1.10: Stage 1 Prewriting - Get Ideas and Make an Outline
- Page ID
- 304203
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Stage 1 Pre-writing: Get Ideas and Make an Outline
1. Understand the assignment.
Each assignment may come with different instructions. Understanding the requirements is crucial (very important) in making sure that you start out right. Here is a list of questions you ask yourself to check your understanding of the assignment:
Example: Understand the assignment
| Questions | Answers to show your understanding |
|---|---|
| Purpose? | To show understanding of planning and writing a paragraph |
| How? | Use the writing process |
| Who reads? | My professor and probably some of my classmates |
| Final product? | A paragraph with a title, three supporting sentences with details, a concluding sentences, transitions |
| Format? | indent, double space, font size 12, 1-inch on 4 sides, name/semester/date |
| Due? | by 11:59 pm, Monday, Jan. 30 |
| Where? | Assignment Dropbox for D2L |
2. Choose your topic and narrow it down if necessary; brainstorm by free writing, listing, or mind mapping.
While choosing your topic and narrowing it down,
√ Do:
Write from your heart; consider your own interests and/or knowledge.
Reflect your unique thoughts or experiences.
Ask yourself:
-
- Am I interested in this topic? How much do I know about it?
- Do I have an interesting experience or perspective that most of my classmates might not have?
- Would my readers get to know the topic or me better through my writing?
X Do not:
-
- Pick an “easy” topic that you do not know much about or do not have a personal, meaningful experience with.
- Google search and choose your topic based on how much information you can find on the web.
Brainstorming means that you write down your ideas as quickly as you can for about two to ten minutes, like a storm sweeping through your mind! Do not worry about accuracy in grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Do not be overly concerned whether an idea is good or not. Rather, keep the flow of your thoughts going. You may be surprised to discover many new, hidden ideas.
Brainstorming comes in different ways: free writing, making a list, mind mapping, and some others. They may look different, but your thinking process is the same. Here are the three common brainstorming examples to show you how to get ideas for the above writing assignment on your English learning experience.
Brainstorming example 1: free writing
This is my first writing assignment in class. I want to write about my interesting English study. English, English everyday, important, tired. What aspect? Pronunciation? reading? writing? grammar? listening? Language Lab? my grades? I don’t know… well, maybe something about writing. Right now I’m trying not to translate from my native language. This is stressful, but keep trying. What about writing? yes! no translation! My teacher just taught us NSNT, interesting, I’ll try, maybe this topic? different way but I hope it’ll help me. I tried two times already, tried not to stop writing, holding my pen tight, keep writing. Possible not to translate if I keep doing it. The teacher isn’t checking my mistakes, so I’m more relaxed this way. Also fun because focus on my ideas and learn to express in total English. My teacher said, this skill will help me succeed in ESL and college classes. I want to learn. I know it’s important. teacher said translation no good, agree, my language and English very different, think in English, habit, try every day, confidence.
Brainstorming example 2: making a list
English learning experience: Reading, writing, listening, speaking, language lab, international students club
a. reading: interesting stories, new words, dictionary, too many words, hard, useful, in context, guessing first??
b. writing: academic writing, paragraphs, topic sentence, punctuation, NSNT, new, interesting, hard, feel strange, how not to translate? worry my grade
c. listening: news, recordings, hard, too fast, when driving, language lab, good materials, open, helpful stuff, lots of resources, what to choose
d. speaking: international students club, games, prizes, snacks!! new friends, some native speakers, every week, fun, nervous
Brainstorming example 3: creating a mind map
3. Decide on the main idea and make an outline
Take a second look at your brainstorming and consider which area to focus on (main idea) and what information to keep or throw out. In this example, the student decides to write about NSNT and the reasons why they like it.
Then organize your ideas into a simple plan called an outline. It may take five to ten minutes to make an outline.
- Write the topic sentence in a complete sentence on top of the page.
- Write your supporting ideas and their details in words and phrases, or even some symbols like # for number and $ for money. Do not write complete sentences and do not write a draft of the paragraph. When you write your ideas in words and phrases in the outline, you can spot problems more easily, such as if an idea does not support the topic sentence.
- When you write your paragraph later, you may have an additional idea. Do not include it in your paragraph directly. Put it in your outline to make sure it helps explain the main idea. You may ask yourself:
-
- Does this idea support my topic sentence?
- Which part of the outline should I put it in?
- Is there already a similar idea in the outline?
An outline example:
| Parts of a paragraph | Paragraph outline |
|---|---|
| Title | The Reasons Why I like NSNT
(It is common to write the title after you finish the outline or the paragraph draft.) |
| Topic sentence | The Non-Stop-Non-Translation (NSNT) approach is one of my most interesting experiences in learning English.
(Write a complete sentence) |
| Background info if necessary | what is NSNT in 1-2 sentences |
| Support 1 | translation habit, different languages, others don’t understand well, a good habit of thinking in English |
| Details 1 | no subject in Spanish sentence, wrong in English |
| Support 2 | think faster and more naturally in English |
| Details 2 | better flow, less time in communication, not two languages in my mind |
| Support 3 | not too hard, more relaxed, want to write more, motivation |
| Details 3 | try every day, with music, not graded, from 5 to 15 minutes now, topics like current events, memories |
| Concluding sentence | summarize three ideas and give opinion |
Attributions:
Content on this page was adapted from Building Academic Writing Skills (Cui)(opens in new window), which was shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0(opens in new window) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lin Cui(opens in new window).