The purpose of this section is to guide you through the process of producing a written document that will say what you want it to say and achieve the purpose that you want it to achieve.This book starts from the assumption that writing belongs in the category of basic tasks—that it is on a similar level to, say, cooking or driving. Just as most people ought to be able to drive a car or cook an egg, because ordinary living is a lot more complicated if they cannot perform these simple tasks for themselves, so most people ought to take the time to acquire the rudiments of writing. There are, of course, people who are born with a natural talent for writing and people who write for a living. When we call someone "a writer," we usually mean that he or she is a journalist or an author. But there are a great many people, too, who are natural-born cooks or who earn their daily bread baking bread for others, and there are just as many who support their families by driving trucks, limousines, or even racing cars. The existence of experts and professionals does not exempt the rest of us from learning the basic skills that they have developed to a particularly high degree. This is as true of writing as it is of any similar activity. Writing skills can be learned. There are well-established procedures that can be followed when you are preparing or composing a document. This part of the book will familiarize you with those skills and procedures and help you to undertake this basic process with more than merely basic equipment.When we analyze any process from beginning to end, breaking it down into its different stages and discussing each of those stages in some detail, the analysis is likely to make the process seem more extended and elaborate than it generally is in real life. That does not mean that the process is in itself especially complicated, mysterious, or intimidating. Explaining even the most basic task usually takes longer than actually performing it.Furthermore, not all the procedures outlined in the following pages will be relevant to every writing task you face. Common sense will tell you—if the clock and your schedule do not—how much time and effort you should expend on a particular writing task. Common sense will likewise tell you which procedures are relevant to even the most minor compositional duties and which will be most useful to you personally. Your own habits, strengths, and weaknesses will probably make you want to concentrate on some aspects of the writing process more than others. Everything dealt with in this section of the book, however, is worth looking into for the day when you are suddenly confronted with the job of composing that vital letter, report, or assignment that presents far more of a challenge to your authorial know-how than an everyday memo or set of notes. It is worth considering the writing process as a whole, in case you can pick up any tips that will lighten your particular burden, or in case something stated here points out a bad writing habit that could be replaced by a better one.If the talk of tasks and burdens suggests that writing is all labor and no reward, then let it be said that there is as much satisfaction and pleasure to be gained from writing as from the exercise of any other skill. Cooks who produce perfect omelets or drivers who take hairpin turns smoothly and without unnerving their passengers have a right to feel pleased with themselves. So do people who write well. And their efforts are just as likely to be appreciated.The Four Stages of the Writing ProcessThe task of writing is like many other tasks: What we tend to think of as the whole is in fact only a part. Just as building a wall involves more than laying bricks in rows and cementing them together with mortar, so writing involves more than filling a screen or a sheet of paper with words. That is the main part, the crucial part, perhaps, but we neglect the other parts at our peril.As with so many other jobs, the before and the after in writing are as important as the central act. An old saying states that composition is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. This is distressingly true, but there are more useful and relevant ways of working out the percentages. The average writing task can be broken down roughly as follows: 50 percent preparation, 25 percent creation, and 25 percent revision. On that basis, we may even have to change our view of what constitutes the main part of the task.However small the job, time spent thinking, planning, and researching before you sit down at your desk to begin your text is anything but wasted time. The better prepared you are, the easier it will be to find the right words to put across your point. This is an obvious fact, but so often disregarded. Likewise, when you write "The end" for the first time or come to the point where you would normally add your signature, the task is still not finished. Since Greek and Roman times, experienced creative writers have urged their disciples to "polish"—that is, to revise and perfect—everything they write. "Polissez-le sans cesse, et le repolissez," said the French classical poet Nicolas Boileau. We might freely translate his advice as "Polish your work nonstop, and then sit right down and polish it again." Even if you are not aiming at classical perfection, you will need to look over your work carefully and revise it. Word-processing spell-check programs only check your spelling; they do not edit your work. They cannot tell you that your work would benefit from a little shortening here and a little filling out there. If you can persuade a candid (and literate) friend to look over what you have written, so much the better, because fresh eyes often spot what familiarized eyes slide over. But even if you have such a friend, and he or she has time available, the final responsibility is yours. It would be a pity if the 75 percent (of preparation and creation) were spoiled because you omitted to pay sufficient attention to the final 25 percent (revision).In a nutshell, then, the four stages of the writing process are- Thinking and researching
- Planning
- Writing
- Revising
These four stages do not always separate so neatly in practice. While you are thinking, researching, or planning, a way of formulating a point may occur to you, and instead of writing a note, you may find yourself writing a paragraph that you will incorporate, unchanged, into your final version. Many people revise as they go along or find that they have to get a particular section just right before they can continue confidently with the rest of a piece of work. Some people are terrified by a blank screen or a blank piece of paper and have to be fully prepared before they can make the first stroke. Other people are deterred not by the blankness of a screen or paper but by a mental blankness that afflicts them if they try to think about a task in the abstract. Such people may need to start writing before they can start thinking. Common sense and experience will soon show you what works best for you. There is no substitute, in the end, for learning by doing. This book calls itself a Guide to Good Writing, and you should use this section as a guide rather than as an inflexible set of rules.The order presented above, however, is the logical order—the order in which an organized person would set about the task. And the more organized you are, the better, especially if you are facing a deadline. Allow yourself as much time as you can, and divide the time you have appropriately, remembering especially to leave yourself sufficient time to revise and correct your work at the end. In the next three chapters, we will look at these four stages in more detail.
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