The Writing Process:  PLANNING

(these are links to the sections below)

1. Choose a SUBJECT of interest.
2. Focus that general Subject to a specific TOPIC.
3. Formulate a clear THESIS for that Topic.
4. Create TOPIC SENTENCES to support your Thesis.
5. (Next Stop:  OUTLINING)

Step 1: Selecting a Subject

• If you are not assigned a subject for writing, the ideal situation is for you to select your own subject with the following considerations:
  1. The subject should involve an idea that is comfortable because you have knowledge of it without the necessity of research.
  2. The subject should be substantial because it is an idea worthy of being shared with a receptor.
  3. The subject should be one that will yield deductively to a specific statement of thesis.
• For example, you are a sports enthusiast. You have participated in various sports and continue to have an interest in sports. In other words, this subject is not only comfortable, but you also have considerable knowledge of it. After thinking about this potential subject, you can deductively arrive at a substantial thesis worthy of the reader's consideration. This process can be illustrated as follows:
  • Sports
  • What about Sports ?

Step 2: Narrowing Subject to a Topic

• Now that you have selected an appropriate subject, you should question it to deduce a more specific area of sports about which to write. It is very important to create a specific subject area because "Sports" is too general and cumbersome to be developed in a composition. Provide yourself with a number of potential specific subject areas pertaining to sports. Notice the following suggestions:
   
• Sports (What about sports?)

1. Salaries of professional baseball players.
2. Injuries suffered by football players.
3. The increase of drug-related incidents in basketball.
4. The impact of sports personalities on youth.
5. The training necessary to succeed in professional golf.
 

• After "brainstorming," you can now decide on a specific subject area. Suppose that you decide on #3, "The increase in drug-related incidents in basketball," as the specific subject area for your paper .
   
• Now, you must question this subject area so that you can develop a number of potential "points of view. " The point of view is the particular angle from which you will approach the subject.
   

Step 3: Developing a Thesis Statement

• The increase in drug-related incidents in basketball + POINT OF VIEW.
   
• After much thought, you might generate the following potential points of view.

1. It is affecting the performance of players.
2. It is setting a poor example for young people.
3. It has affected the public's opinion of professional basketball.
4. It has produced conflict between owners and players.
 

• Once you have developed a list of potential points of view, you can select the one that best relates to your specific subject. Suppose you decided on #2, "It is setting a poor example for young people." You have now created the two important ingredients for framing your thesis statement for the composition --a sentence housing the main idea for the composition. In this case, your thesis would be as follows:
   
• The increase of drug-related incidents in professional basketball is setting a poor example for our young people.
   
• After creating the thesis statement, you have successfully completed steps #1 and #2 in the pre-writing cycle.

Step 4: Creating Topic Sentences

• The pre-thinking cycle evolves as a result of your ability to consistently question the nature of your ideas. This approach has led you from the development of a subject for the composition, to the creation of the essential parts of a thesis, and to the formation of an adequate thesis statement. The final step in the pre-writing cycle involves the creation of topic sentences for the paragraphs which will form the body of the composition. The following graphic illustrates the questioning approach used in the creation of topic sentences:
   
• THESIS STATEMENT (What about it? )
   
  • TOPIC SENTENCES
     
• The thesis statement serves as the basis for the creation of topic sentences. Potential ideas can be generated as a result of your ability to question the main idea stated in the thesis. By questioning the thesis, you can generate a number of ideas which can be developed into potential topic sentences.
   
  • THESIS STATEMENT
     
• The increase of drug related incidents in professional basketball is setting a poor example for our youth.
   
  • QUESTION: HOW or WHY?
     
• In assessing this thesis, you might decide to answer the question: HOW? As a result, you should be able to "brainstorm" so as to generate as many potential topic sentences as possible. It would be to your advantage to list these ideas in sentence form because, eventually, you must choose which ideas will become the actual topic sentences for the body of the composition. To ensure unity when you eventually write the composition, make sure all topic sentences are directly related to and support the main idea situated in the thesis statement. So, after concluding your "brainstorming," you should eliminate any ideas which do not relate to your thesis. The following topic sentences are directly related to and support the main idea situated in the sample thesis statement:

1. Young athletes might experiment with drugs.
2. They might feel that drugs can help them succeed in a sport.
3. "If the pro can do it, why can't I?" might become a popular slogan.
4. The presence of drugs in schools will escalate.
5. The family will have to contend with anew aspect of the drug problem.
 

• By completing Step #3 in the pre-writing cycle, you have determined what the topic sentences are for the paragraphs which make up the body of the composition. The next step is to outline the body of each individual paragraph so as to provide the necessary support for each topic sentence. This pre-writing cycle has allowed you to complete the important preparation essential for writing a substantial composition. You have gained insight and established control over the thesis and those ideas making up the topic sentences which support that thesis.

 

NEXT STOP:  OUTLINING

               →

 

 

 

LINKS to Related External Sources:

• OWL:  Prewriting (Invention)
• COMMNET:  Freewriting, Clustering, Outlining
• POWA:  Discovering What to Write

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