WRITING STRATEGIES

1. REVISION- GENERAL PROCESS OF GOING BACK THROUGH YOUR WHOLE DRAFT., FROM
START TO END, AND IMPROVING ON OR CLARIFYING YOUR WRITING SUBJECT’S MEANING
.THIS CAN INCLUDE ADDING IN, TAKING AROUND , MOVING AROUND , AND POLISHING
CERTAIN PARTS OF YOUR DRAFT TO MAKE IT MUCH MORE UNDERSTANDABLE AND EASIER
FOR READING.

2. EDITING- KNOWN AS PROOFREADING .IT IS MORE METICULOUS PROCESS OF CLARIFYING

MEANING BY REVISING EACH WORD AND LINE OF YOUR DRAFT. THIS INCLUDES YOU
WORKING ON GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES SUCH AS SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT , VERB
TENSE, NOUN AND PRONOUN USAGE , PREPOSITIONS , SENTENCE TRANSITIONS, VERB
TENSE PUNCTUATION AND SPELLING AND CAPITALIZATION.
 MODES OF PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT

1. CAUSAL ANALYSIS- IDENTIFYING THE CAUSES AND EFFECT OF A PARTICULAR SITUATIONS

, EVENT, PHENOMENON. A CAUSE IS WHAT PROMPTED SOMETHING TO HAPPEN.EFFECT
IS WHAT WAS YIELDED AFTER SOMETHING ELSE TOOK PLACE.
2. NARRATIVE WRITING- STORY TELLING, IT IS A SEQUENCE OF EVENTS , NOT NECESSARILY
ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, TOLD BY A NARRATOR, HAPPENING IN A
PARTICULAR PLACE AT A PARTICULAR TIME
 VIVID DESCRIPTION OF DETAILS
 CONSISTENT POINT OF VIEW
 CONSISTENT VERB TENSE
 WELL-DEFINED POINT OR SIGNIFICANCE
 NARRATIVE DEVICES- A TECHNIQUE WRITERS TO UTILIZE TO ADD FLAVOUR AND ENRICH
THE MEANING OF THEIR STORIES.

1. ANECDOTE- BRIEF NARRATIVES THAT ARE WRITTEN FROM THE WRITER’S MEMORY. IT CAN
BE USDE AS AN INTRODUCTION TO AN ESSAY, AS AN EXAMPLE TO ILLUSTRATE A POINT, OR
AS A CLOSING STATEMENT .
2. FLASHBACK- IS AN EVENT THAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST. AS THE WORD ITSEL SUGGEST ,
YOU ARE FLASHING BACK OR QUICKLY LOOKING AT SOMETHING THAT HAD ALREADY
HAPPENED.
3. TIME STRETCH- A SINGLE EVENT IN THE STORY THAT THE AUTHOR FOCUSES WRITING
ABOUT.
4. TIME SUMMARY- SINGLE EVENT IS PROLONGED. A TIME SUMMARY IS CHARACTERIZED BY
JAMMING TOGETHER MULTIPLE EVENTS AND/ OR SHORTENING A RELATIVELY LONG
PERIOD OF TIME.EXAMPLE, AFTER THE WINTER SEASON, A FEW YEARS AFTER.
5. FLASHFORWARD- IS AN EVENT THAT HAS YET TO HAPPEN IN THE STORY.IT IS FLASHING
FORWARD OR QUICKLY LOOKING AT SOMETHING THAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.
6. DIALOGUE- A NARRATIVE DOES NOT ONLY HAVE A NARRATOR WHO TELLS A STORY IN
ACCORDANCE TO HOW HE/SHE OBSERVES A SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
3. DEFINITION- UNDERSTANDING THE ESSENCE OF A WORD, AN IDEA, A CONCEPT OR AN
EXPRESSION.
TWO IMPORTANT CONCEPTS IN DEFINING:
1. DENOTATION- EXPLICIT, OR LITERAL DEFINITION OF A WORD.
2. CONNOTATION- SECONDARY MEANING OF A WORD.IT IS NECESSARILY INCLUDED IN THE
DICTIONARY , RATHER IT IS HOW PEOPLE UNDERSTAND A WORD BASED ON THEIR OWN
PERSONAL OR CONSENSUAL EXPERIENCES, AND NOT BASED ON THE DICTIONARY.

TECHNIQUES THAT ONE CAN USE :

1. ANALYSIS-PROCESS OF BREAKING DOWN A CONCEPTS INTO ITS CONSTITUENTS PARTS.
2. CALLOCATION- WORDS THAT ARE USUALLY ALMOST IMMEDIATELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE
CONCEPT YOU ARE TRYING TO DEFINE
3. COMPARISON- ASSOCIATING THE WORD YOU ARE TRYING TO DEFINE WITH SOMETHING ELSE
NOT NECESSARILY SYNONYMOUS WITH IT.
4. CONTRAST- UNDERSTANDING HOW AT LEAST TWO SIMILAR CONCEPTS ARE DIFFERENT FROM
EACH OTHER.
5. ETYMOLOGY- HISTORY OF A WORD.IT EXPLAINS THE EVOLUTION OF A WORD OR HOW IT
HAS COME TO BE.
EXAMPLE: APPASSIONATO IS THE PAST PARTICIPLE OF A LATIN WORD THAT MEANS “TO
IMPASSION” ..
6. EXEMPLIFICATION AND ILLUSTRATION- BY GIVING EXAMPLES .
7. EXTENDED DEFINITION- PERSONAL INTERPRETATION OF AN AUTHOR TO AN ABSTRACT AND
MULTIFACETED CONCEPT

8. FUNCTION- ANOTHER WAY OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT A WORD OR CONCEPT MEANS IS TO

KNOW ITS PURPOSE.
9. NEGATION- TECHNIQUE THAT YOU CAN USE TO DEFINE A WORD OR CONCEPT BY
EXPLAINING WHAT IT IS NOT.
EX. LOVE IS PATIENT, LOVE IS KIND. IT DOES NOT____________, IT DOES NOT BOAST, IT IS NOT
PROUD.
10. SYNONYMS- SINGLE WORD OR PHRASE THAT SHARE ALMOST THE SAME MEANING WITH THE
CONCEPT YOU ARE TRYING TO DEFINE.