Writing Process¶
The writing process is the process or steps a writer goes through to complete a writing piece. This process can also include other people, not just the writer, who help take the piece of writing through the steps it needs to go through to be publisher ready.
Each writer has their own personal writing process and routine. Some writers like to write spontaneously, whenever inspiration decides to strike, while other writers can be very methodical about their process.
No matter what kind of personal writing process you might have, the following writing process includes all of the basic steps that (ideally) writing pieces will go through in order to be truly ready for the world.
Step 1: Researching¶
Research all the information you might need to know in order to complete the writing successfully and accurately.
Not all writing calls for research, but many do, and any writing with a well-researched foundation is going to be better for it.
For example, if you are writing an academic essay then you'll probably need to research scholarly journals to cite sources that support your thesis.
But even if you're writing a fantasy novel set in a world of your own creation, researching things like fantasy creatures, folklore, myths, and more can give you a wealth of great ideas that take your story to a whole new level of awesome.
Step 2: Outlining¶
Outline the writing piece with names for each section and bullet points under each section.
There are a thousand ways to outline before you write. Outlining can include storyboards, story outlining methods like Save the Cat or the Hero's Journey, post-it notes, timelines, notebooks, and more!
But whatever kind of writing you might be doing, make sure you take the time to outline first. And whatever you are writing, you can always list the sections you're writing will have (whether these sections are "Paragraph 1 and 2 or Chapter 1 and 2) and make some notes or bullet points under each section to outline what that section will include.
Step 3: Drafting¶
Draft the writing piece by writing the outline into paragraph form.
Now that you have an outline, you can start the writing part of the writing process. The drafting phase may include several drafts as you expand your skeleton outline into full paragraphs and create draft 1, draft 2, draft 3, and more. Continue with the drafting phase until you've met any word count or page requirements and feel generally good about what you have written.
Step 4: Developmental Editing¶
Developmentally edit by reviewing the writing for structural elements that can be made better. Developmental editing can also be referred to as substantive editing, content editing, or structural editing.
During this phase, don't worry about format, grammar, or spelling, just focus on the "big picture" aspects of the writing piece. For example, does your academic essay have an introduction that reiterates the prompt, states your thesis clearly, and outlines the points of the paper? Or does your fantasy novel fulfill its promise to the reader, have a strong theme with motifs that support it, and shows instead of tells?
Not all writers are able to get developmental editors and not all types of writing (like a high school paper) will call for hiring an actual developmental editor. But even if you are editing on your own, try and take some time for this step to make sure your writing checks all the structural and content boxes it needs to check.
Step 5: Peer Review¶
Complete developmental edits by allowing others (peers or beta readers) to review the writing piece and offer suggestions from the reader's perspective.
Even if you can't pay for a developmental editor, there are many ways to seek out peer reviews or beta readers to help get a third-party, reader perspective on your work.
You could reach out to numerous beta reader groups online or find a classmate or writing tutor to read over what you have. They can then make edits and suggestions in writing or using tracked changes to help bring a refreshing outside perspective to your work.
It is difficult to really "see" your own writing. We become so familiar with our own writing that we read right over obvious misspellings or fail to see plot holes a reader won't miss. However you can, try and get at least one other person besides yourself to read over your writing at some point during the editing process.
Step 6: Line Editing¶
Line edit by reviewing the writing line by line to improve the writing style, clarity, and flow.
This editing stage can also be referred to as content editing or stylistic editing. Rather than the structure of the writing, this stage of editing focuses on the writing itself. It helps the writer change sentences that feel clunky or ambiguous and helps the writer find and keep a consistent unique writing style throughout the piece.
Step 7: Copyediting¶
Copyedit by reviewing the writing carefully for grammatical errors.
Once the big structural edits have all been made, it's time to take a closer look and fix all the grammatical errors. Make sure you don't have any misspellings and things like that. If you aren't a professional copyeditor, you might not know what all to look for while you're copyediting.
Hiring a copyeditor is ideal, but if you can't, try using several types of spellcheck software like Grammarly and Prowriting Aid. This can help you catch mistakes you aren't used to looking for. Reading your writing out loud, or using a read-aloud software to have it read out loud to you, is also a great way to catch mistakes since our heads can sometimes fix things for us while we're reading without us realizing it.
Step 8: Revising¶
Implement (or reject) developmental, peer, and grammatical edits to create a fully revised writing piece.
The revising phase often happens in between the different stages of editing. The key to revisions is to know when to accept and reject edits, suggestions, and changes. Some edits really aren't up for debate, like spelling words correctly. But other edits are more like suggestions and it's up to you to decide if you want to go forward with that suggestion or not.
Whenever an edit is a kind of edit that doesn't "have" to be applied, take some time to weigh the pros and cons. What would happen if you implemented the suggestion? Would a certain theme become stronger? Would a certain character's development become more dynamic? Or maybe the suggestion doesn't see something you were trying to do as the writer, so you don't implement the suggestion, but it does make you aware of something else you need to fix.
Also, if you are working with peer reviewers, beta readers, and editors, keep in mind that the more edits you receive the more help these people were excited to give to make this piece of writing the best it can be. Try to not take edits personally and instead focus on "the work" as its own entity, being pruned to perfection by your assistant gardeners.
Step 9: Formatting¶
Format the writing piece in the correct format using the appropriate writing style guide.
Many writing pieces need formatting of some kind. If you're writing a book you'll probably want to format your work using the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). If you're a journalist you might use formatting guidelines from the Associated Press Stylebook (AP). And if you're a student you might need to use the Modern Language Association (MLA) style or American Psychological Association (APA) style to format your papers.
Step 10: Designing¶
Design any aspects of the writing piece like the cover art, page layout and design, etc.
This step might not apply to you as a writer. You might just need to format your paper correctly and that's it.
You may also have a graphic designer that designs the website your content gets posted on or you might hire an artist to create the design for your book cover. If you are involved in the design process at all use things like Pinterest and collages to give the designers your best ideas for the moods and aesthetics you're looking for in your writing's graphical design.
Step 11: Proofreading¶
Proofread by reviewing the final, formatted writing piece one last time for any grammatical errors.
A very real part of me believes that some kind of mischievous fae creature lives within word processing software and makes little changes on occasion. This is why writers should never feel embarrassed in the least for writing and grammatical errors. They honestly just kind of happen on their own sometimes.
That's why we have a final editing stage called proofreading. Sometimes "proofreading" can be used as a kind of umbrella term for any type of editing, but it is in fact its own editing stage. Proofreading is when you print out the final, formatted version of your writing piece, be it an essay or a novel, and read it one more time in its final form for one final quality check.
Step 12: Publishing¶
Publish the writing piece online, through self-publishing channels, or with a traditional publishing house.
Now that all the researching, outlining, drafting, and editing is done, it's time to publish your work! Writing is meant to be read and there are many ways to share your work.
For students publishing might consist of saving your essay files in a safe place and turning in your paper to your teacher. For writers and authors this step might include precursors like submitting manuscripts to literary agents and publishers.
There are also tons of easy ways to publish your content yourself online with self-publishing sites, websites like Medium, or creating your own blog.
Step 13: Marketing¶
Market the writing piece with teasers, trailers, announcements, descriptions, reminders, calls to action, and more.
If you are publishing your writing in any way, make sure to also get the word out about your newest publication! Share links to your work on social media or start a newsletter for all your fans. The audience for your writing is out there and marketing can help them find you.