What is writing?

Intro to writing

1. What is writing?

2. It is considered as a complex process that allows writers to explore thoughts and ideas. Concretization of sentences is an important part of the writing just like laying the foundation for a house construction. The writer must first “Think” in the language that he or she is writing.

3. According Annie Dillard; Writing is a hard, conscious, terribly frustrating work! The writing process needs constant thought of grammar and words and the production of the writing material.

4. Technical Writing vs. Creative Writing Technical Writing Creative Writing Content Factual, straight forward Imaginative, metaphoric or symbolic Audience Specific General Purpose Inform, instruct, persuade Entertain, provoke, captivate Style Formal, standard, academic Informal, artistic, figurative Tone Objective Subjective Vocabulary Specialized General, evocative Organization Sequential, systematic Arbitrary, artistic

5. The W’s and H’s in writing What This explains about the topic or the subject. Why- the purpose of your writing. Who – Writer & audience/reader for whom or to whom the writing is intended. When – If all the information needed is gathered. Where – A place where you can concentrate and free from distractions.

6. How – Writers have different writing and presentation styles

7. Steps in Writing Pre-writing - Find your idea/identify a topic. Gather information or references that is in line to your idea. Plan the structure of your output.

8. For some book, there are things that needs to be identified. Purpose in writing Who are your target audience? Action Response Anticipated from the reader Outline form of your piece

9. Step 2 Writing Now you have your plan and you’re ready to start writing. Remember, this is your first rough draft. Forget about word count and grammar.

10. Step 3 Revision Your story can change a great deal during this stage. When revising their work, many writers naturally adopt the A.R.R.R. approach: Add:  The average novel has between 60,000 and 100,000 words. Does your book have enough words to be considered a novel? Have you given your readers all the information they need to make sense of your story? If not, go back to your notebook that you kept for additional scenes and any additional details. Rearrange:  Consider the flow, pacing and sequencing of your story. Would the plot be better served if some of the events occur in a different order ?

11. Remove:  After making additions to your story, how is your word count now? Are your readers experiencing information overload? You may need to eliminate passages that don’t quite fit. Replace:  The most effective way to revise your work is to ask for a second opinion. Do you need more vivid details to help clarify your work? Is one scene contradicting another? Ask friends or fellow writers to take a look and give you feedback, and if something isn’t working rewrite it and replace it.

12. Step 4 Editing You have overhauled your story. It’s time to fine tune your manuscript line by line. Check for repetition, clarity, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Editing is an extremely detailed process and its best when performed by a professional.

13. Step 5 Publishing

14. Points to Ponder and remember for good writing (5Cs) Clear: if writing is not clear, it can cause serious and perhaps costly misunderstanding. Poor sentence structure, misused words, flawed grammar, redundancy and verbosity can all cause unclear writing

15. Correct: This means it is correct as its content as well as grammar, spelling, word usage and even punctuation.

16. Concise : The writing should not contain a lot unnecessary words or information. Complete: It should have pertinent information. When you’re writing, stop when, but not until, you’ve said all you need to say.

17. Things to identify in writing a short story Elements of short story Plot: It is called the framework or skeleton of the story. It refers to the sequence of events that are linked together.

18. Plot diagram/triangle Exposition: This comes at the beginning of a story. Rising Action: The struggle grows stronger. Climax: The most exciting part in the story. It is the turning point. Falling Action: Events move towards the end of the story. Resolution: The study is brought to an end.

19. Characters: refers to the person or individual in a story that performs the action of the plot. Types of Character Protagonist Antagonist Minor Characters

20. Conflict: refers to the struggle between two or more characters in a short story. Types of Conflict External Conflict Man vs Man Man vs Nature Man vs Society

21. Internal Conflict Man vs himself/herself

22. Setting: refers to the time and locale of the story. Point of view: It is the direction from which the writer has chosen to tell the story. Types First person Third person limited Third person Omniscient

23. Theme: refers to the central idea or belief in a short. It is what the author is saying through the story

24. Portfolio Entry Dream Writing Write out your dream of the past few nights: what you saw in your dream; how you dreamt about; where and how it happened; how you might have interpreted that dream of yours.