Pre-writing

Pre-writing is what you do before you write in order to brainstorm for ideas. When you pre-
write, you start to figure out what you want to write, what you need to research in order to write
it, and how you want to organize your writing. There are several ways to do this. We will
practice three of them: freewriting, clustering, and outlining.

I. Freewriting
Freewriting is the least structured form of pre-writing. Freewriting involves contemplating a
subject and writing down whatever comes to mind in whatever order it comes. Later on, this raw
material can be revised into a first draft.

Example:
In the following example, a student freewrites for five minutes in response to the question: Why
go to college?

Why go to college? Because if you don’t get a college degree, you’ll be stuck in a dead-end job
that will probably be outsourced to China in the next five years. The fact is that the present is
not like the past. People used to be able to finish high school and get a good paying blue-collar
job in a factory with lots of benefits and job security. That’s all changed. Nowadays, most
products are made outside the United States. And the factory jobs that remain are poorly paid.
To stay in the middle class, a person has to have a professional job. And that means getting a
college degree. In the future, a college degree will be even more important. Heck, I wouldn’t be
surprised if someone will need a Ph.D. just to work as a manager at Walmart!

Exercise 1:
Imagine that you are asked to write an essay describing your favorite activity. Take a few
minutes to freewrite. Remember, just write about whatever comes to mind in whatever order
it comes.
II. Clustering
Clustering is more structured than freewriting, but less structured than outlining. Clustering
involves a visual representation of ideas that shows relationships between them. A cluster begins
with a main idea (drawn in a circle if you like) with lines radiating out to related, but subordinate
ideas (also drawn in circles). A single cluster can also be connected to other clusters to show
larger units of thought and complex relationships. For instance, each cluster might represent a
paragraph in your essay.

Example:

Exercise 2:
Again, imagine that you are asked to write an essay describing your favorite activity. Start
with a main idea and then radiate out from there to subordinate ideas.

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III. Outlining
Outlining is the most structured form of pre-writing, and therefore requires the most thorough
knowledge of what one wants to write. In an outline, information is organized logically using
headings and subheadings. While outlines require a lot of planning, the more organized and
complete your outline is, the easier it will be to write your essay.

Four Rules for Creating an Outline

1. Parallelism
Each heading should be parallel, which means they should be of the same KIND (noun, verb,
etc.). For instance, if the first heading is a verb, the second heading should also be a verb.
Example:
I. Choose Desired Colleges
II. Prepare Application
"Choose" and "Prepare" are both verbs.

2. Coordination
All the information contained in Heading 1 should have the same significance as the information
contained in Heading 2. The same goes for the subheadings (which should be less significant
than the headings). In other words, each heading should be of the same RANK.
Example:
I. Visit and evaluate college campuses
II. Visit and evaluate college websites
A. Note important statistics
B. Look for interesting classes
Campus and website visits are equally significant, as are statistics and classes found on college
websites.

3. Subordination
The information in the headings should be more general, while the information in the
subheadings should be more specific.
Example:
I. Describe an influential person in your life
A. Favorite high school teacher
B. Grandparent
A favorite teacher and grandparent are specific examples of influential people.

4. Division
Each heading should be divided into 2 or more parts.
Example:
I. Compile resume
A. List relevant coursework
B. List work experience
C. List volunteer experience
The heading "Compile resume" is divided into 3 parts.

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Example:
Here is an example of an outline for an essay on the typical steps a high school student would
follow in order to apply to college.

Title: The College Application Process

Thesis: The college application process involves several key steps.

I. Introduction
A. Start with an interesting hook
B. Introduce the general subject
C. State the Thesis

II. Choose Desired Colleges

A. Visit and evaluate college campuses
B. Visit and evaluate college websites
1. look for interesting classes
2. note important statistics
a. student/faculty ratio
b. retention rate

III. Prepare Application

A. Write Personal Statement
1. Choose an interesting topic
a. Describe an influential person in your life
i. favorite high school teacher
ii. grandparent
b. Describe an important event in your life
2. Include important personal details
a. academic awards
b. varsity sports
c. volunteer work
B. Revise personal statement

IV. Compile resume

A. List relevant coursework
B. List work experience
C. List volunteer experience
1. tutor at foreign language summer camp
2. counselor for suicide prevention hotline

V. Conclusion
A. Summarize the steps
B. Conclude with an interesting thought or suggestion

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Exercise 3:
Practice making an outline by taking the information on the right and sorting it into the outline
on the left. Remember to follow the rules of parallelism, coordination, subordination, and
division.

How to Make a Pepperoni Pizza with Extra Cheese!

I. drizzle the sauce

A. flour
B. sprinkle the cheese
C. eggs
D. extra cheese
E. apply the toppings
II. slice into 8 pieces
III. pepperoni log
IV. sliced pepperoni
V. bake the pizza
A. roll out the dough
B. tomato sauce
VI. mozzarella cheese
VII. buy the ingredients

Exercise 4:
One last time, imagine that you are asked to write an essay describing your favorite activity.
Decide what your headings and subheadings are and arrange them into an outline that obeys the
four rules (parallelism, coordination, subordination, division).