings, lost sales, and confusion bad writing can produce.

The Five Stages of the Writing Process

The writing process can be broken down into five basic stages: researching, planning, drafting, revising, and editing.

Researching

All writers need to do some research before they begin writing, no matter what or for whom they are writing. To communicate the right information in the best way possible, you need to research not only your topic but also your audience. In fact, you should research your audience firstare they experts? trainees? decision makers? customers? This will help you determine what information they need, which in turn will guide your research on your topic. This research might include interviewing people, doing fieldwork, surfing the Net, conducting surveys, reviewing reports, or other activities. Its never a waste of time to research your audience and topic before you begin to write; it usually saves time and effort in the long run. Also, research is not confined to before you begin writing; it continues throughout the writing process.

Planning

At this stage, your goal is simply to get started, to get somethinganythingdown on paper. For most writers, this is the most difficult part of the process, but once youve got something down on paper, it becomes easier to clarify and organize your thoughts. Three useful strategies for planning are clustering, brainstorming, and outlining. For most writers, outlining is the most familiar strategy. An outline need not be formal or neat to be useful. The point is simply to get moving.

Drafting

When you draft, you take the words or phrases you generated during the planning stage and convert them into sentences and paragraphs. Begin with the easiest part, regardless of where it will end up in the finished work. As you draft, dont worry about spelling, punctuation, or word choice; you will fix these things in the revising and editing stages. Drafting is preliminary workyou wont end up with a polished or complete version after drafting. The purpose is to get your main points down in the most logical order for your readers. As you draft, ask whether youre starting your discussion in the best way possible; whether youre giving your audience the right amount of information; whether all the points youre including are necessary, relevant, and logically ordered; whether youre contradicting or repeating yourself; and whether youre ending your document appropriately. In most cases, you will have to create many drafts before proceeding to the next stage in the process.

Revising

Revising is an essential stage in the writing process. It should be done only after youve produced a draft that conveys the appropriate message for your audience. Its important to leave enough time for revising. Like planning and drafting, revising cant be accomplished effectively in one sitting. Plan to read through your revisions more than once. Revising involves reseeing, rethinking, and reconsidering your material. It means asking again the questions you asked yourself during the planning and drafting stages. The three big issues to be concerned with as you revise are content, organization, and tone; how you approach these depends on your audiences reason for reading your work.

Editing

Editing is the last stage in the writing process. It is done only after you are completely satisfied with your works content and organization. At this stage, you are concerned with the details of sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, spelling, grammar, and usage. Your goal is to produce a final, polished document for your audience. As you edit, cut needlessly long or complex sentences, and combine choppy sentences. Arrange information logically within sentences. Replace verbs used as nouns with strong, active verbs, and cut excess modifiers. Replace wordy phrases or clauses with concise ones. Finally, be sure to eliminate all sexist language.

Collaborative Writing and the Writing Process

The trend in business today is toward more collaboration. Computers have made collaborative writing both easier and more essential, and the need to write collaboratively will only increase. This chapter describes a number of ways groups of people produce documents collaboratively.

The Process of Writing Collaboratively

Groups use the same strategies and confront the same problems as individual writers do. They must plan, research, prepare drafts, and revise and edit. Before groups begin writing, however, they must establish ground rules for how these tasks will be accomplished. This includes assigning tasks, establishing schedules, and selecting a facilitator.