Composition, in writing, is putting together words to create thought. The word composition may refer either to the process of creating a piece of writing or to the piece itself. As a school assignment, a composition is sometimes called a theme or an essay. The process of composing involves gathering and arranging information and opinions to express a point of view. A composition is an expression of a writer’s personality.
Preparing a composition may help you to think more clearly about a subject than simply talking about one. Preparing a composition can also help you present your thoughts so that others can understand them. The ability to write clearly and effectively is important to success in school and in many types of jobs.
Creating your subject
is the first step in preparing your composition. Your teacher may assign you a topic or you may choose to create your own. If you are creating your own subject, begin by selecting a topic that interests you, or about which you have some knowledge. Reading about your topic will give you ideas you may not have encountered on your own. Avoid topics that are too broad or too general to be discussed fully in the limited space of your composition. On the other hand, avoid a topic that is too narrow to be discussed from several points of view. A composition that expresses only one point of view can seem dull or pointless.
Beginning your composition.
To begin your composition, write down your most important thoughts on a topic. Some writers begin by jotting down a list, in no particular order, of things they might want to say about a subject. Other writers simply write pages of notes for a certain period of time. Most experienced writers revise and refine their notes over and over. As they revise, they add new information, eliminate unnecessary material, rearrange the order of presentation, and develop their most important ideas. Inexperienced writers often make a major mistake by skipping this step and starting to write the finished composition before they are ready.
During the beginning stage, do not worry about grammar, sentence structure, or punctuation. Your goal during this stage is to create your basic ideas. As you revise your list or notes, you will be able to discover what you know about your subject and what you must learn.
Organizing your thinking.
No writer can say everything possible about a subject. Therefore, you must assemble the most appropriate information into some sort of order before putting the sentences together. You can choose from many patterns of organization in planning your composition. You may find it desirable to combine two or more patterns. Your order will be determined by what you want to say.
You might begin your composition with a general statement, called a thesis, and proceed to examples or details that support or clarify that thesis. You can also begin with specific points and work toward a general principle that explains them. You may argue from the result of something to its causes, or from its causes to its result. If your composition deals with a process or is a narrative, you would probably do best with a chronological arrangement. You may decide to compare one idea with another and then develop an argument by first stating your own position and then answering opposing arguments. You can also reverse the order. If your composition describes something, you may lead up to your strongest impression or begin with that impression and make connections to other impressions or ideas.
The final stage of organizing your thoughts consists of developing an outline. An outline serves as the blueprint for your composition, identifying the principal ideas and how they should be organized.
To determine whether you have a workable plan of organization for your composition, try the following test. Attempt to construct from the outline a one-sentence statement of what you hope to accomplish in the composition. The sentence should state the purpose of the composition and how the ideas and examples in your outline meet that purpose. If you cannot get these two elements into one sentence, your plan of organization may be inadequate. For more information about outlines, see Outline.
Writing your composition.
After making notes and revising them to develop an outline, you are ready to write your composition. Writing a composition should always be a process of rewriting. Your finished composition should go through several versions or drafts. For the first version, write your composition from beginning to end at a single sitting, if possible. In this initial draft, do not be concerned about sentence patterns, spelling, or correct grammatical usage. Write on every other line of the paper or double-space if you are typing so that you can easily revise this draft.
In a second session, review your draft, establishing the proper relationships between ideas, words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Put yourself in the reader’s place and ask yourself, do the ideas make sense? Are they illustrated with concrete and interesting examples? Make necessary corrections and revisions right on the draft. Pay particular attention to such linking words as when, thus, but, so, for example, and on the other hand. Such connecting words are signposts for your reader and are more important than filling a composition with colorful adjectives or long, impressive-sounding words. Plan to rewrite your draft as many times as you need to make the argument of your composition clear and forceful.
Your final editing.
As the last step in the composing process, review your text to be sure it is correct. Check your spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, and make certain you are using acceptable grammar. A good method of checking your composition for mistakes is to read each sentence as a unit. Finally, type or write out your composition on white paper, exactly following directions on preparing the final copy.
