Prewriting Strategies

Today I will learn various prewriting strategies

So I can practice brainstorming

I'll know I have it when I can complete various diagrams

Listing is a process of generating a lot of information within a short time by generating some broad ideas and then building on those associations for more detail.

Clustering, also called mind mapping or idea mapping, is a strategy that allows you to explore the relationships between ideas.

Freewriting is a process of generating a lot of information by writing non-stop for a predetermined amount of time. It allows you to focus on a specific topic, but forces you to write so quickly that you are unable to edit any of your ideas.

Looping is a freewriting technique that allows you to focus your ideas continually while trying to discover a writing topic. After you freewrite for the first time, identify a key thought or idea in your writing, and begin to freewrite again, with that idea as your starting point. You will loop one 5-10 minute freewriting after another, so you have a sequence of freewritings, each more specific than the last. The same rules that apply to freewriting apply to looping: write quickly, do not edit, and do not stop.

Journalists traditionally ask six questions when they are writing assignments that are broken down into five W's and one H: Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?, and How? You can use these questions to explore the topic you are writing about for an assignment.