Preparing to Write / Prewriting / Planning

From the Research:

A.) Assessing the writing situation -- analyzing the assignment or the writing task:

• What is my subject / topic?
  • What does the assignment ask for?
  • What are my interests?
  • What am I familiar with?
  • What do I have questions about?
  • What do I want to know or find out more about?
  • What did I find in my reading?
  • What did I hear in class discussions?
• What sources of information should I use?
  • personal experience -- recall, memory
  • direct observation
  • interviews, conversations
  • questionnaires, surveys
  • reading
  • research
  • imagination
• What is my purpose in writing?
  • to share
  • to express feelings
  • to inform
  • to persuade
  • to provoke thought
  • to change attitudes
  • to call to action
  • to entertain
  • etc.
• Who is my audience?
  • general or specific
  • novice or expert
  • etc.
• What form / genre should I use?
• How should I design the document?
• How long should this be?
• What tone should I use?
• Who will review my writing and give me feedback?
• What are my deadlines?

B.) Considering your rhetorical stance -- using the rhetorical triangle:

• Subject / Topic
• Purpose / Thesis / Argument -- what is/are my goal(s)?
• Readers / Audience
• Persona -- how will I present myself?

C.) Prewriting and Inventing -- generating ideas and material -- generate more than you can use:

• Brainstorming -- a.k.a. "Listing"
• Clustering -- a.k.a. "Mapping" or "Concept Diagrams"
• Asking Questions -- e.g., who, what, when, where, why, how
• Asking Questions -- e.g., the rhetorical modes
• Annotating Texts
• Freewriting -- a.k.a. "Rush-writing" -- focused vs. unfocused -- and "Invisible Writing"
• Talking and Listening
• Keeping a Journal
• Observing Your Surroundings
• Interviewing and Surveying
• Research and Reading
• Reviewing Marginal Notes / Annotations
• Debating -- e.g., Pros vs. Cons, etc.
• Writing an exploratory or a discovery draft

D.) Planning and Organizing

• Narrowing your focus
• Formulating a working thesis statement
• Evaluating and revising your working thesis
• Organizing / structuring / arranging your information
• Outlines should serve as a guide, not as a constraint that confines or limits thinking
• Writing an outline

1. Formal outlines -- with Roman numerals, Capital letters, Arabic numerals, lower-case letters, etc.
2. Informal outlines -- scratch or list outlines -- key points and ideas for specific evidence
3. Trees / Maps / Clusters -- diagramming your paper