25 Prewriting Techniques that Will Change your Life!

1. Impromptu writing prompts: ie. Capture an event between you and your grandpa
when you were young or any creative writing based warm up.
2. Formal outline: more developed bullet points with room for expansion. Its easy and
takes less time that writing a paper.
3. Conceptual block busting: Thinking games- encourages students to analyze their
material.
4. Pantomime and role play: active learning- real subjects to explore issues in paper.
Physical learning goals are achieved through fun and collective focus.
5. Impromptu debates- work on real time skills. Argument building in real life- fast activity
to structure thoughts.
6. Talking out a rhetorical problem: helps solve a problem, but is not limited to
interaction. Things discussed can be explored through drafting
7. Brainstorming: free association, all the storms
8. Clustering: elevated list- free association, can be used in conjunction with other things
9. Free-writing: no restrictions, just write, write, write!
10. Journaling: ability to express oneself in private (true backstage)
11. Heuristics: who what where when how?????
12. Models: imitate noteworthy essays, fables, expository essay
13. Hierarchies: allows to get ideas in order
14. Narrowing the topic: focus on one aspect of the issue
15. Filling in gaps: holes in your argument
16. Research: going back and digesting info
17. Note-taking: annotating anything- including ones own writing
18. Questioning you writing: asking oneself about why the writing is being done
19. Letter writing: talking the key points to someone
20. Presentation style: giving verbal speech
21. E-mailing: similar to letter writing with the advantages an e-text
22. Jolt list: associations with topic
23. Meditation: quiet reflection and finding inner peace
24. Imaging: working with shapes
25. Surfing the web: looking for valuable discourse communities