ordered">Pre‑writing — this is where we think of ideas, brainstorm, and plan what we will write about.

Drafting — we write the first version of our composition without worrying about errors yet.

Revising — we improve our ideas, organization, and meaning, sometimes with peer or teacher feedback.

Editing — we check grammar, spelling, punctuation, and make the writing correct and clear.

Publishing — this is when we prepare the final version to share or submit (Sarmiento & Ortega-Dela Cruz, 2021; Rahman, Apriyanti, & Ramadhan, 2024).

What I like about this approach is that it makes writing less scary. At school, many students sometimes feel stuck when they have to write right away without planning, especially when grammar and vocabulary are hard. Research in the Philippines found that using the process writing approach helped Senior High School learners improve their narrative writing in areas like organization and grammar because it gave them time to draft, revise, and edit gradually (Sarmiento & Ortega-Dela Cruz, 2021).

This approach also changes how teachers and students interact. Instead of the teacher just correcting a finished essay, the teacher becomes a guide who gives feedback while you are still working on your draft (Lisutsa, 2009; Rakhimova, 2025). This can help learners feel more confident because they get support while they’re still building their writing.

Additionally, literacy scholars like Cope and Kalantzis (2000, 2016) emphasize that modern writing instruction should focus on meaning-making and designing texts in multiple forms, not just producing a single correct essay. Their ideas support process writing by showing that writing is a way for students to express ideas and interact with others in meaningful ways.

In my own experience, writing assignments feel easier when I first brainstorm or outline my ideas. This matches what researchers say — that process writing helps students organize thoughts and grow in confidence, especially if they used the traditional method before (Badger & White, 2000; Kalantzis & Cope, 2015).

Overall, the Process Writing Approach is a student‑centered way to learn writing. It values thinking, drafting, revising, and improving — and it shows that writing is not a one‑time task but a learning process (Cope & Kalantzis, 1993).

References:

Badger, R., & White, G. (2000). A process genre approach to teaching writing. ELT Journal, 54(2), 153–160. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/54.2.153

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (1993). The powers of literacy: A genre approach to teaching writing. Routledge.

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. Routledge.

Emig, J. (1971). The composing processes of twelfth graders. National Council of Teachers of English.

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2015). Pedagogy of multiliteracies: Learning by design (Ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2016). Literacies. Cambridge University Press.

Rahman, Y. A., Apriyanti, F., & Ramadhan, A. (2024). Implementing process writing approach to improve EFL students’ writing performance in academic writing. Attractive: Innovative Education Journal, 6(1), 464–472. https://doi.org/10.51278/aj.v6i1.1096

Rakhimova, S. (2025). The role of process writing approach in enhancing student writing performance. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence, 5(06), 1035–1038.

Sarmiento, J. P., & Ortega‑Dela Cruz, R. A. (2021). Process writing approach in enhancing high school students’ ESL writing competency. Journal of Social Sciences, IV(4), 51–62. https://doi.org/10.52326/jss.utm.2021.4(4).06

Writing Made Easier: Discovering the Process Writing Approach