About
Writing in English is a valuable practice in gathering, understanding, and communicating information through written language. The ultimate purpose of writing is to convey meaning — ideas, opinions, and information — to others. When you start to write, think carefully about your purpose and the information that you wish to convey. If you are writing a formal or important document, such as an essay or cover letter, follow the steps in the writing process to organize your information and ideas. Writing and revising will be easier, and your final document will be more polished if you have followed the steps noted below.
Writing Tips: Steps in the Writing Process
Step 1. Understand Your Task
In order to write well, you must know what and why you are writing, and how your written document should arrange information. These questions about your task can be answered through three basic factors that you must consider in everything you write: genre, audience, and purpose. Consider these three key elements to identify what kind of information you will include in your writing, how you will arrange and describe it, and what your document will look like in the end.
Genre
Identifying the genre of your writing is the first step toward discovering the expectations for what you are about to write. The genre refers to the style, content, and format of a type of writing. Genres in English composition include expository or informative, narrative, and persuasive writing. defines what your readers will expect your writing to look like and include. Consider the difference between a poem and a newspaper article. There are a set of conventions, or rules, that indicate that each has a distinct way that it conveys meaning and that it is intended to be read. These ‘rules’ of genre help readers to follow, interpret, and understand a piece of writing by letting them know what they are reading.
To identify the genre of your writing task, consider these factors:
- What are you writing? Is it an essay, a story, a letter?
- What do other pieces of writing in this category look like? How do they propose and arrange information?
- How is this kind of writing different from others?
- What is important about this kind of writing?
If you have difficulty figuring out what you are supposed to be writing, look or ask for an example or model of the kind of writing you are doing. Study how your model expresses and organizes information.
Audience
Considering the knowledge and interests of the people who will read your writing also helps you identify the type of information and language you should include and use. Always adjust your writing to your audience and what they expect to get from your writing. Use language that is appropriate for your readers and that they will understand. Supply them with information that is interesting and relevant to your topic so that they can better comprehend why you are including it.
Consider these aspects of your audience as you write and revise:
- For whom are you writing? Who will read your writing?
- What do your readers know about your topic?
- What do your readers expect to find out about your topic from your writing?
Remember that the ultimate purpose of your writing is to create meaning for your readers. To reach that goal, you must try to explain and express information in language and ways they comprehend.
Purpose
Knowing why you are writing makes identifying necessary and relevant information easier. Think about why you are writing and what you hope to achieve with your writing. Consider how you want to be understood by your audience.
- In a cover letter, your purpose is to interest your reader in who you are by telling them a little bit about yourself. Your purpose also includes impressing your reader with your intelligence and potential, so you should want your cover letter to be as proper and well-written as possible.
- Your purpose in a paper for a class is similar: you want to convey how well you understand your topic and also impress your reader with your skill and intelligence.
- On the other hand, writing an apology letter to your best friend has a different purpose. You do not need to be as impressive or smart. In fact, trying to sound smart may backfire, and your letter will not be successful.
Think about how your writing will be interpreted by your reader. To write successfully, you must adjust your writing to the purposes you hope to achieve through it.
When identifying the purpose of your writing, consider these factors:
- Why are you writing? What do you hope to achieve with your writing?
- Are you telling your readers about something they do not know, arguing for your opinion, or entertaining them with a story? Do you have a more specific purpose for your writing (e.g., for class) that affects your tone and language use?
- Why will your readers read your writing? What are they looking for or expecting?
These three factors–genre, audience, and purpose–should help you identify what you are to do and achieve with your writing. Perhaps you can sum up your task in a few words, like ‘cover letter’ or ‘research paper,’ or you can only describe your task in detail. Either way, keep these factors in mind as you begin to organize and write to create an interesting, appropriate, and successful piece.
See a Model: Step 1: Understand Your Task
Example 1: Course Writing Assignment
Write about a topic of current interest. (Item 1) Provide background, recent history, and your perspectives on the topic. (Item 2) Your paper should be 3-5 pages in length (Item 3) and follow MLA format. (Item 4)
My topic: Recycling? (Item 5)
Genre: Perspective paper (Item 6)
Audience: Professor R. (Item 7)
Purpose: Provide background, recent history, and my perspectives. (Item 8)
Example 1: Considerations
Item 1. There are many potential paper topics that could be written for this prompt. It will have to be narrowed down to a specific topic. What does it mean for a topic to be of current interest?
Item 2. These are clues to what the paper’s subtopics should be.
Item 3. The topic should be narrow enough to be covered adequately in the length of the paper. Too broad a topic will result in an unfocused paper.
Item 4. This is an important criterion to remember for the finished product.
