Handout: Prewriting
There are many excellent tutorial on the web that explain, among things, the essay process. I am referring you to what I consider an excellent tutorial on prewriting: Gallaudet University's English Tutoring and Writing Center. Prewriting

Prewriting basicially means developing ideas to use in your essay.  The tutorial at the Gallaudet Writing Center explains and illustrates various ways for you to develop and collect ideas.

 
Outlining
Most of you are already familiar with outlining. The pages at Gallaudet University provide an excellent explanation and example of how to do it. Outlining
 

Narrowing the focus of your Essay

 

Guidelines for Analyzing your Audience

When writing, it is important to keep several things in mind. Remember that your paper should be "reader friendly," meaning that the reader should not struggle to understand your ideas. There are several ways that you can make your paper "reader friendly" such as analyzing your audience.

One of the first questions you should ask yourself is, "Who are the readers?

 

 

 Often, the answer to this question would be, "the audience is my teacher." So, you need to think about the kind of language your teacher uses and the way language is used in the readings that your teacher assigns. Your voice as a writer should be consistent with the type of language used in your class. However, you should also think about who your intended audience is beyond the teacher. To define your audience, it helps to think about these things:
 
  1. probable age
  2. probable sex
  3. probable education
  4. probable economic status
  5. probable social position
  6. probable values
  7. probable assumptions
  8. probable prejudices

 
After you determine your audience, decide what your readers know or think they know about your subject. To help you answer this question, ask yourself, "What is the probable source of their knowledge? Is it a direct experience or an observation? Will my readers react positively or negatively toward my subject?"
Next, you need to ask yourself "Why will my readers read my writing?" When you are planning your writing, decide what your audience should expect to learn or gain by reading your essay.
You need to also consider how you can interest your readers in your subject. If your audience is hostile toward your subject, decide how you can convince them to give your writing a fair reading. If your audience is sympathetic, decide how you can fulfill and enhance their expectations. If your audience is neutral, decide how you can catch and hold on to their attention.
Finally, you should decide how you can help your readers read your writing. The structure of your paper can make your paper "easy" to read. You should decide what kind of organizational pattern will help your audience see your paper's purpose. Also, decide what kind of guideposts and transitional markers your audience will need in order to follow this pattern. Finally, decide what and how many examples your audience will need in order to understand your general statements.
   

The information on this page was adapted from:
Trimmer, Joseph F. WRITING WITH A PURPOSE. 11th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1995.