Pre-writing Pre-writing strategiesstrategies

Tips for writing on demand

Familiar Strategies

0Brainstorming0Try to capture all

thoughts, ideas, and fragments on paper.

0Make up questions and answers about the topic, no matter how strange.

0Clustering0Starting with an

idea in a middle circle, draw lines to other, smaller circles that contain issues related to the main idea.

Visual Organization: Relationships

Listing and outlining

Clustering and mapping

TopicI.Intro

A. Main idea/thesis

B. Examples

Some New Strategies

Journalistic Technique: Thinking like a Reporter

0Who, what, when, where, how, and why.

0Writers can use these questions when writing stories.

0This allows you to make certain you have provided all the important and specific details of a situation.

Tagmemics: looking at something from three different

perspectives0 As a particle (as a thing in itself)

0What are the characteristics of your topic? What are the particular elements of your subject?

0 As a wave (as a thing changing over time)0What differences are there between the past and

present of your topic?

0 As part of a field (as a thing in its context)0How does your topic relate to other topics?

Narrative PromptsA: Your school newspaper is

holding a contest for the best story

about

a disagreement between friends.

The winning story will be printed

for the enjoyment of high school

readers. For the contest, write a

narrative depicting a disagreement

between friends. Tell what the

disagreement was about and

where the conflict took place.

Develop your story with details.

B: Think about a time you or

someone you know was given

advice and then had to decide

whether to follow it. Write a story

of such a time. Make sure your

story includes details about the

situation, the decision, and the

consequences that followed.

Persuasive Prompts

A: Your mayor is considering a teen

curfew of 9:00 P.M. on weeknights

because of a problem with

vandalism. Write a letter to the

editor of your local newspaper in

which you convince readers to

accept your point of view on the

proposed curfew. Be specific in

developing your argument.

B: State legislators believe that students’

driving privileges should be directly

linked to their performance and

attendance in school. For example,

students should be required to maintain a

certain grade point average and

attendance record in order to drive. Or, if

students fail a class, they would not be

allowed to drive until their grade was

improved. State and defend your position

on this issue to an audience of state

legislators. Be sure to include specific

reasons to support your position.