Writing Topic: Rules for Writers chapter 1 Summary

     While reading Chapter 1, "The Writing Process" in Diana Hacker's book "Rules For Writers", I'm reminded of looking at Google earth while still being in space and then zooming in on my target address. I mean that you can see all the components that make up the world, like the water, the clouds, and the land masses. This seems like the way you begin writing. You consider your subject, your audience, your evidence, your main Idea, your sources and your method of planning out the design of your paper. You then can zoom in to more detail and see the countries borders and the capital cities, along with islands and some different terrains. This is an analogy for Narrowing your subject to a topic, placing restrictions on your audience and focusing in on your purpose. This was for section 1A.
     Section 1B takes you into seeing your subject matter from different angles and developing your views from the different methods of outlining such as listing, clustering, freewriting, and talking and listening whereby you gain more knowledge and different points of view by engaging others to think about a subject with you.
     In section 1C Diana Hacker persues the art of Thesis statement creation and Tentative thesis statements and their uses.
     Sketching a plan and Developing an outline as in section 1D will help the writer see things from the 3700 foot view. The outline is the placement of the paragraphs so they have the greatest returns. Where would you like your punchline? where would you like the audience to have the Aha! here is the evidence and so forth.
     Drafting of your writing is covered in section 2a,b,and c. Again this is a view from above but with more attention placed in organizing your paragraghs and perhaps the placement of your thesis statement. Thesis statements should become clearer and grab the reader pulling them into the place of the author's intention. Working on the body of the paper will be the next step. Ask yourself "Do I have all the pieces that make sense following the thesis statement and preceeding my conclusion?" The body is the Beef of the paper and does all the explaining, or complaining for some. The last thing is your conclusion, with the expectation that it will be the final puzzle piece to back up your conclusion and hopefully make your audience feel a sense of completion or whatever sense you as the author intended to leave them with.
      Section 3 is where you can view your paper for the second time, in another light. See it and make necessary changes to all of the content. Add more color or contrast where needed. Polish up the grammar by revising and editing where necessary. Proofread until you smile.
      The google earth street view may be the equivalent to section 4 where you can dip into the paragraphs and sentences to check the flow.  The flow must always be directed using your Main Point. When reading from one sentence to another does it sound sweet in your mind or harsh and interruptive. As the author your intent may be the latter, maybe its a horror story or maybe you need a laid back simple tone or voice in your writing to give a type of description of a usual place or thing. You may find that sticking to your main point becomes difficult, or you may find you want your main point to shift slightly in one direction or another. I find this happens everytime I write. This view is also where you choose your 360 degree view. Would you like to see your paper from a narrative, an example,  a process, a comparison/contrast, an analogy, a cause and effect, a classification and division or a definition. All of these types of paragraphs and essays have their own unique sets of circumstances. Again check the flow and transition of your work. Is it having your intended effects? or do you need to add some new design reverting back to a previous section. Proofreading constantly will help you steadily mold your sculpture of writing into a work of art.
     All of these tools are the backbones writing a great paper. Subject matter itself never seems to be an issue because it is endless. This Chapter will help me write by going through the necessary structural methods of outlining which I haven't worked on enough. Its equivalent to using muscles that can help you run farther and faster the more excercise they get. Diana Hacker's lessons seem obvious and reliable, the standard by which great works of writing may be produced. I may not reference this chapter a lot but the lessons it provides are ones that I will use probably everytime I write.