Writing Process Animation

Summary

Jonathan shares his blog writing process, emphasizing that writing is a skill that can be improved with practice. He outlines strategies for planning, researching, and drafting, highlighting the importance of setting goals, reducing distractions, and revising. The video provides practical tips for improving writing in any context, from academic assignments to professional communications.

Takeaways

• 📝 Writing is a skill that can be improved with time and practice.
• 🎯 Good writers use strategies to achieve success, not just natural talent.
• 📅 Planning is crucial for high-quality writing; it involves making a timeline, selecting a topic, and creating an outline.
• 👕 Getting comfortable and reducing distractions are essential steps before starting to write.
• 📈 Setting short-term, concrete, and challenging goals for each stage of the writing process is important for improvement.
• 🤔 Brainstorming helps in selecting a topic that is both interesting and relevant to the course or task at hand.
• 📚 Research should be thorough and use credible sources; Wikipedia is not sufficient on its own.
• 📝 Writing a draft comes after researching and outlining, not before; it's a process of organizing thoughts and information.
• 🔍 Revising is more than just proofreading; it involves looking at the whole structure, sections, and individual sentences.
• 🔄 Regularly monitoring progress and adjusting goals and timelines is key to staying on track and improving.
• 👥 Seeking feedback from others and self-evaluating against a rubric can significantly enhance the quality of the final piece.

Q & A

What is the most important takeaway from the video about writing?

The key message is that writing is a skill that can be improved through practice, patience, and persistence. Strategies can help, but effort is required to become a better writer.

Why is planning important before starting to write?

Planning helps structure your thoughts and improves the overall quality of your writing. It is often more effective than relying on multiple revisions alone.

What are the main stages of writing a blog according to the video?

The main stages are planning, research, writing, and revision. Breaking the task into these stages makes the process more manageable and ensures higher quality.

How does setting goals improve the writing process?

Setting clear, concrete, and challenging goals gives you a sense of direction and helps you track progress. It keeps you motivated and focused on improvement.

Why does the speaker recommend writing down your progress?

Writing down progress helps maintain accountability and allows you to make more accurate time estimates in the future. It also helps track distractions and work conditions.

Why should you avoid writing the introduction and conclusion first?

The speaker recommends writing the body of the blog first, as it allows you to better understand the flow and content. Writing the introduction and conclusion last ensures they align with the rest of the post.

What should you focus on during the research phase?

During research, focus on gathering credible, high-quality sources. Make notes in your outline and continually refine your topic based on the information you find.

Why is revision more than just proofreading?

Revision involves looking at the overall structure, the order of sections, and sentence flow. Proofreading is the final step, focusing only on fixing minor errors.

How can you ensure that your sources are credible?

Check if the content has been reviewed by an editor or if the author is a professional respected in their field. Avoid over-reliance on sites like Wikipedia for serious research.

What is a good practice after completing your first draft?

A good practice is to step away from your draft and come back to it with fresh eyes. This helps you revise more objectively and improve the overall quality.

Outlines

00:00

📝 The Journey to Better Writing

Jonathan introduces the video by emphasizing that writing is a skill that can be improved with effort and practice. He dispels the myth that writing is an innate gift and highlights the importance of using strategies to achieve success in writing. He encourages viewers to apply these strategies to improve their writing, noting that writing is a valuable skill in any career. Jonathan also shares his personal experience as a programmer who had to write extensively, illustrating that writing is a fundamental form of communication. He sets the stage for the video by outlining the steps he takes to write a blog, including getting comfortable, reducing distractions, and planning his writing process.

05:01

📅 Planning and Setting Goals for Writing Success

In this paragraph, Jonathan discusses the importance of planning and setting goals for each stage of the writing process. He explains how he creates a timeline for his blog writing, breaking it down into planning, research, writing, and revision stages. He also stresses the significance of selecting a topic that interests him, which he believes is crucial for producing engaging content. Jonathan shares his brainstorming process, where he connects his interests with course themes to find a suitable topic. He also talks about using current events as a source of inspiration for writing topics. The paragraph concludes with Jonathan updating his timeline and outlining his goals for the research phase of his blog writing.

10:03

🔍 Research and Drafting the Blog Post

Jonathan details his approach to researching and drafting his blog post. He advises against relying solely on Wikipedia and instead encourages seeking out primary sources and credible information. He emphasizes the importance of taking detailed notes and updating his outline as he researches, which helps sharpen the focus of his blog. The paragraph also covers Jonathan's method of drafting his blog, where he writes the body of the post before the introduction and conclusion, as he believes it's essential to know the content of the post before crafting these sections. He sets goals for each section, reads over his notes, and writes while talking to himself to maintain motivation. Jonathan also monitors his progress, noting the time spent working and any distractions encountered.

