Lecture 3 The writing process Writing is a craft and like any other craft it involves learning skills and how to apply them. We can all learn the basic skills! and be reasonably good writers Writing is a process an activity that moves in stages and takes time to complete 2. Stages of writing The following diagram shows the common stages involved in a writins g task Gathering Drafting Information Targetting Filtering Final Draft Brainstorming Revising
1 Lecture 3 The Writing Process 1. Writing is a craft and like any other craft it involves learning skills and how to apply them. We can all learn the basic skills! and be reasonably good writers. Writing is a process, an activity that moves in stages and takes time to complete. 2. Stages of Writing The following diagram shows the common stages involved in a writing task: Gathering Drafting Information Targetting Filtering Final Draft Brainstorming Revising
3. Targetting Purpose Take into account your audience and purpose of writing The writer must decide what the purpose for writing is going to be This technique will help the writer get started 3. 1 Purpose e. g the purpose of a particular scientific paper may be to introduce a novel chemical for detecting uranium This will call for the use of argumentation methods in the writing Any good argument is only as good as the evidence presented to support the position of the writer. In scientific papers, the evidences and facts to support the argument normally comes from actual experimentation 3.2 Audience The writer must decide on the person or group of people that would, or should, be persuaded Once the author determine the audience, his or her focus for persuasion changes
2 3. Targetting & Purpose Take into account your audience and purpose of writing! The writer must decide what the purpose for writing is going to be. This technique will help the writer get started 3.1 Purpose e.g. the purpose of a particular scientific paper may be to introduce a novel chemical for detecting uranium This will call for the use of argumentation methods in the writing. Any good argument is only as good as the evidence presented to support the position of the writer. In scientific papers, the evidences and facts to support the argument normally comes from actual experimentation 3.2 Audience The writer must decide on the person or group of people that would, or should , be persuaded. Once the author determine the audience, his or her focus for persuasion changes
Audience awareness often determines the direction and content of writing For a scientific paper, we are writing for an expert audience, peers in the same field e.g. a paper in ICP-MS Our purpose is to propose a new innovation in the sample introduction into the icp Since we are writing for experts we do not include common information on the components of the icp or ms and the function of each Rather we will concentrate on the nebulizer the common techniques of sample introduction the common failures etc However if we are writing a thesis, we have to give much more details. starting from structure and components of the icp. how each component works. before focussing on the nebulizer 4. Gathering Information or researching for Information Before writing a complete well structured first draft of a paper, authors should collect all the materials they will need Researching is the process ofusing primary and secondary sources ofinformation to find out about the topic. All sources are classified as Primary, Secondary Authors can derive their materials from a variety of sources
3 Audience awareness often determines the direction and content of writing For a scientific paper, we are writing for an expert audience, peers in the same field e.g. a paper in ICP-MS Our purpose is to propose a new innovation in the sample introduction into the ICP Since we are writing for experts we do not include common information on the components of the ICP or MS and the function of each Rather we will concentrate on the nebulizer, the common techniques of sample introduction, the common failures etc. .However if we are writing a thesis, we have to give much more details, starting from structure and components of the ICP, how each component works, before focussing on the nebulizer. 4. Gathering Information or Researching for Information Before writing a complete well structured first draft of a paper, authors should collect all the materials they will need. Researching is the process of using primary and secondary sources of information to find out about the topic. All sources are classified as Primary, Secondary Authors can derive their materials from a variety of sources:
