Draft

Focus on Writing Strategies #2:
Writing a Draft : Loop Writing

process

'Process Writing' is how professional writers write. It has 3 stages: Plan, Draft, and Revise. Today let's look at some strategies for writing a draft. A draft is the first version of the text. The writer doesn't worry so much as they write because they will revise later. Messy is OK! The writer tries to write everything they can on the topic. The object of a draft is to write lots, lots, lots!

In English, essays and paragraphs often start by summarizing the main point. This is different from Japanese. Loop Writing is a technique for organizing the paragraphs so they summarize the main point at the beginning.

First, you write whatever about the topic. (My Neighborhood)

There is a very big park nearby which is nice for walking or bike riding. I like to ride my bike so this is important to me. Also, recently the Chinese restaurant Osho opened a new place near the station. Osho is my favorite restaurant and I used to have to ride 15 minutes to get to the nearest one so I was happy about this. The nearest subway station, Nagai, is on the Midosuji line which goes straight into the other centers of town in Osaka like Shinsaibashi or Umeda so this is convenient, too.

After you write for a while, write one sentence that summarizes what you wrote:

My neighborhood is very convenient.

Now, put that sentence at the beginning. Wow! It's a paragraph!

My neighborhood is very convenient. There is a very big park nearby which is nice for walking or bike riding. I like to ride my bike so this is important to me. Also, recently the Chinese restaurant Osho opened a new place near the station. Osho is my favorite restaurant and I used to have to ride 15 minutes to get to the nearest one so I was happy about this. The nearest subway station, Nagai, is on the Midosuji line which goes straight into the other centers of town in Osaka like Shinsaibashi or Umeda so this is convenient, too.

Today's topic is "The Year So Far". Write anything that's happened to you, at school, or anywhere. Write LOTS LOTS LOTS. Don't think too much. After you've written for a while, try Loop Writing and make a summarizing sentence. Next time we will revise this same text so don't worry if it still looks bad today. Paste it on the BBS, but you may want to keep it on 'word' too.