Unit 1
Fundamental Approach to Writing
Learning Outcomes
Upon the completion of this unit, the learner will be able to:
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Prerequisites
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Human beings live in society. So, to exist, humanity must communicate. The individuals used vocal sounds and gestures to communicate in the past. However, when intelligence advanced, individuals began to communicate and convey their thoughts through pictures, as exemplified in cave drawings. Drawings became obsolete as time passed. As a result, people eventually began to build phonetic symbols and alphabet to communicate, giving rise to the origins of the writing system. The first writing attempts were produced around six thousand years ago in Egypt and Mesopotamia. What we see now is the result of meticulous observations and historical study. The writing process made this work simpler because what writing intends is to communicate, and communication leads to knowledge. We would not have learned much about the past, or about other locations or people if the writing had not been developed. We would have continued to live in complete isolation from one another in our secluded communities. Writing has now grown into an extremely sophisticated cognitive activity in which the writer must exhibit control of several factors at the same time. A person’s chances of success may improve if they have strong writing abilities. Writing is an important aspect of language. Often students require good writing skills to complete their school and employment obligations. |
Key words
Content, Form, Structure, Style, Prewriting, Organising, Drafting, Editing, Revising
Discussion
Writing is one of four abilities in language learning: LSRW (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). It is a written sign system that represents the sounds, syllables, or words of language through various methods, such as capitalization, spelling, punctuation, word form, and function. A systematic understanding of writing ensures successful writing outcomes. In addition to this, it will help a learner in acquiring a secondary set of language-related abilities, such as an understanding of grammar and lexical structures, a logical association of ideas, an apt selection of style and register, and a more comprehensive approach to writing tasks and contextualisation.
Writings can be generally classified into two categories. Creative writing and non-creative writing. Creative writing is any sort of writing that is unique and expressive of the author. That is, it should be a type of creative composition that is not restricted by established rules and employs a wide variety of components in its content. Its function is to reveal rather than to inform. A highly creative writer meditates on either tangible world events or abstract concepts such as love or divinity and then expresses his/her feelings or thoughts via writing. Works of poetry, short story, novels, personal essays, etc. are some examples of creative writing.
Non-creative writing deals with concepts and is intended to instruct. Its purpose is to add to and broaden one’s knowledge. This category includes books about history, religion, science, and so on. To attain the finest outcomes for this goal of informing, the writers must be analytical in approach and express their points logically and lucidly so as writing can be easily understood. Even though writing can be divided into creative and non-creative based on the subject matter, a highly imaginative writer can produce non-creative work in a creative manner.
4.1.1 The aspects/elements of writing
There are four basic elements of the writing process. They are the content, form, structure, and style.
4.1.1.1 Content
It is the essence of the writing process. It is basically the experience that the writers gain from their life or from their surroundings through close observation. For instance, when a writer wants to write a story with a specific event as its centre, a specific set of characters, and a specific set of elements that had once accrued in the writer’s mind and that had undergone strange alterations within the writer, will begin to spill out of their own accord. The details of the writing must approximate reality; otherwise, the writing will lack credibility and authenticity.
4.1.1.2 Form
Form relates to how and where a piece of writing will appear. It determines how authors choose a particular language, tone, and structure in writing a text. In other words, it is the name of the text type a writer uses for the depiction of his/her ideas. For instance, screenplays, sonnets, novels, and so on. A writer can utilise any of these genres to portray his thoughts, feelings and emotions. The form of a text is significant because it reveals the writer’s objectives, characters, or essential ideas.
4.1.1.3 Structure
It is the organisational form of written material. The structure is all about outlining the structure of a piece/text, including its order of events, how they are delivered, and how they are all interwoven together. To develop a structure, the writer must first organise his material, that is by deciding how much of what should be included in the work and in what sequence it is to be arranged. Logic, common sense, and knowledge gained through extensive reading will be useful here. One cannot continue detailing the story’s setting for seven pages, at the same time saving all of the action and resolution for the final page, while organising the content of a text. In terms of sequencing, the Aristotelian ‘beginning-middle-and-end’ is a tried-and-tested method. But sometimes writers do make variations and produce brilliant works as well.
4.1.1.4 Style
Style in writing is described as the manner in which a writer writes. It is a strategy used by a single author in his writing. It differs from author to author and is determined by syntax, word choice, and tone. It is the author’s thumbprint – a distinct and lasting imprint on the work’s voice and personality. It is conceivable for two works created on the same subject or with the same theme to be structurally fulfilling yet stylistically superior to one another. Style refers to how one expresses one’s ideas and feelings in words. It is the product of a long-cultivated awareness of words and sentences, of how a writer links one sentence to the next.
4.1.2 Basic approaches to the writing process
Writers must comprehend the writing process and learn how to incorporate their knowledge and thoughts into their work. There are some basic methods/approaches that one can follow to make the writing legible. They are planning/prewriting, organising, writing/drafting, editing, and revising.
4.1.2.1 Planning/Prewriting
The planning or prewriting step includes conceptualising which takes one’s writing purpose and aim into consideration. During the planning stage, a writer should consider who their readers will be and what the objective of their work will be. Planning ahead of time allows for more comprehensive thinking and organised writing.
4.1.2.2 Organising
It is not uncommon for a writer to struggle with picking the most significant pieces of information from the ideas generated during the planning stage. As a result, once the writers have developed their writing strategies, it is time to arrange their thoughts. A writer should elaborate on the concepts created during the planning step throughout this procedure. Then, he/she has to assess what information, if any, is still required to complete the gaps. Finally, the writer has to organise the facts and concepts such that they flow together and make sense.
4.1.2.3 Writing/Drafting
A writer should create a rough draft in the early writing stage using the ideas developed during the planning step. During the first writing phase, the writer must combine continual cognitive demands, such as merging planned ideas with new ideas, remembering the objective of the document, following acceptable grammatical standards and considering the target audience.
4.1.2.4 Editing
This writing method includes a thorough examination of the initial version. At this point, a writer should double-check the grammar, spelling and punctuation. The writer should also consider if the concepts meant were clear and whether the aim was met. The writer might proceed to the revision stage of writing after analysing the work.
4.1.2.5 Revising
Revision requires changing the work in response to criticism and a comprehensive review. Along with rectifying structural issues in the text, it also lets the writer to locate and wrap up loose ends. The writer can also add or remove the stuff to improve the flow and usefulness of the article. Before delivering a final result, the writer should go through this process at least once to confirm that the new ideas contributed to accomplish the goal and increase the clarity of the text.
Recap
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Objective Questions
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Answers
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Assignments
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Suggested Reading
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