The stage that precedes writing is called prewriting . This is the initial phase of a writing process .
It is often said that prewriting is the instance in which the writer goes from thought to the written word . In this period, the author writes down individual words and ideas and can create outlines and maps that will later help him in writing.
It is important to keep in mind that, until a text is published, the writer carries out various steps and has the assistance of other people. Prewriting is the starting point for organizing thoughts ; Then comes the writing itself and later, the revision.
The material already reviewed and corrected is then edited and finally the publication is finalized. It is common for other individuals beyond the author to intervene in the review, correction and editing of the work .
Although there is no single way to develop prewriting, it generally involves defining the topic , organizing the information , and performing the first writing tests. In the academic field, prewriting involves recording data that was obtained from one or more readings and processing them to be able to generate one's own text.
Planning the text also involves defining its purpose, determining what type of reader it is intended to reach, and establishing the general characteristics of the writing. For readers, all this work is invisible, although it is reflected in the characteristics of the text . It can be stated that the final text could not have been written without this prior prewriting task.
One of the most fascinating characteristics of any art is that each person can conceive it in a different way. Even after two different creative processes, similar results can emerge, or vice versa. Furthermore, in the best of cases the particular seal of the creator is impossible to imitate and transcends any barrier imposed by academia and theory . In prewriting, this is also true.
Since this is the first phase of literary creation, it is not strange that it must also imprint that magic, that originality that is expected from literature . The fact that it is characterized by a work of search and investigation does not mean that it should not be artistic; After all, each writer has unique needs that drive him or her to address certain themes, create certain characters, and place them in plots that others might not choose.
The first step of prewriting is usually determining the purpose of the work. It is only when we find it that we can begin to think about its form. A collection of poems is not the same as a novel or an essay, and writers do not usually choose the genre in the first place, but rather arrive at it because they consider it the best way to transmit their message.
For this reason, genre usually comes in the second stage of prewriting, when the purpose has already been defined. In fact, in many cases the creators themselves are surprised to discover that the work takes a different path than they expected, something similar to what happens when children spread their own wings.
From this point it is necessary to recognize the audience to which the work will be directed. It is important to note that this is never rigid, but rather an often unpredictable feature of art. However, the market provides us with parameters that are met in most cases, whether we like them or not, and it is based on them that we can estimate "which group of people will read our book ."