Abstract
The paper introduces an experiment on the role of preparedness in writing. The experiment took place in 2010.
Participants (N = 51; students of Charles University in Prague) were randomly divided into two groups: group N (N = 24) and group P (N = 27). Their main task was to describe the plot of a short animated film Quest.
Group N started to write right after seeing each part of the film, group P had 5 minutes to prepare. Significant differences in the sentence length and number of revisions were shown between the two groups.
It is claimed that preparedness is a valid style-forming factor, i.e. it influences both the process and the result of writing. Furthermore, the same method could be used for the analysis of the role of other style-forming factors in the writing process.