The stages of Writing a College Essay

Essay by Anonymous UserCollege, UndergraduateA+, October 1996

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Writing a college essay can be a very difficult task. However, there are techniques to help make this task easier. The writing process is a three stage approach to planning and creating a college essay. These stages are known as prewriting, writing, and revising. If a student follows this process, she will write a good paper.

The first stage of the writing process is called prewriting. There are five prewriting techniques that help writers to understand the topic and purpose of the writing assignment and limit the topic to a manageable and appropriate idea. The techniques are brainstorming, freewriting, diagramming, making a list, and preparing an outline. In brainstorming, you generate ideas for you writing. A writer might view a film and discuss or write their impressions, write a list of ideas for an essay, or discuss a topic with a group of students. You might ask yourself some questions such as What? Why? When? Where? How? and Who? In freewriting, you write non-stop about a subject for a certain amount of time.

Spelling or punctuation, mistakes, and finding exact words do not matter. It helps you to get a clearer picture of what you are trying you say. Diagramming is helpful for people who think in a visual way. You can put your idea in a circle or block and branch off examples or other ideas pertaining to it. The fourth technique is making a list. You list as many items you can that has a relation to your topic. Your goal is to make details and to gather as much material as possible so you have something to start with when you go to write your paper. The last technique is preparing an outline. The thesis statement is clearly stated on the outline and...