Number of stages in a process 🤷‍♀️

This is the task from my IELTS Writing class today. Each next overview raised my eyebrows higher and higher.

- Overall, the process consists of two parts, ...
- Overall, the process involves three key phases: ...
- Overall, the process consists of four main steps: ...
- Overall, there are five main steps involved in the process, ...

So I ask my students, "What does this teach us about process overviews?"

Don't get obsessed with the precise number of stages. Sometimes it's not clear what to count as a separate stage—and that's OK, so don't busy yourself with that.

You can write a great overview without "The process consists of N stages."

My overview begins "The process involves using... ." Try your hand at this overview in the comments (using my beginning or your own.) 📝