Keywords

💡Writing as a skill

Writing is described as a skill that can be improved with time, effort, and practice. The video emphasizes that writing is not an innate gift but a learned ability. Jonathan uses this concept to encourage viewers to see writing as something they can master, not something that comes naturally without work.

💡Planning

Planning is presented as a critical step for producing high-quality writing. The video explains that planning involves creating a timeline, selecting a topic, and outlining the writing structure. Without a proper plan, writers may find it harder to organize their thoughts and produce coherent work. Jonathan reinforces this by mentioning that planning contributes more to writing quality than revisions alone.

💡Setting goals

Setting concrete, challenging, but achievable goals is a key strategy for improving writing. Jonathan highlights that by breaking down the writing process into manageable stages—such as planning, research, writing, and revision—writers can better monitor their progress and remain motivated. These goals should push writers to improve without becoming overwhelming.

💡Distractions

Distractions, such as phones, social media, or TV, are identified as major obstacles to productive writing. Jonathan emphasizes the importance of creating a distraction-free environment to enhance focus and productivity. Research shows that concentration is difficult when distractions are present, so removing them is a practical step toward better writing.

💡Research

Research is another crucial phase in the writing process, where the writer gathers information, makes notes, and refines the outline. Jonathan stresses that quality research is essential for producing well-informed, thoughtful content. He advises against relying solely on sources like Wikipedia and encourages finding credible and high-quality sources that pass editorial oversight.

💡Revision

Revision is described as more than just proofreading—it's a thorough reevaluation of the writing structure, order, and content. Jonathan advocates for taking a fresh look at the draft after some time has passed to objectively identify and fix problems, ensuring that the final product is polished and coherent.

💡Outline

Creating an outline is a key organizational tool that helps guide the writing process. Jonathan explains that a well-structured outline leads to a more focused blog post. The outline should reflect the writer's goals and guide both the research and the writing stages. A good outline ultimately improves the flow and clarity of the writing.

💡Brainstorming

Brainstorming is the process of generating ideas before committing to a specific topic. Jonathan suggests brainstorming by exploring personal interests or relevant course themes, and reading the news for inspiration. This step helps the writer discover a subject that is both engaging and relevant, making the writing process smoother.

💡Self-monitoring

Self-monitoring involves tracking progress throughout the writing process, from setting goals to identifying distractions and time spent off-task. Jonathan advocates for writing down every action related to the writing task, which helps maintain accountability and provides insight into personal productivity patterns.

💡Persistence

Persistence is highlighted as an essential attitude for becoming a better writer. Jonathan acknowledges that improvement takes time, and writers should not expect immediate results. Through consistent effort, revision, and self-belief, anyone can develop their writing skills over time, making persistence a core principle of the video.

Highlights

Writing is a skill that can be improved with effort and practice.

Good writers use strategies to achieve success.

Improving your writing takes time, patience, and persistence.

Writing is a valuable skill in any career due to its role in communication.

Before writing, it's important to get comfortable and reduce distractions.

Planning your writing involves making a timeline, selecting a topic, and creating an outline.

Setting goals for each stage of writing helps monitor progress and stay motivated.

Selecting a topic that interests you can make writing more engaging.

Brainstorming helps connect personal interests with course themes for blog topics.

Using the news as a starting point can inspire blog topics related to the course.

A rough outline guides research and the structure of the blog post.

Research should be thorough, using credible sources and avoiding over-reliance on Wikipedia.

Take detailed notes during research to inform the writing process.

Writing a draft involves setting section goals and using notes to structure content.

Talking to oneself during writing can help with flow and motivation.

Revision is more than proofreading; it involves assessing the overall structure and content.

Adding supporting materials like images and charts can enhance the blog post.

Proofreading is the final step to ensure grammatical accuracy and clarity.

Getting feedback from others and self-marking against a rubric can refine the final draft.

