Dan+Finley

“In college, students are asked to write more than a plot summary, more than a cut-and-paste presentation of secondary sources. Rather, they are instructed in the language of analysis, argument, and counter-argument and are urged, in our responses to their drafts, to "analyze more" and to "go deeper into their sources"(Sommers). As first year students break out of the high school writing shell, the introduction of college level writing can be cumbersome and overwhelming. Writing doesn't include just the typical academic paper or lab report in college anymore; digital forms are present as well. “Constructing textual meaning for today’s students requires an emphasis on design, production and presentation as a ‘multimodal’ constellation of valuing, knowing and utilizing linguistic, visual, spatial, gestural and audio characteristics”(Edwards-Groves). The writing process for digital works follows the same procedures as a traditional form of print. Writing takes time, effort, and even creativity to make a piece worth reading. Here is the suggested process, if followed correctly you will survive any writing assignment given to you at NJIT. The Purdue online writing lab suggests a writing process you might find to be quite helpful. The seven important steps of the writing process are: The first step is Prewriting, or the invention and initial stage of writing. The second step is writer’s block, professors and students understand that this is an issue in writing. Sometimes you just don’t know what to write about. After finally finding a topic, the third step is stasis theory. What’s Stasis theory you may ask? Stasis theory is a process to examine the topic of choice. Questions like: These questions help a writer collaborate with groups, compose documents, and conduct research. Creating a thesis statement or brief statement that explains the purpose and relevance of the paper is the fourth step. Three types of papers normally found as writing samples are: Developing an outline for your main ideas and details of your composition is fifth step. An outline keeps the paper on topic and organized making sure all points are touched upon. Reverse outlining, the sixth step, allows the writer the ability stay organized. Some examples of this can be making side notes next to paragraphs. Reverse outlining keeps the paper flowing properly and is a critical component in the written procedure. The last and final step of the writing process is proofreading, the most important step. I cannot emphasize the importance of reading your own work! Subject verb agreements and run-on sentences are frowned upon! So Proofread!
 * 1) Prewriting
 * 2) Writer’s Block
 * 3) Stasis Theory
 * 4) Creating a Thesis Statement
 * 5) Developing an Outline
 * 6) Reverse Outlining
 * 7) Proofreading
 * What are the Facts?
 * What is the meaning or nature of the issue?
 * What is the seriousness of the issue?
 * What is the plan of action?
 * Analytical paper
 * Expository paper
 * Argumentative paper

Sources: Edwards-Groves, Christine Joy. "The multimodal writing process: changing practices in contemporary classrooms." //Language & Education: An International Journal//. 25.1 (2011): 49-64. Print. Sommers, Nancy. "The Call of Research: A longitudinal view of Writing Development." //College Composition and Communication//. 60.1 (2008): 152-164. Print.

By Dan Finley