What Do Good Writers Do?

1. The Writing Process What Do Good Writers Do? • Good writers plan their writing. • Good writers write complete sentences. • Good writers make their writing better. • Good writers make their writing neat and correct. • Good writers share their writing.

2. The Writing Process Special Writers’ Words • Prewrite:Plan your writing. • Draft: Write your sentences. • Revise: Make your writing better. • Edit: Make your writing neat and correct. • Publish: Share your writing. Your teacher will help you remember these words!

3. The Writing Process Step 1: Plan Your Writing (Prewrite) Pick one topic that would be fun to write about. Here are some examples: • A fun hobby • Your favorite pet • A family vacation • A school rule Write down everything you know about this topic.

4. The Writing Process Plan Your Writing Here are some examples of ways you might plan your writing: • Read • Draw • List • Talk • Think • Brainstorm • Use a web • Look at pictures • Listen to music • Tell a story

5. The Writing Process Step 2: Write Your Sentences (Draft) • Look at your prewriting. It will help you get started. • Write your ideas into sentences. Don’t worry about mistakes. You can fix them later. • Try to write all your sentences without stopping or getting out of your seat. • If you don’t know how to spell a word, it’s okay to guess. You can go back and fix your spelling later.

6. The Writing Process Write Your Sentences • Make sure to include a beginning, a middle, and an ending. • Double-space your writing. • Pay attention to the margins on the paper. • When you make a mistake, cross it out with a single line.

7. The Writing Process Step 3: Make Your Writing Better (Revise) • Tell who, what, when, where, why, and how. • Tell things in order. • Use some long sentences and some short sentences. • Use fun, colorful, descriptive words. NOTE: Writers do not always edit for all traits on every paper!

8. The Writing Process Make Your Writing Better • Use a rubric or a checklist from your teacher. • Read your paper out loud. How does it sound to you? • Read your paper to a friend. Ask whether your friend wants to know anything else about your topic.

9. The Writing Process Step 4: Make Your Writing Correct (Edit) • Make sure each word is spelled correctly. • Make sure each sentence ends with a period, an exclamation point, or a question mark. • Make sure each sentence begins with a capital letter. • Make sure the names of special people and places begin with capital letters. • Make sure your writing is neat. NOTE: Writers do not always edit for all traits on every paper!

10. The Writing Process Step 5: Share Your Work (Publish) You can share your work in many ways. • Share with a partner. • Share in a small group. • Share with the whole class. • Read your work out loud. • Let classmates read your work. • Display your work on a bulletin board.