Transcripts

hey I'm Jonathan I'm going to show you

how I write a blog and show you some

strategies that you can use to improve

your writing before we begin I want to

emphasize something really fundamentally

important to becoming a better writer

writing is a skill and therefore it can

be improved it's common misconception

that writing is a gift and it's easy to

see why usually we only see a finished

product a great blog a brilliant novel

we don't see the hours and hours of

effort that were put into them good

writers use strategies to help them

achieve success I'll show you a number

of useful strategies but it's up to you

to make use of them like any skill

improving your writing takes time and

practice as much as I'd love for you

watch this video and be magically

transformed into a brilliant writer it's

not going to happen but the good news is

if you put in the effort and believe in

yourself

with patience and persistence you'll

improve your writing and that really is

great news because writing is such a

valuable skill regardless of what career

you choose to pursue writing is a

primary form of communication with your

co-workers bosses clients I mean I was a

programmer not a job usually associated

with writing and I was constantly

writing design plans test plans bug

reports professional emails taking the

time to develop your writing skills is

time well-spent

great writing can help you win awards

get jobs and advance your career great

so now we've established two things

writing is a skill that can be improved

and there's value in writing this

particular assignment is to write a blog

but the strategies I'm going to show you

are applicable to all sorts of writing

and other activities so let's do it

before I start working I always do two

things get comfortable and reduce

distractions writing is a slow process

that requires concentration so I change

into my comfiest clothes go to a quiet

place where I won't get interrupted and

shut off anything that might distract me

tea bees and phones our productivity and

quality writing killers instead of

getting my head into what I'm writing

I'm constantly texting and emailing

facebooking tweeting glancing at the TV

so I just shut them all off and I

mentally prepare to write research shows

that students have the lowest confidence

in their ability to concentrate when

there are distractions around

okay I'm comfortable I'm in quiet place

without distractions it's go time

step one plan my writing amateur writers

often skip this step which is a big

mistake researchers have found that the

quality of writing assignments is

determined more by the amount of

planning done than by the number of

revisions completed planning involves

three things making a timeline selecting

a topic and creating an outline for my

blog to make a timeline I break apart

the test of writing a blog into four

stages planning research writing and

revision there are a lot of tools that

you can use to help you create your

timeline but I like to keep it simple I

use a calendar in a text document the

calendar helps me visualize my deadlines

the text document helps me set my goals

and monitor my progress the tools not

the important part here is the act of

writing it down and planning your work

that matters so first I write down the

due date next I know I need a day to

revise my draft so I set the previous

day as the due date for my final draft I

always give myself a minimum of one

night's sleep

after finishing my draft to revise it

next I need to set myself deadlines for

the other stages so planning I'll do it

today research is where I find my

sources and make my notes and start to

fill in my outline research always takes

me longer than I think it will so I'll

start today and I'll aim to have most of

it done by the end of tomorrow the third

stage of writing my blog is writing a

draft which is the longest stage I'll

live to have a draft completed by the

end of the next day at this point I've

got a rough timeline I'm going to do my

best to stick to it or even get ahead of

schedule when you first start planning

it's hard to make accurate estimates

people tend to always underestimate how

long things take I'm going to write down

my progress as I go so that I can make

better estimates going forward the next

thing I do is I write down the goals for

my writing do this the goals I set are

going to be short-term concrete and

challenging it's important to set goals

that are difficult but achievable if I

select goals that are too easy then I'm

not motivated toward towards them and I

won't improve but on the other hand if

my goals are unrealistic I'm setting

myself up for failure or I'll feel

overwhelmed and I won't even try okay

I'm going to set goals for each stage

for planning I'm

to select a topic I find interesting and

create an outline for my paper before I

start writing for research I'm going to

find five high quality sources and take

notes while reading putting them in the

appropriate sections of my outline for

writing I'm going to write an engaging

introduction have at least three

subsections and write a strong

concluding paragraph that ties together

my blog entry setting goals and writing

them down is essential because it gives

me something to work toward and allows

me to monitor my progress okay take a

minute pause the video and set your own

goals okay I'm comfortable I'm in a good

working space I have a time line and

I've written down my goals now it's time

to pick a topic because you can pick

your own topic you have an opportunity

here to explore something that you're

actually interested in so take advantage

writing is so much more than just

knowledge telling where you talk about

what you already know it's about

research and learning sharing your

thoughts and ideas if you're passionate

about your topic it's going to come

across in your writing brainstorming

time before I start I do something

really really important under my

planning goal I write down my starting

time I'll focus on my interests and the

themes in the course and try to find

ways to connect them I'm interested in

music cycling and politics four-course

themes I'll go through the textbook and

course website and find ones that

interest me privacy freedom of speech

and intellectual property okay

how can I connect these let's start with

music I stream music online using

Grooveshark I have tons of questions

about intellectual property like how's

this even legal how do the bands get

paid they collect royalties how do the

songs get uploaded does an artist can I

take my songs down what are my rights as

