College Composition / Unit 1 CMP 0012 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Prewriting Strategies
The idea
Prewriting is the planning and idea-gathering a writer does before drafting full sentences.
In practice
Use the strategies that suit the task. First, think about the rhetorical situation: purpose, audience and genre. Second, freewrite: write quickly, without stopping, for a set time, ignoring grammar and organization, to see where your thoughts go. Third, brainstorm: list every idea, question and example that comes to mind. Fourth, ask questions of the topic: who, what, when, where, why and how. Fifth, sort what you have into rough groups and consider how you might arrange those groups.
Where people slip
Prewriting is not a draft and is not judged as one. Skipping it usually moves the thinking into the draft, where it is slower and messier to sort out.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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