文档介绍：Part 1 Prewriting
· Brainstorming
（头脑风暴）
· Clustering
(聚类)
· Free writing
· Preparing a scratch outline
The process of writing can generally be separated by three stages: prewriting, drafting and revising.
In the prewriting stage, writers think about their topic and generate ideas. They also spend some time focusing and planning the piece of writing. Sometimes you are frustrated because you cannot think of anything to say about a topic. Here are some techniques helping you generate ideas.
Brainstorming
A brainstorm is a sudden insight or connection. Brainstorming is a way to associate ideas and stimulate thinking. To brainstorm, start with a word or phrase and let your thoughts go in whatever direction they will. For a set period of time, do not attempt to think logically but write a list of ideas as quickly as possible, putting down whatever comes to mind without looking back or organizing. After the set time is up, look over what you have listed to see if any ot the ideas are related and can be grouped. If so, the groupings suggest a topic or area of support. You can use brainstorming to focus on a particular topic or to develop more examples or ideas for our essay in progress.
Example   Following is an example of a brainstorm. To describe the football games, you brainstorm yourself by thinking of any words relating to it:
The fans, loyalty
My own coach
Working together
Endurance hardship
Teaches about life
Handling pressure
bodybuilding
cheerleaders
violence
outlet for aggression
war tactics
pay not as high as other pro-athletes
The example above is like making a list based on the core word of football. Another form of brainstorm is to exhaust questions concerning a certain topic. Usually we can refer to the following questions: who, what, when, where, why and sometimes how. For example, Tim used brainstorming to generate material for a paper. He is going to write about a depressing diner he had visited, but