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Publishing may include the preparation of a final copy, but is mostly concerning the sharing of a work with an audience, or as Ruth Culham summarizes (2014); "creating a final copy to go public." This important stage will often motivate a writer to push through all of the editing and revisions required to make their work excellent and readable, understanding that someone will actually read it (Tompkins, 2019). There are many ways for a student to publish their work whether it is reading aloud from a classroom author's chair, contributing their writing to a class library or anthology, or sharing it with friends or family members. Remembering that classmates will read my work - whether a reading response or an essay or speech will often fuel my determination to make my thoughts understandable, clear, and engaging. I often observe prekindergarten students in my classroom create compositions (coloring pages, handmade notes, attempts at word formation, etc.) expressly to share with classmates or parents; the publishing process sparks the desire needed to persevere through a sometimes difficult journey of articulation, and also provides a sense of accomplishment when that final product is finally completed.

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Editing or a piece is a shift from developing ideas in a composition to polishing a piece for an audience in terms of corrects conventions or mechanics such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, etc. (Tompkins, 2019). Syntax and semantics are also addressed in this stage, usually as the product of peer or teacher feedback. Again, distance from earlier drafts helps with this process so that proofreading and errors are more noticeable. I am often amazed at my misspellings and use of run-on sentences that often need more punctuation. Amongst my students, incorrect capitalizations are common but are usually detected fairly easily after proofreading their work.

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Ruth Culham in her work, The Writing Thief (2014) describes drafting as "committing initial rough ideas to paper or digital form." At this stage, conventions matter less than the formation of ideas. Initial ideas from the prewriting stage may change or alter as the writer processes their initial thoughts and considers how to craft leads and express ideas. This is always the most difficult process for me as I find most of the hard work of writing happens as my own ideas form, sharpen, and change as I try to commit my thoughts to written form. I see the same hesitations in my students as they grapple with their ideas and try to put them to paper. Often their focus will shift when errors occur or if their initial ideas change but I also see enthusiasm develop as they begin to see their thoughts materialize.

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Described by Tompkins in Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product (2019) as the "getting-ready-to-write stage", the prewriting stage is a the important and often neglected stage when the writer comes up with a topic and ideas often using brainstorming, discovery questions, and an attempt to come up with the purpose, audience, and appropriate genre. When I was coming up with a topic for my undergrad thesis, I often brainstormed my ideas and thoughts on a whiteboard where I could mind-map different ideas and articles I had read to draw connections between them. In the classroom, most of my students process verbally and collaboratively - feeding off of each others ideas and coming up with new ones verbally as they think about what to write about.

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The purpose of this stage is for writers to "clarify and refine ideas in their drafts" (Tompkins, 2019) often by adding, substituting, deleting, moving phrases or sentences, and considering word choice. Distancing oneself from the drafting process before rereading and seeking feedback from others are important components of this stage. It differs from editing in that this stage is still not concerned with conventions like spelling and punctuation; the focus is still to clarify ideas. I often revisit this stage throughout the writing process as I think more about the ideas I really want to highlight and avoid repetitive phrases and words. One student in my class was composing a drawing of his family and decided he hadn't made enough space for every family member - he'd forgotten grandparents! He found a way to reorganize his picture to include extra characters.