GED Essay: Prewriting
When it comes to writing the GED essay, I know that I was concerned about how much time it would take. I wanted to write it all down at once, and just be done. But in order to do it well and get a good grade, the best thing to do is prewrite, take a few minutes to get ideas in order before writing.
I came up with a list of ways you can prewrite:
Questions
A good way to get ideas is to ask a lot of questions. What would you want to know, if you were reading the essay? What questions does the issue raise for you?
Brainstorm
Brainstorming means to just write down whatever comes into your head, anywhere on a piece of paper. It’s easier to do with a friend, but you can practice brainstorming on your own. Some people even like to doodle in their brainstorming!
Freewriting
Freewriting means that you just pick up your pencil and start writing on the topic. Write anything that comes to mind! Then, you can use your freewriting as ideas to write an organized draft.
Visualizing
If you’re a visual person like Dwaynee and like pictures, you can close your eyes and try to picture things related to what you’re writing about. You can draw pictures or sketches about what you want to say, and then use that to help you find the right words!
List of Ideas
This is just writing down your ideas in a list. Then, you can organize them later. You can put your ideas in an outline or an idea web…
Outline
An outline gives structure to what you’re going to write. You might write:
- Introduction: (then your ideas for the introduction.)
- Paragraph 1: (main idea)
- a. (detail a)
- b. (detail b)
… and keep going like that until you get to the end. I like outlines, because you can just follow down the whole outline as you write. It’s already got the structure!
Idea Web
An idea web is more visual, so Dwayne likes it a lot. You can start with your idea in a circle in the center, and then use lines to connect it to related ideas. Then, you can connect other ideas to those related ideas… so you end up with a web. Here’s more information on idea webs: http://www.inspiration.com/vlearning/index.cfm?fuseaction=webs
Remember, it doesn’t matter how you prewrite… do what works for you. So, practice a few different ways and find out what you like best.
