Process...

The writing process for the Digital Community of Authors project consists of seven steps as follows:

Topics	Authors participate in experiences which generate topics rich for writing. Each author should develop their own individual list of potential topics based on their own interests and experiences. In the traditional classroom this was typically kept in a manila file folder in a drawer or filing cabinet. In the DCA students are encouraged to keep their topic list in a word processing file saved as 'topics' in a student writing folder created especially for each author on your classroom computer or school network so that it can be easily accessed without having to be printed out.
Writing	Once an author has selected a topic, he or she should sit and write at length on the chosen subject. The idea is to focus on everything he or she can say about the topic and put it into writing. Grammar, syntax, sentence and paragraph construction are not the primary concern here; this is the opportunity for the free-flow of ideas. Once the author has exhausted everything he or she can write on the topic, he or she is done with this step in the writing process. The first draft should be saved in a writing folder as "title_draft1" on the computer. It is recommended that the author wait a day or more before revisiting the writing piece through a conference.
Conferencing	The conference consists of the author and one or more peers sharing the first draft of the author's writing. The piece of writing in question can be read aloud to the group by the author, or peers may have the opportunity to read the draft for themselves silently. Once the writing has been received, the author listens for feedback from the group on how to further develop his or her ideas. This process is typically accomplished by peer questions about the topic addressed by the author. Perhaps the author's audience wants to know more about the subject, requires clarification of specific ideas, or is especially interested in certain portions of the writing which they would like to see further developed. The emphasis in the conference is further develop ideas in the first draft. Once the conference is complete, the author is ready to attempt a second draft of his or her writing. The second draft should be saved in the writing folder as "title_draft2" on the computer so that it does not overwrite the first draft of the author's work.
Ask Mallory	When the second draft of the author's work is complete, he or she may submit it to Mallory for feedback. As editor in residence, Mallory will offer a fresh look at the author's writing and offer additional ideas for developing the piece, including sentence and paragraph construction. All work must be emailed in Word (.doc) or Rich Text (.rtf) format to walter@surfaquarium.com as an email attachment or in the body of the email as plain text. Please allow time for Mallory to receive author work, offer feedback and reply via email.
Editing	Once Mallory's feedback has been received by the author, he or she is ready to write a third draft. This will include attention to sentence and paragraph construction as ideas are developed around topic sentences. The third draft should be saved in the student writing folder as "title_draft3" on the computer. When the third draft is complete, the author will want to meet with the teacher to review spelling, punctuation, and technical errors.
Revising	The author will now edit his or her writing so that it is well developed in ideas and mechanics. Once all edits have been made, a fourth draft of the writing will be completed. The fourth draft should be saved in the student writing folder as "title_draft4" on the computer. The fourth draft should be shared with the teacher and/or peers one final time to verify that it is ready for publishing.
Publishing	Once the fourth draft has been verified as being ready for publication, the author may wish to develop illustrations to accompany his or her work. These may be original drawings by hand, drawings created using a computer graphics program, or clip art. All art work should be placed in the body of the author's work where it is intended to be viewed upon publication. The author may also wish to use a specific font and other text formatting in preparing his or her work for publication. Once all graphics have been inserted and formatting of the writing is complete, the work should be saved as "title_final" in the students writing folder on the computer. It can then be emailed as an attachment to the DCA for publication online. Please allow one to two weeks for publication of stories.