Primary Sources: e.g. Photos taken at the laboratories, interviews, surveys, Journals, data experimental results( Primary sources are those created by direct o bservation authors were participants in or observers of the events For scientific papers, writers use mainly experimental results/data or observations which they conducted themselves However. secondary sources are often useful Secondary Sources: e.g. Abstracts, textbooks, government documents are written by people with indirect knowledge. They rely on primary sources Authors frequently use journals 4.1 Periodicals/Journals Numerous specialists journals are available. Reviews of our particular speciality will be a good entry point for our information gathering e.g. Reviews on Flameless Atomization Techniques
4 Primary Sources: e.g. Photos taken at the laboratories, interviews, surveys, Journals, data & experimental results ( Primary sources are those created by direct observation. authors were participants in or observers of the events For scientific papers, writers use mainly experimental results/data or observations which they conducted themselves. However, secondary sources are often useful: Secondary Sources: e.g. Abstracts, textbooks, government documents are written by people with indirect knowledge. They rely on primary sources. Authors frequently use journals: 4.1 Periodicals/Journals Numerous specialists journals are available. Reviews of our particular speciality will be a good entry point for our information gathering. e.g. Reviews on Flameless Atomization Techniques
4.2 Electronic Media-Internet www Web pages is entry point for access to a collection of pages Search engines e.g. Yahoo, GooGlE help search Besides the sources mentioned above, there are two useful ways to generate ideas for writing which may prove useful: One is brainstorming: 5. Brainstorming a creative process to generate as many ideas as possible without worrying about whether they are good or bad a related technique to generate ideas is clustering 5.1 Clustering clustering involves writing a topic in the centre of a piece of blank paper around which the writer writs down all the things about the topic that he or she think of, thus creating little "rays?"of thought that stem from the topic. Below is an illustration of how this might look like 6. Filtering At intervals we pause to examine and look at ideas generated and information gathered and discard irrelevant information and bad
5 4.2 Electronic Media-Internet: WWW Web pages is entry point for access to a collection of pages. Search engines e.g. Yahoo, GOOGLE help search Besides the sources mentioned above,there are two useful ways to generate ideas for writing which may prove useful: One is brainstorming: 5. Brainstorming A creative process to generate as many ideas as possible without worrying about whether they are good or bad A related technique to generate ideas is clustering 5.1 Clustering clustering involves writing a topic in the centre of a piece of blank paper around which the writer writs down all the things about the topic that he or she think of, thus creating little “rays” of thought that stem from the topic. Below is an illustration of how this might look like 6. Filtering At intervals we pause to examine and look at ideas generated and information gathered and discard irrelevant information and bad ideas
6.1 Organizing Good writing is organised, it has a coherent structure that assist readers to make sense of what you are telling them part of the writing process, therefore, is deciding what order to present points in and how to let readers know when you are moving from one point to the next In other words, a good piece of writing has A central theme/thesis It has flow It is coherent It is logical For scientific papers, a formal structure like Introduction, Experimental, Results and Conclusion is usually adopted The flow is natural from Introduction to Experimental to results and Conclusion Coherence has to be maintained in the way we introduce the research question/questions through to the experimentation is conducted and the results analysed and the conclusions mad
6 6.1 Organizing Good writing is organised, it has a coherent structure that assist readers to make sense of what you are telling them. Part of the writing process , therefore, is deciding what order to present points in and how to let readers know when you are moving from one point to the next. In other words, a good piece of writing has : • A central theme/thesis • It has flow • It is coherent • It is logical For scientific papers, a formal structure like Introduction, Experimental, Results and Conclusion is usually adopted. The flow is natural from Introduction to Experimental to Results and Conclusion. Coherence has to be maintained in the way we introduce the research question/questions through to the way experimentation is conducted and the results analysed and the conclusions made.
