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Prewriting

Imagine that you were trying to track down the Loch Ness Monster. How would you do it? You’d need to get to Scotland, hire a boat, go out on the loch with a notepad and phone—and see what happens. . . .

When you begin a writing journey, you do the same sort of activities. You gather tools and information and venture out to discover. That’s called “prewriting.”

You start prewriting by analyzing the writing assignment: What form should you write? What’s your subject, audience, and purpose? Next, you select a topic, gather information about it, and organize your ideas.

Effective prewriting pours writing possibilities into your mind. You’ll know you are done with prewriting when you want to launch into your first draft.