Reflection: Writing Process

      During the process of writing an essay or written response, I do it the traditional way. The first thing to do is of course, reading. How can one get into writing directly without doing reading first? By reading either the essay prompt or the given text, I am able absorb the needed information that would guide me to the next step which requires me to brainstorm some ideas by interpreting what I had read and by sharing ideas with my peers or in public class discussions. After coming up with the relevant ideas, I start to organize them in groups consisting of bulleted list of ideas – using key terms to guide me as I make the rough draft. Once I have made the draft, it’s time for some feedback. Besides receiving professional help from my English instructor or the Writing Center, I seek out for helpful comments from my peers inside or outside of class to help me identify the areas that need improvement. Before proceeding with the final draft – the final work I would want my audience to see, I have to make the final touches. An extra hardcopy of the essay and a highlighter is essential when editing and proofreading because it is easier to draw arrows around, highlight or underline the words and phrases that seem out of place. While doing these, I write along the correct terms or phrases so it would be easier for me to edit them on the computer. This traditional approach in writing is very effective, especially when constructing essays that are aimed to a certain number of words.