One of the most common mistakes I see students make is skipping prewriting. Students will often claim that prewriting "takes too long" or "wastes time" because they don't truly understand its purpose or its value.
Yet, when done properly, prewriting can provide a substantial amount of ideas for a paper, including the structure and content needed for an effective draft. Many times this great information can be generated in as little as 10-15 minutes.
Furthermore, because there are so many techniques for prewriting and because there are no right or wrong answers at this stage of the process, prewriting can be tailored to an individual's learning style and preferences.
Based on these points and our class discussions, please respond to the following questions by posting a comment:
- Have you used prewriting before? If so, in what ways? If not, why haven't you?
- How did this week's classes and readings add to your understanding of how prewriting can benefit a writing project? Be specific.
- What prewriting technique or techniques do you prefer? Why?
1: I have used prewriting before in my projects or essays. I've always jotted down notes and did a ruff draft first. Than I've typed the paper up and edited it some more.
ReplyDelete2: Did this weeks class add an understanding to prewriting? I don't know. I have always done it so I feel as if I didn't really learn anything new.
3:The prewritng or technique I prefer is taking notes and putting it all together. Than making my ruff draft. I find it way easier and less time consuming in the end.
What’s up PSNOW? This is Jonathan Luther and I use prewriting almost every time I have to write a paper. It helps me gather all the information I need to write a good paper. This week’s class helped me to understand how easy it is to write a good paper and actually have it sound like I know what I am talking about. I feel this will make it a lot easier to write a rough draft and not have to make that many changes to my final work. The technique I tend to use the most is just gathering all the information I need for each idea and then putting it together in a well formatted paragraph. I do it this way because it saves time and I won’t be tired of writing. Thank you and have a great day.
ReplyDeleteI have heard from my previous English class about pr-writing, but never really used it before.It just wasn'nt emphasized on how important it was. After this weeks class though, I can see how important it is and how hard it would be to write a good paper without first pre-writing it. That would be the only way to really organize you work so it makes sense. I like them all but I would probably use the brainstorm method. That is the easiest way for me to just write down whatever comes to mind. I can then sort through my ideas and choose the best ones.
ReplyDeleteIn most english classes since high school i have used pre writing. I think it really helps alot when getting ready to write a paper. The best way i think to pre write is listing things and coming up with a plan for your essay. When you list things and write down ideas it makes it so much easier to put sentences together and make your essay a good if not great one. This weeks class just helped me more with ways to pre write and come up with ideas to write a good paper. Thanks for the new ideas P.Snow.
ReplyDeleteI can recall only a couple occasions where I used prewriting. It was way back in elementary and in high school. At the time though, it was considered outlining (same thing as we have found out today). I can remember making a list of things about blue dolphins and listing details under each subtopic. The method really didn’t jive with me so the finished product never worked out that well.
ReplyDeletePrewriting has never been a viable option to me since all I knew was how to outline, which is horribly painful for me (as fore-mentioned). I have learned that the biggest challenge of writing can be tackled with a little bit of time and focus. You need to know what you are going to write before you write it or you are going to be all over the place. Prewriting, I have recently discovered, is a valuable tool that will help sift out the excess, leaving only the potent core of the writing. It skips the salad and brings out the meat and potatoes. It really sharpens the focus of a paper.
The cluster technique seems like it would work well for me. I am a bit of a visual and hands on learner so the layout and logistics of the technique seems to fit me quite well. It keeps everything organized into subtopics and makes it easy see how all the different topics relate to each other, which I find vital to organizing my thoughts.
This is Alison Slater. I have used prewriting before, it just was hard to understand what to do with all the information I had at times. Since your class on Monday, I now know how to use prewriting much better than I use to. When I was in middle school all throughout high school I had to do prewriting. One example was when I took Transitional English my senior year of high school; we had to make an outline before we wrote our biographies on famous people that influenced us in our own lives one way or another. I did mine on Elvis Presley which is probably one of my biggest influence music wise. I’m a musician, singer and dancer, so he gives me challenges even though I’m a woman.
ReplyDeleteI’ve learned in class and in the readings this week that prewriting can make a paper much better. It makes it better because it gathers your thoughts, opinions, feelings, and etc. It also gives your paper a guideline and a very firm structure that you can build upon.
I prefer prewriting in freestyle and mapping/webbing. I like the freestyle way because I love writing poetry and seem to be very good at it. I like mapping/webbing because I’m a visual learner and need to actually do it to see it. I’m a hands-on person so mapping/webbing helps me to see it better by doing that.
