"Start thinking about your topic early, well before the due date."
This is the most common piece of advice that I have received in regards to pre-writing. It makes sense, I mean, the earlier you start to think about a topic the more you'll have thought it through by the time you start writing it. With other things to also think about like other courses, work, life, friends, and Facebook, thinking about a topic, thoroughly, and early in advance, is not always possible.
"Quick write."
I have also been told to write without stopping when pre-writing for a piece. It's supposedly meant to help the writer have a starting point to see what kind of ideas come out of the quick writing. I hated it when my teachers instructed this type of pre-writing, it never worked for me and I was more distracted by the fact that I couldn't STOP writing than I was focused on what was being written.
"Organize your thoughts."
I actually find this to be the most useful form of pre-writing, especially when writing research based papers. Many teachers have required an outline for part of the pre-writing process. This allows me to organize my thoughts and also helps me decide what I want to include in my paper, and where to place it in according to the other points that I will make.
Mainly, I think, that in my middle school and high school instruction of writing, pre-writing was used to help students jump start their writing. This was to help students, and the teachers, see if the writing was headed in the right direction or how to edit any needed changes before getting too far with the writing.
Leontini
I guess I am most confused about who Leontini was trying to persuade? I found the whole thing to be a bit confusing because of ALL the wordplay...
