Prewriting Exercises
Prewriting activities are exercises, games, and writing strategies that can help us to form ideas, 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 don’t 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 these examples:
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. Fine. What facts do 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 is 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.
Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is a fun and creative way to generate ideas for writing. Both of these sites can give you advice on how to get started:
