Breaking Down the Writing Process: A Step by Step Guide

Breaking the writing process into smaller, manageable steps can make it feel more achievable, especially for students with executive function difficulties. Writing can often feel overwhelming for these students especially when faced with a big assignment. In this article, we’ll explore steps to breaking down a writing assignment, ensuring that students stay focused, organized, and productive from start to finish.

Step 1: Understanding the Writing Assignment

Before beginning the writing process, it’s essential to understand the assignment’s requirements fully. This may seem simple, but many students find it difficult to identify the key components of a prompt. Here’s how to ensure a clear understanding:

• Read the Prompt Carefully: Break the prompt into smaller sections. What is the main task? What are the specific instructions (e.g., length, format, style)?
• Highlight Keywords: Look for important terms such as “analyze,” “compare,” “argue,” or “describe.” These keywords tell you what type of writing is expected.
• Clarify Expectations: If anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to ask the teacher for clarification. Understanding exactly what’s required will save time and prevent confusion later on.

Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas

For students with executive function challenges, visual aids can be a game-changer in helping them organize and generate ideas. One highly effective tool for this is creating Mind Maps.

• Mind Maps allows students to visually organize their thoughts by starting with a central idea. They are particularly supportive for students with executive function challenges as they help students make connections between different ideas. 
• MindMup is a great free online resource for creating mind maps, allowing students to create their ideas digitally. 

Step 3: Create an Outline

The next critical step is creating an outline, which acts as a roadmap for the essay. Teachers may provide outlines or graphic organizers to help students visually break down each section of the paper and ensure that the essay flows logically. The outline does not have to be detailed but should include the following:

• Introduction: Introduce the main point or key idea of the essay. Include any background information that is necessary for understanding the topic. 
•  Body Paragraph:  Introduce the key arguments or claims to support your main idea. It’s important to utilize relevant and appropriate evidence that supports your thinking. 
• Conclusion: Wrap up the essay by summarizing the main points making sure to connect back to the essay’s central idea.  

Step 4: Write the first draft

Now that you have a solid outline it’s time to write the first draft. Encourage students to get their ideas out and not worry too much about perfection. The first draft should be all about getting ideas into complete sentences and paragraphs. 

• Sentence Starters are also a great thing to utilize here. Sentence starters are powerful tools for supporting students with executive function challenges in writing as it help reduce the mental effort needed to begin while also providing a clear and strong starting point. It also helps students to stay on topic and utilize their energy on the content rather than how to start the essay. 

Step 5: Revisions and Edits

Once the first draft is complete it’s time to revise! Revision is an important part of the process where students improve the structure and content of their writing. Here are some suggestions:

• Read Aloud: Encourage students to read their draft aloud. Reading the essay aloud helps students catch errors that they might not notice when reading silently.
• Checklist: Create a checklist of common errors (capitalization, punctuation etc.) to help guide them as they review their work. This helps students know what to look for. 
• Review the Main Points: Encourage students to check that the introduction clearly states the main point and that each body paragraph includes sufficient and appropriate evidence to support the main idea. 

Step 6: Final Check and Submission

Once the revisions are complete, encourage students to do one final review before submitting their essays. This is a great opportunity for a final spellcheck and review of the formatting requirements of the essay. 

Writing essays can be difficult but by breaking down the assignment into smaller more manageable steps, students can approach the tasks with greater clarity and confidence. With the right strategies in place, students can improve their writing skills and develop the tools they need to tackle future assignments. By utilizing a step-by-step guide students are more likely to decrease feelings of overwhelm and stay focused to create clear and organized essays.

Written by Joi Ward, SfL Clinician, M.Ed, MA