During one of my first couple years at school, without realizing it, I was doing a prewriting web, due to one teacher, at the time, was telling us that it would help us out greatly in the future when we done essays for future tests. After that grade was finished, I had almost forgotten about that method, which is why I couldn't figure out why it was so familiar to me.
ReplyDeleteThis week's classes helped enlighten me to the fact that prewriting gets the work done before you start writing drafts. Prewriting gets your ideas organized in a coherent manner. I prefer the web method because I feel it gives me a set of directions on what ideas and supporting facts are supposed to go together, to keep focus on the main idea is, and to help keep the overall organization to a readable and coherent paper.
Mr. Snow this is Brandon Desrosiers and i have used prewriting before but only to do outlines. In high school we always had to do an outline for our essay's. I never really liked doing outlines, it was hard for me to think of everything and write it in order. This weeks classes has helped me to see how much easier it will be to write essay's not having to do an outline. Doing the spider web or cluster and just thinking of what the topic was about and writing down everything i know about it will help me write my essay better. The prewriting technique that i prefer so far is clustering. I like clustering because i can think of ideas for a certain topic and use any of them i want if you dont give me the topic already. I also like it because writing my ideas down can help me to generate more ideas quicker.
ReplyDeleteThe prewriting that I have been using is for the talk's that I have to write for my congregation meeings. The method that I used for my prewriting my talk's would be to do my reasearch first than write out a rough draft. After the rough draft is completed I would go back and revise to insure that my draft is about only the subject at hand.
ReplyDeleteRegarding this week's class I find that the prom exercise was a great deal of help to me because I am a visual learner.
Therefore, using that technique is going to be of great use to me in my future prewriting assingments.
Said by Mustapha...
ReplyDeleteI have used prewriting before but only in high school.When i came to this country fours ago, my english was not that fluent.So what i did was sometime write down things that relate to the assignment that the teacher assign.This week class help me understand how essays can be easy and other paper like research paper can be easy when you do the prewriting first.Prewriting or technique that i prefer is freewriting because allow you to write down whatever that comes into your mind. Than eliminate the ones that does not go with paper.I found it very easy to write a paper and less time to comes out with thesis.
I tried using pre writing before every essay i wrote in highschool and when i did i used outlining and listing
ReplyDeleteAfter this week of classes i understand how important it is to pre write before writing a paper and how much easier it will be to write a paper if i pre write first maybe my papers will be alot better when i do.
Now that i have learned more ways to pre write i think i prefer clustering because it seems like i can up with more ideas for my paper then but just writing my paper first.
In high school I usually skipped pre-writing because as you stated, I considered it to be a waste of time. When I did pre-write (which was when it was required by a teacher) I would use outlines, and webbing, and simply writing down notes as my typical techniques. Last weeks class was really beneficial, and showed me the advantages of taking the time to pre-write. I thought the prom exercise was a great example, because it demonstrated how easy it can be to come up with ideas, and how you can build off of ideas or topics you already have. I am a visual person, so having it laid out in front of me (verses an outline) really helped. Therefore I definitely have taken to the idea of clustering, and the category game. Both of these techniques also made it very easy to take ideas, and inside out draft. I think inside out drafting is another great technique. I have sort of used this before. I find it difficult to write a paper from start to finish, so I usually write my paragraphs as idea’s come to me, and sync them all together at the end when revising. Inside out drafting in my opinion allows a paper to flow better. I think my writing will greatly improve using the techniques I have described.
ReplyDeleteI really haven't used prewriting in my papers, but I have in the test essays. My teachers had made our class use the prewriting outline for all test essays. For our essay assignments we could do what ever we want and in my case it was not to pre-write. I always found it more work then needed and besides I didn't really know any better way of doing it. I was never really shown how to do anything but how the state said it should be done.
ReplyDeleteThis weeks class opened my eyes to basically a whole new world of writing! Writing has always been the harder thing in school because I just couldn't get started and I'd either run out of ideas or run off into another idea. Class has shown me ways to keep that in check. I've learned so much about writing that I'm actually anticipating the 1st writing assignment! Not only have I began to understand how important it is but I've realized it makes the essay part so much smoother. With the guide lines we have been given I can always look and see if I'm following the setup properly, failure is not an option if they are followed.
The prewriting technique I prefer would be listing. I will then break them into categories and list sub-categories. I like this idea because its what I tried doing for those test essays in highschool, howevere the teachers would say stick to the outline which is probably what the Administration told them. I believe it to be very efficient in grouping ideas and being able to see what you have more ideas about.
