When we say writers have gone through the composing process, we mean that they have taken a piece of writing from the stage in which they develop ideas and think about ways of organizing them, through drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. The process is not as neat and straightforward as this description makes it sound, however in practice; it is much messier, some times jumping ahead, sometimes looping back. Nevertheless, most writing— and all successful academic writing—is the result of the writer's attention to all these stages.
When we say writers have gone through the composing process, we mean that they have taken a piece of writing from the stage in which they develop ideas and think about ways of organizing them, through drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. The process is not as neat and straightforward as this description makes it sound, however in practice; it is much messier, some times jumping ahead, sometimes looping back. Nevertheless, most writing— and all successful academic writing—is the result of the writer's attention to all these stages.
The Rhetorical Situation
Every act of writing is done in a particular context, called the rethorical situation. Different kinds of writing may emphasize different elements of the rethorical situation, but five elements are always present: writer, occasion, audience, topic, and purpose.
Before you begin to write, ask yourself the following questions:
• What have I already read or written that is similar in this assignment? What are
my strengths and weaknesses? How can I address them when writing this paper?
• What is the context of writing? What are the requirements for length? How much time should I allot for planning and organizing, drafting and revising a piece of
this length? What should my lone be?
• Who am I writing for? Can my peers understand what I'm saying 7 Am I fulfilling
the criteria established by my instructor? How much revising and polishing will be
necessary to meet the instructor's standards? What formal should I use?
• What do I know about this topic? What experiences can I draw on? Should I go to
the library for additional information? How much information is necessary (or a
paper of this length?
• Why am I writing? Should I focus on describing the topic, explaining its purpose or persuading my readers to accept my position?
