Prewriting "Pizza"zz

Writing is as easy to follow as your favorite pizza recipe! The first task in writing is to assemble the proper ingredients. So that means it's pretty hard to write anything unless you have a computer or a pen and paper right? 

Not true always, anchovy breath!

 Prewriting is a stage of writing which involves planning and thinking about writing. Yes, eventually you need a computer or pen and paper, but prewriting comes in many forms. To become a writer, just as to become a good baker, we have to THINK about what we want to create.

Prewriting is any kind of activity that helps the writer determine what he or she will write about. 

Many things qualify as prewriting activities.

Some of the most common are:

  • Making lists-list all of the different kinds of pizza you like

  • Conducting research-call all of the pizza places to see what they offer, read menus, eat pizza of all kinds

  • Formal or informal reading-read cookbooks, history of pizza, advertisements, phone books, gourmet reviews

  • Interviews-Ask someone, "Eaten any pizza lately?" 

  • Brainstorming-Get your friends together and debate the best kinds of pizza to eat, the best restaurants, favorite ingredients

  • Webbing, clustering, or use of graphic organizers-make a map of the ingredients, show a web of the process to create a pizza, arrange ingredients in order of use on your table 

  • Outlining-Write in order the list of ingredients from your refrigerator the way you will need to use them, or line them up on the counter

  • Remembering- Think about the best pizza experience you ever had, the worst

  • Drawing- Take out the colors and draw the pizza of your dreams

  • Discussion-Call someone on the phone and talk about pizza

  • Free writing, notebook, or journal writing-If you have a computer, turn off the monitor and just write your thoughts as fast as you can. Expound in glorious detail about the pizza experience, a favorite recipe; if you must use pen and pencil, cover up what you write with your hand or another piece of paper. Don't stop, just write for 10 minutes or until you are so exhausted you must now be ready to eat pizza. Now, read what you have written when you are done.

  • Note taking-Go to a place where people are eating or making pizza. Be nosy, write down all that you see, hear, smell, touch and taste. Live vicariously through the experience of others before you rely on your own taste buds. Order a pizza yourself...take notes on everything that happens from beginning to end of your experience.

As you can tell, prewriting isn't always just  writing words on a page, but to be able to use the experience at a later time, you must figure out some way to record your thoughts. Writing your thoughts on paper or on a computer is a very effective way to use your prewriting at a later time. It doesn't have to be pretty; it doesn't even have to make sense to anyone but you...it can be a picture, words, drawings, video, anything. 

The purpose of the prewriting stage is to allow a writer to explore his or her topic thoroughly, in an unstructured and non-threatening way. It's all about dreaming, and ideas, and wishing, and planning, and...

Prewriting is a prerequisite for good writing. Don't skip it or cut it short ...unless you want to be left with the piece of pizza that slipped onto the floor!

Sample assignment using this technique of prewriting.

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