ANDREW SAWYER
I have used prewriting before when writing lengthy essays and papers for school. I think that prewriting helps out immensely in writing the final product. I mainly use freewriting, clustering and outlining when I use prewriting.
ReplyDeleteThis week’s class and readings have just solidified my understanding of prewriting. It helps me out a lot in writing essays and makes sure that I stay on topic and puts together my ideas in transition smoothly.
As I’ve said before, I like using freewriting, clustering and outlining as my prewriting techniques the best. I think they work the most effectively for me. Not that I’m unwilling to use the other techniques, I just feel that I benefit from them the most.
-Anna B.
I have used prewriting before but not so much in English class. I use prewriting for work. I have to write down everything that needs to be done for the night or morning and the easiest way is to prewrite. By talking about prewriting this week it made me understand more about how prewriting can help me write papers easily. My teachers from the past have never really explained prewriting so I never knew what I was missing out on. Prewriting makes it easier to understand what you are writing about and not just finding random information to write about. I prefer the clustering method of prewriting. I find it is easier because I can write everything down and then write my paper without struggling.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. Have you used prewriting before? If so, in what ways? If not, why haven't you?
ReplyDelete* I don't believe I have used prewriting before. I never really understood the reason to. I'm more of a person that just write what ever comes to mind in sentence then goes back and fixes (copy & paste) where I think fits best.
2. How did this week's classes and readings add to your understanding of how prewriting can benefit a writing project? Be specific.
* I see why prewriting can be such an advantage. Papers can be written in a neatly fashion. Prewriting gives you room to make idea out of idea (thinking outside the box). Prewriting can also give you a chance to place that good idea in because when your writing or thinking your brain is in gear.
3. What prewriting technique or techniques do you prefer? Why?
*If I would to prewrite I would chose these two techniques, questions & answering and listing. I believe these technique would best benefit me.
I use prewriting to clearify my thoughts, that is on paper.This class discussion helped me look at different veiws and apply better writing tactics.My prewriting technique is vivid detailing expressing vocabulary.Pre writing helps'me write more efficient. It helps' me to crrect mistakes, far as spelling, and it helps my writing with the proper grammer structure.The class discussion confermed to me that i'm in good shape with concepting the
ReplyDeleteEnglish writing.Your verbal talk expressed many ways how to organize paraghraphs.It broaden my out look far as sentenceing structure in a M.L.A format.When I finish writing my plan essay,I use prewriting tactics to adjust on the mistakes iv,e made in my writing.Prewriting is like a spectation scam,reveiwing my story,adjusting any mistakes.I try to advise my words for more vivid expression,to persuit the readers attention.
Taylor Aponte
ReplyDeleteI have used prewriting a lot of times. It was the first thing that was ever taught to me. Throughout all my English classes, we were told to use it. That it was a very valuable tool for us to use. I also use prewriting when I start a book or a short story. I really have to think through a lot of things before I can actually start writing it. That begins we a lot of research and time. Knowing how the story at first is going to come together. Or what I want to write about. The web that we had started in class helped me to see how that could benefit my writing. It showed that I could look at everything from just doing a web. Then there was the way you had started the paragraphs. In all the years that I have been writing. I was never taught that we could write that way. And it makes writing seem a whole heck of a lot easier. And this I will definitely use in my writing. In high school when ever I had to write an essay, I would hate to do any prewriting. Sometimes I would but not all the time. Because for some reason it always made writing harder for me. It always made it seem like I was writing to different essays. Or to me it also seemed to be a waste of time. To me prewriting either helped or it didn’t.
Another topic that I find hard to elaborate on. Ahh, prewriting, something I have never taken the time to care about. I've always been passe on any aspect of fundamental writing. I've always had that "Get 'Ir Done" mentality when I write. From the time I stepped foot in grade school, to my placement test for CCC, I've had a special disregard for prewriting. I can't specify why I don't use prewriting, I just don't.
ReplyDeleteConcering the class time that was spent re-introducing me to the foundations of writing, my eyes have been pulled open from the slumber that I've spent writing top down in full on bull-shit mode. It's also shown me how much better I could have (And should have, for that matter) done on previous works. But the past is behind me and I have a new and powerful tool in my arsenal, they call it pre writing. I would place a hefty bet that prewriting would improve a paper, or project by a minimum of a grade level. Why, you ask? Let me explain, with cleanliness you get godliness, right? You can apply those lyrics to writing. If you are well organized, you can write a simply amazing paper. 'Nuff said.
I'm not sure which style of prewriting I prefer, I'll have to take them all for a test ride in one way or another to feel out what helps me the most. Right now I'd guess that bullet style pre writing would be most useful to me, short summaries of ideas are helpful to me, because when I see something I often think about other similar, corresponding ideas. This proves to be most useful, because I'm something of a scatter brain, and I spew great ideas at absolutely in-correct times, and bulleting them is an easy way of keeping my ideas legible and comprehensive.
I have never used pre writing before. There was always rough draft which I guess would be a form of prewriting but, never the way we did it in class last week. When I was in school years ago the teachers never really mentioned it. We always received the line just put your pen to paper.
ReplyDeleteBy being in class last week I was able to figure out how to come up with many ideas and not to spend a lot of time on this. I always dread writing because unless I have my own ideas and feel comfortable to write them I would normally not be able to write a good paper. By learning your way I will feel more confident and make the list of ideas first.
I prefer the cluster because this was the most recent way showed to the class and it the freshest way learned. A lot of ideas on one page can also be another reason why I will prefer to use the cluster. The more I can see the more I will be able to write about.
Yes, I have used prewriting before when I was in high school and last semester in college. The ways that I used prewriting was an outline which was always hard to think of a thesis and what to use as topics and then gather the ideas for them. This weeks classes and readings helped me to find an easier way to prewrite. It seems that it is going to be a lot easier doing a webbing than an outline like I have always been taught to do which took forever. When I use the webbing for prewriting all that I will have to do is put the topic in the middle then branch off with topics and then ideas. I like this technique because I won't have to spend a long time on thinking of what to write as when I did using an outline which didn't give much information to write a paper. I definitely like the webbing much better and will use that technique from now on out when I write my papers. Seeing the difference in all the ways to prewrite seemed overwhelming but then to see how quick and easy webbing ways made it look easier and not so dreadful.It is quicker and easier to do than an outline as I have just learned. It will make prewriting more fun.
ReplyDelete1. I never really used prewriting before, mainly because i wait till the last minute to write my papers so i skip right to the final draft.
ReplyDelete2. This week has made me realize that prewriting is not only something i should be doing but it also helps me out a lot and makes things alot easier.
3. Since i never really used prewriting before i guess i don't really know which type to use so ill be giving them all a shot and see what works best for me
Back in my high school days, which are more of a faint memory at this point, I was taught to pre write in the form of an outline. I have used this method throughout my adult life when writing. My professional life has placed me in a position as a trainer on many occasions. I have used pre-writing to outline the material and gather my thoughts in a clear, constructive format before writing training documents or preparing material for presentation.
ReplyDeleteAfter being introduced to other forms of pre-writing such as brainstorming and creating a web, I see that prewriting does not have to be the painful task that I always found it to be. Prewriting is an important process in writing a paper because it allows you to consider all of the ideas that you have and then choose the best ones. It allows you to organize your ideas and thoughts in a way that makes sense.
I feel that either the brainstorming or webbing methods will best work for me. The webbing method sets more of a visual pattern to follow. Practice of both of these methods will help me better choose the one that works for me.
michelle short
I was not looking forward to learning about pre-writing because I have always considered it outlining and I hate to online. I don't normally pre-write. I begin with very rough draft and go back and edit and revise the piece until I am happy with it. After Monday's class I realize that I am probably leaving out good information on my topics and using more time than I would be doing a little bit of pre-writing.
ReplyDeleteThis weeks class showed me that pre-writing can become an invaluable tool particularly in aiding in paragraph development. By pre-writing we were able to list specific things relating to a topic and then were able to easily translate it into a structured paragraph. I am looking forward to using those skills in my next paper. I like the idea of writing the body paragraphs first and then going back to the introduction, thesis and conclusion. It looks like it is a fool proof way to write a good paper.
I liked the cluster method of pre-writing but I would probably be more inclined to use the listing method. Since I have never done a lot of pre-writing in the past I am going to try a couple of the methods and see which one works best for me. All in all I was pleasantly surprised with the pre-writing lesson and I feel that my writing will benefit from it.
-Amy Yawney-Testa
1.Have you used prewriting before? If so, in what ways? If not, why haven't you?
ReplyDeleteI have I used Categories and free writing last semester in english.
2.How did this week's classes and readings add to your understanding of how prewriting can benefit a writing project? Be specific.
The lecture on the thesis helped alot.
3.What prewriting technique or techniques do you prefer? Why?
Category game looks like something I can relate to.
I think i never use pre writing because i like things to go fast when i am writing i hate taking notes ect. Plus my pager be due at a time so i whether not pre write.
