ALL students must learn to write, but this skill is a biggie. There are many common struggles with writing:
- Not knowing how or where to start
- Not knowing what to write about
- Ideas going all over the place
- Lack of clear ideas
- etc..
One of the biggest reasons students have ANY of these problems with writing is simply because they don’t have a clear understanding of the writing process. This process is something all students should know back and forth, something that should be reiterated each and every year of school. Unfortunately, most kids don’t have a good grasp on this and schools don’t take enough time to strengthen this critical foundation.
Here’s a pithy video explaining everything you need to know. Feel free to print the simple guide below and share it. I recommend pinning a copy up near the study area for reference until it is thoroughly internalized.
The Writing Process
Good authors use this process for everything they write.
Audience: First, carefully consider who you writing for?
Purpose: What are you trying to get the reader to feel, think, or do?
- Planning (aka Pre-writing): The most important part of the process requires a bit of time. This is also the most underused part of the process. When people do not plan thoughtfully, their writing becomes very disorganized. Examples pf planning methods: Brainstorm, thinking, talking it through, imagine, visualize, lists, graphic organizers, outlines, webs, story maps, post its, note cards or anything else that helps plan writing.
- Drafting: Get it on paper in an organized manner. The focus is on expanding your “plan” ideas into sentences and paragraphs, not on perfection. There should be cross outs, eraser marks, arrows, markups, etc. all over the draft.
- Revising: Polish and clarify your ideas, check that your purpose is being met. Authors revise many times.
- Editing: Polish MUGS (mechanics, usage, grammar, spelling).
- Publishing: Get it as perfect as possible. Neat, organized, ready for a reader to read. The paper fulfills your purpose. Perhaps include a cover page. Turn it in.
Note: During planning, plan the structure. Here’s a very basic model. For each section, ask yourself this magic question, “What is the purpose of this section?”:
- Introduction
- Body section 1
- Body section 2
- Body section 3
- Conclusion
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Video transcript
All right everybody—hello, what’s up, this is Seth with SethPerler.com.
I’m here to teach you something very important today about the writing process. Don’t turn this video off—you must listen to this. I don’t care if you’re a teacher, a parent, or a student, especially middle school, high school, or college students.
You need to understand the writing process.
I do not care if you’re writing a haiku, a 20-page essay, or a master’s thesis—you need to understand the writing process inside and out. This applies to everything you write.
The reason I’m telling you not to turn this off is because if you understand the structure of the writing process and keep it in the back of your mind, it will help you with every piece of writing you do. It gives you a foundation for your writing to come from.
So here we go.
There are five parts to the writing process.
1. Plan
The first stage is the plan. You must plan your writing first. This is also called prewriting.
Prewriting includes brainstorming, webs, lists, outlines, random ideas, or even just thinking and daydreaming. Yes—even lying on the couch imagining your story for an hour counts.
A lot of students think they’re “not working” when they’re just thinking—but that is valid. That is part of prewriting.
Here’s the key point: most people do not spend enough time planning. And it is the most important part of the writing process.
If you spend 5 minutes planning instead of 15–20 minutes, it can completely change your writing.
Without a plan, your writing goes in a million directions, doesn’t make sense, and you waste time trying to fix it later.
So plan your introduction, body, and conclusion. Know the purpose of each paragraph.
Ask yourself: “What am I trying to say in this paragraph?”
If you can’t answer that, your plan isn’t clear enough.
2. Draft
Next is drafting.
When you draft, do NOT worry about spelling, grammar, neatness, or mechanics. Do not be perfectionistic.
Just get your ideas out—what I call “mental vomit.”
Your job is to get ideas onto the page and into the right “bucket” (paragraph).
Each paragraph is like a bucket. You’re just pouring ideas into the right place.
Some ideas will be messy or useless—that’s fine. You can fix them later.
The goal is simple: generate ideas.
3. Revise
Now comes revision.
Revision is about ideas.
You are asking: Is this clear? Does this make sense to the reader? Can I improve how I’m explaining my ideas?
Revision is about clarity and meaning.
4. Edit
Editing is different.
Editing is MUGS:
Mechanics
Usage
Grammar
Spelling
This is the technical side. Punctuation, word flow, correctness—that’s editing.
Revision = ideas.
Editing = technical fixes.
They often go back and forth.
Important: your plan is not permanent. You are allowed to change it.
As you write, you will realize your original plan was incomplete. That’s normal. Good writers adjust their plan while writing.
5. Publish
The final step is publish.
This means your final draft is complete and turned in.
If you haven’t turned it in, it is not published.
Published means: as polished as you can reasonably make it at this point.
It does NOT mean perfect.
A lot of students struggle here because they are perfectionists. They never finish. Then they lose points or opportunities.
Sometimes you just have to submit it even if it’s not perfect. That actually helps you grow as a writer.
Summary
So the five steps are:
Plan (prewrite, brainstorm, structure, buckets)
Draft (get ideas out, don’t worry about mistakes)
Revise (make ideas clearer)
Edit (fix grammar, spelling, mechanics)
Publish (turn it in)
Even if you’re writing something short like a haiku, you still use this process—just in a smaller way.
Planning might happen in your head, but the structure is still there.
I’ll also give you a downloadable sheet so you can keep this as a reference until it becomes automatic.
Once you understand this, you can apply it to any writing you ever do.
And remember: writing is a process. It’s okay if it’s messy at first—that’s part of becoming a better writer.
Take care, and I hope your writing goes well.
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