PPT
Module 4
Planning, Writing,
and Revising
McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
4-2
Planning, Writing, and Revising
To learn how to
Increase the number of expert
processes you use.
Use your time effectively.
Revise after feedback.
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Planning, Writing, and Revising
Start by answering these questions:
Does it matter what process I use?
I don’t have much time. How should I
use it?
What planning should I do before I
begin writing or speaking?
What is revision? How do I do it?
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Planning, Writing, and Revising
Start by answering these questions:
What is revision? How do I do it?
Can a grammar checker do editing for
me?
I spell check. Do I still need to
proofread?
How can I overcome writer’s block?
Can I use form letters?
How can I get better feedback?
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Activities of Writing
Skilled performances look easy and effortless. In
reality, as every dancer, musician, and athlete
knows, they’re the product of hard work, hours of
practice, attention to detail, and intense
concentration.
Like all skilled performances, writing rests on a
base of work.
writing process demands the highest-level thinking
skills, including analysis, problem solving,
organization, critical thinking, and synthesis,
among others.
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Activities of Writing
Planning
Gathering
Writing
Evaluating
Getting Feedback
Revising
Editing
Proofreading
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Activities of Writing
Planning: Analyzing the problem
Gathering the needed
information
Writing words on suitable media
Evaluating and measuring your
work against your goals. (re-
seeing your draft as if someone
else had written it)
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Activities of Writing
Getting Feedback from someone
else
Revising the whole writing
(change word, section)
Editing (correct spelling?)
Proofreading (free from
typographical errors) ( تصحيح من
)األخطاء المطبعية
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Points about Activities of Writing
Depending on the task, expert writers may use
some or all of these activities when writing
Can come in any order (planning, writing,
gathering, ..etc)
An activity can be done several times. (get
feedback and revise several times)
Can be started while others are still being done.
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Does it matter what process I use?
Using expert processes will improve your writing.
writers can improve their writing by studying their
own processes.
expert writers seem to use different processes than
novice ( )مبتدىءwriters
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A Formula for Using Time
A Model for Writing ONE THIRD
analyzing, gathering,
and organizing what
you have to say.
ONE THIRD
drafting/writing.
ONE THIRD
Revising Writing Analyzing
evaluating, revising,
editing, and
proofreading.
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Planning
Answer the PAIBOC questions
Gather information
Organize the message
The better your ideas are when you start, the fewer
drafts you'll need.
If ideas won't come, try the following techniques:
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Planning
Brainstorm: Think of all the ideas you can, without
judging them.
Freewrite: Make yourself write, without stopping,
for 10 minutes, then read what you've written and
identify the best point in the draft.
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Cluster
Cluster: Write your topic in the middle of the page
and circle it.
Write down the ideas the topic suggests, circling
them, too.
When you've filled the page, look for patterns or
repeated ideas.
See Figure 4.2. Next slide
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Post-Writing Activities
Revising: making changes that will better satisfy
your purposes and your audiences includes:
evaluating, Getting feedback, adding, deleting,
substituting, or rearranging.
Editing: making changes that make the document
grammatically correct.
Proofreading: means checking to make sure the
document is free of typos.
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Checklist for Thorough Revision
Content and Clarity
Does your document meet the needs of
the reader?
Have you given readers all the
information they need to understand and
act on your message?
Is all the information accurate?
Is each sentence clear? Is the message
free from contradictory statements?
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Checklist for Thorough Revision continued
Organization and Layout
Does the design of the document make it
easy for readers to find the information
they need?
Are transitions between ideas smooth? Do
ideas within paragraphs flow smoothly?
Are the important points emphasized?
Are the first and last paragraphs effective?
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Checklist for Thorough Revision continued
Style and Tone
Is the message easy to read?
Is the message friendly and free from
biased language?
Does the message build goodwill?
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grammar checker
Can a grammar checker do my editing for me? NO
Grammar checkers are good at finding missing
halves.
You still need to know the rules (You need to know
the rules of grammar and punctuation to edit) so
that you can decide which changes to make.
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I spell check. Do I still need to
proofread?
Yes.
Proofreading is hard because writers tend to see
what they know should be there rather than what
really is there.
you may want to swap papers with a proofing
buddy (Be sure the person looks for typos, not for
content).
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How can I get better feedback?
To improve the quality of the feedback you get, tell
people which aspects you'd especially like
comments about.
It's easy to feel defensive when someone criticizes
your work.
If the feedback stings, put it aside until you can read
it without feeling defensive.
Even if you think that the reader has misunderstood
what you were trying to say, the fact that the reader
complained means the section could be
improved.
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Revising After Feedback
When you get feedback that you
understand and agree with, make the
change.
If you get feedback you don’t
understand, ask for clarification.
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Revising After Feedback continued
When you get feedback that you don’t
agree with,
If it’s an issue of grammatical correctness, check this
book.
If it’s a matter of content, recognize that something
about the draft isn’t as good as it could be.
If the reader thinks a fact is wrong (and you know it’s
right), show where the fact came from.
If the reader suggests a change in wording you don’t
like, try another option.
If the reader seems to have misunderstood or misread
the text, think about ways to make the meaning clearer.
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Unit One
End of Module 4
