How to Learn the Writing Process

Author Info

Last Updated: April 30, 2026

Although writers know the process of writing from beginning to end, if you haven't written long published works (whether over a class or to a publication company for printing), essays, or other works, you'll need to know the process.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Learning About the Process

Download Article

1
Learn at libraries and other writing programs. Watch for workshops, writing circles, and all-age sessions.
2
Learn online. Look for writing tutorials at Coursera, edX, Khan Academy, and YouTube for brainstorming, drafting, revising, and publishing information.
- Watch for spots on Reddit like the subreddits of r/writing, r/NaNoWriMo, and several Discord writing servers.
Advertisement
3
Watch for writing groups and through clubs. Some clubs and meetups form groups to teach the process.
4
Look for tutoring centers and some learning labs. These are often found in colleges, high schools, and adult ed centers.
5
Look for workplace training. When your job is to write reports or documentation, training on this process is often necessary.
6
Read books on writing. Authors like Anne Lamott, Stephen King, and Strunk & White write the process.
7
Try out your learning personally. Even journals and blogs are creative writing that teach you these processes, and polishing your work.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Doing the Procedure

Download Article

1
Gather the need to write. Do not write at first. The need to write something will often decide whether or not it needs to be written and how much needs to be written. Some people can mentally hold the need to write, and during this phase, begin preparing the pads of paper to compile the next steps in the process.
2
Learn about brainstorming. In the brainstorming process, you'll be collecting your notes. You can write down your notes in outline form, or you can form some Venn diagrams, or even some flowcharts and other notation forms. You get some information down - just don't worry about major structure.
- For some brainstormers who need to write short pieces, they often scribble down notes on Post-It notes or other pullable notes with a pen or pencil.
- If you have your ideas cast and have access to AI, you can input most of your notes into this, but ensure you tell it where you want to take it, to see your piece begin to come together. But don't expect it to be something reasonable, because it takes a human to make the pieces fit together in a logical order.
- Don't worry too much about the title, unless you are absolutely decided on a title that fits with the work, well. You can get to that title later in the writing process, even after the Final Draft, but before crafting the Rough Copy.
3
Turn your piece into something readable. Create a rough draft of the piece. Even if you still can't think of a title, in the Rough Draft, you'll get your notes down into something that begins looking like a writing piece. It may not look very clean and cut down, but you'll take those brainstorms and turn them into a piece of writing.
- In this portion, you'll form sentences, and sentences will form paragraphs.
- Expect some major errors within the text.
- Don't worry about typing it if you don't have access to a computer. Instead, write it out, but consider double-spacing your work, making it easy to spot copyeditor remarks from the next step later.
  - If you have a computer, you can type your work, but ensure it's at least single to 1 ¹/₂ spaced. Formerly, this was mentioned as double-spaced, but has since changed in description.
4
Hand your piece to someone else to review. You'll need someone's eyes to look at the piece and tell you what needs to be fixed. They'll be looking for content, structure, clarity, logic, and often flow. But others may concentrate on other things that others won't touch.
- Don't submit it to your publishing copy yet, to review. That step will come much later.
5
Create your final draft. At this point, you'll be making some changes. You'll be polishing the Rough Draft from the reviewers' notes.
6
Copy over your piece onto some clean areas. If you typed it, you can continue fixing it up. If you wrote it by hand, ensure you use a blank piece of paper to rewrite the piece. By now, your piece won't be perfect, but it'll be taking some shape.
7
Reread the piece yourself. To get into the next step, you'll need to go over your piece for the last time, looking for the smallest and easiest-to-spot errors. Watch for flow, grammar, spelling, and structure. The main thing here is the clarity of the piece and making sure the pieces fit together.
- If it's a novel you're writing, make sure that your characters are introduced before they are talked about.
- If it's something else, make sure that the pieces fit together so nothing gets left out.
- Check your piece against your brainstormed notes, and ensure that all characters are mentioned, and that settings are tacked on too.
- In this portion, you may want to send this to groups associated with the work, if possible, for review. Watch for specific groups if there are troubles within the text, such as characters with special diseases that need a watchful eye on certain characteristics.
8
Get that Final Copy written. The final copy will be clean and error-free. This is the copy you'll be submitting to the publishers of your work.
- This Final Copy isn't the stage of the writing process for any wikiHow page. However, you may think of these as being error-free!
9
Begin talking to your publishing company. Hand them your final manuscript and ask them if they can publish it.