"...at least 70% of writing time should be spent in prewriting" (Tompkins, 52)
This statement was shocking to me. But once I started thinking about different forms of prewriting other than simply making outlines and other maps I realized that it can be really true. Think about the time we as college students spend as research. Once we have done the research we then have to decide what our thesis is and what basic ideas would back up that thesis. If someone is going to have a really good research paper, the research process and time spent creating a thesis would take up most of the writing time. So much of the writing process is figuring out what and how to write the papers.
How can we encourage prewriting strategies with out students? What other strategies are there than the idea maps or outlines?
I was also surprised by this fact! The whole writing process that we have to teach our students seems like soooo much work. But I think the prewriting can speak for itself in helpfulness. Once we have figured out all the particulars, we can just sit down and GO! I hope that I can get my students to realize this too, as long as they have set up the scaffolding or the prewriting. You bring up a hard question though, how do we get our students prewriting? I remember that even at a young age I hated this step. In class I liked the idea of an idea journal. It's a good resource students can go to, just encourage them to add detail. I don't think all of our prewriting has to be a formal map or web. Although they are helpful and I think some students love them. Perhaps we can let them CHOOSE or make up their own chart to help them out? They are more creative then I'll ever be! Even discussing with a partner or a group could help in the prewriting process because they can get their ideas out, and think them through, see what makes sense, what's missing. The partner can give valuable feedback, and ENCOURAGEMENT, so students can leave feeling excited about what they are going to write.
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