a listener or as an artist what effect

are sites like this having on the music

industry basically I brainstorm until

I've got a topic that I'm interested in

that's related to the course and this

contemporary Grooveshark and

intellectual property fits the bill but

if it didn't I'd keep brainstorming

until I

topic that works for me another strategy

I use sometimes is to read the news and

see if there are topics related to the

course that I could write about for

example before the election there was

tons of news coverage about the digital

platforms of the different political

parties or I could learn more about

WikiLeaks it's always in the add lines

using the news as a starting point I'd

brainstorm the same way that is above

after I've got my topic I update my time

sheet for now I'll take these ideas and

make a rough outline for my post the

outline is what guides my research in my

blog the better my outline the better my

blog will be research shows that

students who have formalized organized

deadlines produce the highest quality

work first

alright on the topic Grooveshark and

intellectual property this isn't going

to be the title I blog I'll come up with

that later but for now remembering my

goal of having at least three

subheadings in my post I refer to my

brainstorming session and come up with

some possible headings now this list

didn't just magically appear what you

didn't see is the humming and hawing

writing and revising I did off-camera

there was no magic just persist an

effort but that effort paid off and now

I have a rough sketch of my post it's

probably going to get updated as I go

but it'll guide my research which is the

next step in the process notice that I

haven't said anything about my

introduction or conclusion yet how can I

write my introduction when I don't even

know what my finished paper is going to

look like it's usually the last thing

that I write

so before I start my research I'm going

to go back to my time sheet and write

down my progress writing down when I

worked and what I worked on is one of

the best ways to get things done because

it holds me accountable I also write

down distractions like texting and

YouTube as well as my work environment

so that I can realize how I work in

different conditions okay on to the

research I'm not going to bore you and

make you watch me do my research but

I'll give you some pointers you can

start at Wikipedia but don't try to

write a Wikipedia article Wikipedia is

for knowledge telling in your blog you

should try and synthesize information

give your own thoughts on what you've

researched also don't repeatedly link to

Wikipedia it's a common mistake and

shows a lack of research step head to

the source for me I'll go to the

Grooveshark website and dig around there

for information later if I need to know

about copyright law in Canada I'll just

look up the bill google it

make sure your sources are credible and

of high quality a good question to ask

yourself is does the content of this

site pass by an editor before I read it

if so it's probably high quality source

if not how can you establish that the

author has any credibility are they a

professional are they respected in their

field take good notes as I research I'm

making notes in the various sections of

my outline including the source of the

information I also update my outline is

necessary because as I get more

information I have more ideas and more

questions and the focus with my blog

becomes sharper ok I've finished the

large chunk of my research I've got my

sources

I've made detailed notes under each

section and I've been monitoring my

progress towards my goals next I have to

write my draft like I said before I'm

going to fill in the bulk of my post

before I write my introduction and

conclusion because I need to know what

my post is about before I can write them

so section by section I write my draft

again to prevent extreme boredom I'm not

going to make you watch me write my

draft but I'll tell you roughly what I

do I start by setting goals for each

section next I read over all the notes I

have in each section and I start to

rearrange them and write sentences often

I have a hard time making sentences flow

when this happens I just force myself to

write something down because I know this

is only a draft and I'm going to come

back and revise it later now you might

think I'm crazy but the whole time I'm

doing this I'm talking to myself out

loud asking myself questions and giving

myself encouragement we can convince

ourselves of anything and you should

choose to convince yourself that you can

instead of you can't that might be the

most important thing in this entire

video finally while I'm writing I'm

constant

monitoring my progress I read them the

time what I worked on time I spent off

task distractions and positive

evaluations of my progress after I

finished the draft of the sections I go

back and I read the introduction and

conclusion many hours later my first

draft is complete after finishing my

draft

I'm way too attached to it to make any

objective revisions so I'm going to

sleep on it the next day with a fresh

mind i revise my blog revision is much

more than just proofreading in fact

proofreading is the last step of the

revision process I start by looking at

my post as a whole does the order make

sense if not I rearrange chunks of my

text once I'm satisfied with the order I

start looking at each of the sections

more carefully there are good guidelines

you can use to make sure your sections

are in good shape like tree and dare I

don't have time to discuss them in depth

here but they're useful to make sure

that each section is structurally sound

finally I drill down into the paragraphs

and sentences diagnosing problems and

operating on the ones that aren't up to

snuff once I've identified a problem I

can then choose the appropriate course

of action after I'm done all of this I

go back through and add any supporting

materials like pictures charts diagrams

and movies to add value to my post I

never add things just to add things they

have to add value the final step in the

process is proofreading I carefully

reread my post to make sure I've crossed

my T's and dotted my eyes after I'm done

I got a friend to read it over and give

me critical feedback once I've

integrated their feedback I go through

and self mark my blog against the rubric

and make any final revisions and that's

it that's how I write a blog I really

hope you found this video helpful and

that you take away some useful

strategies that you would accord into

your writing process work hard and have

fun