ReplyDeleteThat prewriting is more important then i thought because i can come up more details just by free writing with out stoping until i am done thinking.
free writing to get all my thoughts outs.
As far back as I can remember I have not used any prewriting techniques. I haven’t used prewriting in the past because I felt it was an unnecessary step, and a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteThis weeks classes and readings have added to my understanding of how prewriting can benefit a writing project. Previously feeling that prewriting was a waste of time, I was proven wrong when it only took the class 15 minutes to provide many topic ideas and supporting examples in the “prom” exercise.
The prewriting technique that I prefer to use is the clustering/mapping/webbing technique. The reason why I like this technique is because it is the simplest way to provide categories on a topic while providing enough supporting details to form a proper paragraph and paper.
I don't believe I have used prewriting before. I always would do a rough draft,and then go back and take out material out or add new material. It always just seemed easy that way to me.
ReplyDeletePrewriting will make my papers alot easier now that I was tought how to do it. It really is a new form of how to write a paper. If you prewrite you wouldn't really have to stress about writing the paper because it's pretty much all done for you.
I prefer the clustering way,it seems like you come up with a bunch of different topics,ideas and so forth. Enough information to write a good paper or essay. I kinda used this technique back in my school days.
The first time I ever heard of pre writing was in eighth grade. It was the bubble topics and facts exercise. I liked how organized it was and being able to look back at what I was going to put in my paper made it easy.
ReplyDeleteWhen using pre writing narrow topics are eliminated. The research question is found and helps create paper ideas. Pre writing organizes the thoughts into a clean concise form. It is a tool that can be added to and taken away from to make the argument heard.
Using the bubble exercise to pre write my paper made it easy to figure out what topic had enough information to write a three page paper without using too much fluff. I like the centralized topic being circled and having main ideas surround it. Then facts or testimony can branch off those main ideas providing a simple layout when I begin to write my paper. Instead of forcing a paragraph about something I have little evidence of I can just cut it out entirely.
I had accidently posted this in the OCC section on February 14th. I went back to look today and noticed mine wasnt in the proper section, so im reposting here.
ReplyDeletePrewriting is not a technique that I have used much in the past because I didn’t see the importance of using it. Rather than taking the time to properly use prewriting techniques I always seemed to be in too much of a hurry to just get the papers completed.
During class I learned how prewriting can help me get a good start on figuring out what to write. I now see how prewriting can help me to narrow topics, document the general ideas and figure out what to write. Writing has been very stressful for me, but by learning new ways to strengthen my writing skills I will be able to use this technique to greatly improve them.
For example, free writing is good because you can write everything down that comes to your mind. Listing is helpful because you can write it down in a clear list, crossing out an idea as you use it. This can also be used when outlining because you can cross out an idea you use as you go along. Listing is probably the most prewriting I have done throughout my life. Asking questions can be helpful to help me to choose to a subject. Clustering can be beneficial because it helps us to connect ideas together in a visual manner.
I prefer the clustering technique over the others. Clustering helps to organize ideas and see details clearly. By being able to write down words that are associated with the topic, I feel that it will help me to visualize what I need to write about better than the other techniques. I feel that it will help me to connect ideas, and create a pattern that will help me to get a running jump towards writing my paper.
i never really did prewriting. Cause i hated writing so much that i just will write what come to my head and didn't correct no mistakes. in just handed in like that.
ReplyDeleteThis week class shaw me how important is prewriting. Like it makes a better paragraph.
I prefer writing down a lot of ideas in making the ideas into sentence.
No I have not used prewriting.
ReplyDeleteThis week has helped me because it has showed me ways and new skills to prewrite that i had no idea about.
I would probably choose the cluster technique because it seems the most fun.
I always prewrite before i write anything. I like to write down bits and pieces of whatever i want to say then somehow i just put everything together. To me this weeks class just stressed the importance of prewriting so now i know that i better stay with prewriting. I like to take notes and just free write where i can see all my ideas on paper
ReplyDeletei personally have never used pre-writting before. however i do like the idea of it, it gives you insight into the topic your writing about before you write it. This weeks class tought me that pre writting is an essential part of writting an essay. the example we were shown in class with the boxes and prom tought me alot. for that reason thats the version i prefer to use.
ReplyDeletei never really used pre writing throught high school. i didnt really try to write good papers i would just try to get them done as fast as i could as long as they passed they were good enough for me
ReplyDeletenow that im in college things are differnet using pre writing is the way to go makes it alot easier to write papers that make sense and stick to the topic that your writing about.
im going to start using the pre writing tool you showed in class with the boxes and lines from now on.