7. Drafting Having collected all the materials, notes research data, analyses etc, we are ready to sit down and actually write the First Draft The materials should be categorized as to Section labelled and ready to be used as we write the sections The original references and notes from the literature( index cards) should be at hand. If you are writing for submission to a chosen journal. a copy of the journals"Instruction to Authors"should be at hand The aim at this stage is just to write some sort of rough draft of the paper. At this stage just aim to write for the parts: Title, Introduction, Theoretical framework, Experimental, table (some), Illustrations(some), References, Acknowledgements. The more difficult parts Results, Discussion, Abstract can come later
7 7. Drafting Having collected all the materials, notes ,research data, analyses etc, we are ready to sit down and actually write the First Draft. The materials should be categorized as to Section, labelled and ready to be used as we write the sections. The original references and notes from the literature ( index cards) should be at hand. If you are writing for submission to a chosen journal, a copy of the journal’s “Instruction to Authors” should be at hand. The aim at this stage is just to write some sort of rough draft of the paper.At this stage just aim to write for the parts: Title, Introduction, Theoretical framework, Experimental, tables (some), Illustrations (some), References, Acknowledgements. The more difficult parts Results, Discussion, Abstract can come later
There are three points you should keep in mind 1)Just write something. For most people, writing is psychologically intimidating. Through a technique called freewriting, the writer is encouraged to put down on paper whatever comes to mind at the time. So go ahead and write something, anything- you will have gotten started (2)Whatever you write down dont have to be perfect the first time. Ignore grammar mistakes, punctuation, paragraphing at the writing, however imperfect the technical aspects of the wu"of this stage. The important aspect about freewriting is the fle sentence structure and grammar may be at the moment ()You do not have to write sections in the same order they will be in the final version. For scientific paper, the descriptive section Experimental, is a good place to start writing 8. Process of revisin This is the process of going back over your first draft and improving it, producing a new draft. In reality we have to do this a number of times, drafting and redrafting At this stage the main objective is to produce a comprehensive draft of the paper, which includes all the information, data, ideas concepts about the research The second objective is to group the main information and ideas logically into the Sections of the paper
8 There are three points you should keep in mind: (1)Just write something. For most people, writing is psychologically intimidating .Through a technique called freewriting, the writer is encouraged to put down on paper whatever comes to mind at the time. So go ahead and write something, anything- you will have gotten started ! (2) Whatever you write down don’t have to be perfect the first time. Ignore grammar mistakes, punctuation, paragraphing at this stage.The important aspect about freewriting is the “flow” of the writing, however imperfect the technical aspects of the sentence structure and grammar may be at the moment. (3) You do not have to write sections in the same order they will be in the final version. For scientific paper, the descriptive section Experimental , is a good place to start writing 8. Process of Revising This is the process of going back over your first draft and improving it, producing a new draft. In reality we have to do this a number of times, drafting and redrafting! At this stage the main objective is to produce a comprehensive draft of the paper, which includes all the information, data, ideas, concepts about the research. The second objective is to group the main information and ideas logically into the Sections of the paper.
Having rewritten and produce the comprehensive draft, the writer is now ready to review it. This will then be followed by rewritting the paper. Reviewing is critical reading of the draft. It covers the structure of the paper as a whole, structure of Sections and paragraphs as well as technical content. After reviewing following the rewriting Rewriting includes adding, deleting, shortening, expanding or restructuring sentences, paragraphs or sections Once the writer is satisfied with the draft the draft becomes a Review draft At this two useful strategies help (1) Get comments from other people, e.g. your fellow colleagues teachers on the review draft (2) Put it down for a day or two and then reread the draft 9. Finalizing or Editorial Stage to produce Final Draft The objectives during this editorial stage are (1) to incorporate the suggestions of the reviewers into the paper (2) to revise the paper to include all that is needed to present the research ( to review the organisation of the paper to make it coherent
9 Having rewritten and produce the comprehensive draft, the writer is now ready to review it. This will then be followed by rewritting the paper. Reviewing is critical reading of the draft. It covers the structure of the paper as a whole, structure of Sections and paragraphs as well as technical content. After reviewing following the rewriting. Rewriting includes adding, deleting, shortening, expanding or restructuring sentences, paragraphs or sections. Once the writer is satisfied with the draft, the draft becomes a Review Draft At this two useful strategies help: (1) Get comments from other people, e.g. your fellow colleagues, teachers on the Review draft (2) Put it down for a day or two and then reread the draft 9. Finalizing or Editorial Stage to produce Final Draft The objectives during this editorial stage are: (1) to incorporate the suggestions of the reviewers into the paper (2) to revise the paper to include all that is needed to present the research (3) to review the organisation of the paper to make it coherent
(4)to edit the draft in minute detail, in preparation for submissions to the ournal for publication. Once the material is presented and structured the way you want, you will begin to deal with details of grammar, the number, size of graphs illustrations etc
10 (4)to edit the draft in minute detail, in preparation for submissions to the journal for publication. Once the material is presented and structured the way you want, you will begin to deal with details of grammar, the number, size of graphs, illustrations etc.
