My writing style tends to be a very slow process. For me, it is very important to internalize the topic I’m writing on by rereading the topic and its requirements as many times as possible. This helps me understand exactly what I need to research and helps me focus when I actually start writing. Looking into online resources is my next step so that I can learn as much as possible about this topic. I really believe that usually there is just one resource that I can find that is perfect for my topic. This is the source I turn to most often once I find it.
The next very important part is making an outline that directs and focuses my writing. This is not a formal process but rather entails me writing words and half sentences on a rough paper and scribbling around on that page. This way I have every issue I need to address in my paper is within the outline. From here, I either formalize and clean up my outline if it is a particularly long paper or I just start writing my paper from there on.
When I start writing my paper, I find writing the introduction quite difficult but I still go ahead and write it because without it, the paper feels very unnatural for me. In the body of my paper, each paragraph has to be specific to just one issue. Since I learned PIE, I have to make sure that each paragraph has the point, information and explanation. Since I use a lot of “filler” words so that I can reach the page limit and words such as “however, furthermore, therefore” when it isn’t quite appropriate, I need to focus on concision.
Once I have completed writing my paper begins the extensive editing and proofreading portion of the paper. I used to be very hesitant in showing others my writing but this is something that I have overcome because that is the best form of editing where others can see something that I’m missing. It is also during this point that I will check the new concepts learned in class such as PIE, Christensen method, reducing redundancies and making sentences concise.