2.2 THE WRITING PROCESS
According to Ploeger (2001), the writing process usually refers to the production process which is under taken to produce a piece of written work. This process includes three stages: planning, drafting, and revising.
2.3.1 Planning/Prewriting Stage
The planning or prewriting stage is the first stage. One may begin to write by thinking about the writing task and topic. Then writers move on to the drafting and revising stages.
Planning involves two activities: gathering or generating ideas, and organization.
1. Gathering Information or Generating Ideas
Firstly, the writers gather information or generate ideas they need in writing an essay. The writers have to choose the topic of the essay and think about the purpose and the audience of the essay. There are many techniques used for generating ideas and uncovering knowledge, question or ideas the writers have about the topic, such as brainstorming (group activity) and simple listing (individually), freewriting, clustering and using questions, which will be discussed below. The writers may also gather information by using outside sources. Such as reading book or articles, surfing the Internet, talking to friends and even applying their personal experiences to inform their writing.
The following techniques may be used in gathering information.
1.1 Brainstorming
Brainstorming is one of several effective ways widely used to get ideas for the content of the essay. These ideas may be the actual ideas for the content or ideas for organizing the content. I can be done individually or as group work. Brainstorming involves thinking quickly and without inhibition so that contributors will be able to produce as many ideas as possible related to the topic chosen by the writer or provided by the teachers. The writers have to write down every word or phrase that pops into their mind about the topic. This technique is to put the word in the form of simple listing.
1.2 Freewriting
Freewriting is a method of putting all ideas on paper as the writers think of the topic of their essay. Freewriting is like another form of brainstorming. The writers write everything they related to the given topic in the piece of paper in the given time. After they have finished this freewriting, they cross out the ideas they think not interesting and not related to the topic, and underline or circle the ideas they think interesting. Then, they write it again and again until they get enough useful information for their writing. This technique can help the writers to generate new ideas that may be better than their first ideas.
1.3 Clustering
Clustering is a combination of drawing and brainstorming, but with vlustering the writers will organize their ideas easily. The technique is like drawing a mind map. Firstly, the writers write topic or key word at center of the paper and then write the related ideas in circle or bubbles around the topic. Next, the writers have the ideas flow by branching off existing circle around the topic in smaller circle. It is likely that the initial ideas will be larger and more general than later thoughts. The farther ideas from the center, the more detailed and specific ideas may become. These clusters can also help the writers create the outline of the essay. the more detailed and specific ideas may become. These clusters can also help the writers create the outline of the essay.
1.4 Using Questions
A series of wh-questions asking for the points that are related to the topic can also help the writers generating ideas. The purpose of this technique is to stimulate thinking and to develop the ideas that can be used in the writing.
2. Organization
During this stage, the writers read through all the notes and organize the information in order to find the main point they want to write about. The writers also have to try to organize the information logically and sequentially, and ignore the information that is not useful for the essay. Lastly, creating an outline can make the writing process easier. The outline can help the writers easily complete their first draft. Below are some techniques for organizing ideas.
2.1 Outline
An outline is an essential tool for making writing process easier. The outline helps the writers think about the topic in a logical manner. The formal outline uses Roman numerals and indented letters. The outline presents the thesis statement of the essay, the topic sentence of each body paragraph, and is followed by general details and specific detail respectively.
2.3.2 Drafting Stage
A draft is a first start where the writers attempt to clarify their thinking about the essay 's main idea. A draft is never perfect, and it is not a final version of the writing. A draft should be written quickly using the outline as a writing guide. After the writers have finished writing the first draft, they should put the draft aside for a time which could be an hour, a day or a wee