Prewriting Exercises

Prewriting activities are exercises, games, and writing strategies that can help you to form and develop ideas or even understand assigned topics. The exercises and activities below were compiled by all of us at the writing center. We hope you like them.

Twenty Questions

Being given a writing prompt can be helpful, but it can also be frustrating if you do not feel like you understand the prompt or have any interest in it. If you take your prompt, and pretend that it is another person who has the answer you seek, you can sometimes discover what you need to know by asking questions:

What is your purpose?
How many parts do you have?
What is your most important part?
Where do you happen?
When do you happen?

Stasis Theory

In ancient Greece, lawyers who were preparing their speeches for court would use the stasis questions to help them identify the different sides of arguable issues.

Fact—Is it?
Definition—What is it?
Quality—Is it good or bad?

By applying these questions to an issue, you can explore it more fully. Look at this example:

Fact—Is it?

Is abortion a fact? In most cases we would say yes. Abortion exists. Sometimes it is a natural result of a problem pregnancy (miscarriage), and sometimes it is medically induced.

Definition—What is it?

You might define abortion as murder. If so, how do you define murder, and can you find enough reliable facts to support your definition. You might define it as a choice, in which case you need to be able to define what you mean by choice and support that argument. You might say it is a constitutional right. What facts to you base that definition on?

Quality—Is it good or bad?

If an abortion saves the life of someone, we might argue that it is good. On the other hand, if we say it takes a life, we might argue it bad. What if taking one life saves another? When is it good as a natural consequence? Is it always good as a natural consequence?

The stasis questions are not meant to lead to answers. They are meant to lead to questions, questions, and more questions. Their purpose is to help you create questions that will force you to discover the weaknesses in your own arguments, so that you can create a stronger argument.

Free Writing

Simply write ideas on a piece of paper. Set the timer for three minutes and jot down whatever comes to your mind. Then review what you wrote and determine if you can create an argument out of these ideas. You may repeat the process as you narrow your ideas to a specific aspect about the text or research.

An Example of Free Writing
Evil in Othello: Is Iago a devil? Othello looks to see if Iago’s feet are cloven like a devil. Othello claims that if Iago is a devil he cannot be killed. Iago “bleeds” but does “not die.” Iago is the tempter throughout. He is an example of freewill. He doesn’t actually do anything to Desdomona or Othello. He only talks. Before he stops speaking, he claims, “What you know, you know.” He is hungry for power. Othello claims that Iago “ensnared” his “body and soul.”

Listing

Begin listing topics of interest on a piece of paper. See if there are connections between any of the ideas that might form into a suitable topic. This method works well if you do not have any ideas about what to write.

Idea Mapping

Write a question, statement, or phrase in the center of a piece of paper. Then draw a branch from the center and write a point off of that branch. You can then draw another branch from the center or from that branch and write another point. This method of brainstorming is visually based and often successful for people who would rather learn through images and visuals.

Example of idea mapping

Talking to Others

Often, ideas form easily when talking to others. Find a friend to discuss the material with. Your friend might have questions about topics you have not thought about.

Journaling

Journaling is similar to free writing. Try writing down your response to the literature. You may explore a personal response that you had while reading or you may freely write about whatever comes into your mind. You may choose to keep a journal about your reactions to the literature after your first read through, particularly considering your reactions might change as you reread the text. Your journal may give you a jumping off point to start developing a thesis.

Thesis-seeking draft

Sometimes it is hard to develop an argument, and it becomes necessary to just start writing. Begin writing a draft of the paper, using information that you want to include in your argument. By the time you reach page two, you probably have developed an argument that can be stated clearly in a thesis statement. Once you have the thesis statement, go back and rewrite or revise the pages you wrote as you determine the proper way to structure the essay.

Works Cited

Oxendine, Jessica, Tim Boswell, and Justin Jones. Introductory Material. Legacies. Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2008.