Item 5. Is this a controversial issue? To write a perspective paper, the topic must have at least 2 sides. Plus, this topic is very broad. For a 3-5 page paper, it will have to be narrowed down. What kind of recycling? What aspects are interesting and current? What is the author’s perspective on recycling? What is the opposite perspective?
Item 6. The instructions and the fact that this paper is for a course make the genre an academic opinion paper.
Item 7. Writing for a professor or teacher means the paper should be reasonably formal and assume a higher level of language. It must still provide necessary background and definitions for understanding the topic of the paper.
Item 8. These purposes are outlined in the instructions. Another purpose of this writing task is to show the research, time, and skill that went into writing the paper in the hopes of getting a good grade.
Example 2: Opinion Letter to Newspaper
I want to write a letter to the newspaper for the editorial page about why I think people should recycle because I saw a lot of litter on the community playground last week, and I think it’s disgusting.
My topic: Why people should recycle (Item 1)
Genre: Opinion letter to the newspaper (Item 2)
Audience: Newspaper readers (Item 3)
Purpose: Convince readers to recycle and let them know why I think recycling is a good idea. (Item 4) Oh, and get published in the newspaper! (Item 5)
Example 2: Considerations
Item 1. Thinking about the topic as a question is a good practice. The letter should provide reasons that answer this question.
Item 2. The genre here is decided by the author’s intention and the publishing medium. Other opinion letters that were published in the newspaper are a good model for how to organize and write the letter.
Item 3. This is a very general, broad audience. The letter should use language that a general audience can understand and provide sufficient definition of the topic. What do the newspaper readers already know about recycling? What do they need to know?
Item 4. To achieve these purposes, the letter must be written at a level that the newspaper readers will understand. It should also be organized so readers can understand the point of the letter.
Item 5. It should be well-written and follow the format of opinion letters that have already been published to be taken seriously by the editors who will review it.
Step 2. Identify And Form Your Question(s)
Everything you write in effect answers a question or set of questions. If you are writing for a class or responding to a letter, you may already know the questions you must answer. In most writing, however, you must form the questions you will answer yourself.
When identifying and forming your questions, keep the length of your writing task in mind. Be specific enough to give yourself a clear topic to address. Don’t limit yourself to a very tiny topic that will run out of material or that does not have many related resources. Write your questions down so you can keep your focus through the writing process. If your questions come from someone else, such as an instructor or manager, highlight or underline important parts of them. As you research and even write, your questions may change. However, as you get started, use your questions to help you direct your efforts.
Questions
When forming your questions:
- Consider what you already know about your topic. What would be an interesting aspect to investigate or learn more about?
- Focus and limit your question based on how long your written piece will be.
- Identify particular aspects of your topic that you will write about. For example, instead of asking, what is the history of the United States? ask a specific question about an aspect of U.S. history, such as “What were the influences of Native American cultures on colonial settlers?” or “What are the present-day effects of the Civil Rights movement?”.
- Be specific. Narrowing your topic to a few specific questions will help you research and write more easily.
Step 3. Brainstorm About Your Topic
Gathering ideas about what you want to write before starting to organize, research, and write can help you focus and avoid writer’s block later. There are many ways to brainstorm ideas for your writing, from prewriting diagrams to simply writing freely. Try one or more to get ideas flowing!
Freewrite
- Select a short amount of time. For that amount of time, write whatever you can think of about your topic.
- Do not worry about spelling, grammar, or how good your ideas are. Simply write.
- When you are finished, go back and review what you have written. Highlight or mark ideas that you think are interesting and relevant to your topic.
- Keep your freewrites to refer to later as you organize, research, and write.
- When you are finished freewriting, always revise, organize, and refine the ideas you record during freewriting. They may be great, but they are not yet ready for a final paper.
Freewrite several times if you would like or need to get ideas flowing — this can be a great way to get through writer’s block even if you have already started to write
Venn diagram
- Compare and contrast two or more topics, subjects, theories, etc.
- Draw one large circle for each main topic or subject you will write about. Make sure the circles all intersect with enough room to write in the middle space, which should include all of the circles.
- Write words and ideas that are related to a topic within its circle.
- Write words and ideas that are related to more than one topic in the area that is inside both circles.
If you are comparing two things, this is a good way to identify how they are similar and different.
Idea web
Draw how ideas are connected to each other in a ‘web’ of ideas and their relationships.
- At the center of a blank sheet of paper, write your topic or question.
- Draw a box or shape around it.
- Write ideas and phrases that relate to your topic in boxes around your main topic box.
- Draw lines to connect related ideas.
Use an idea web to create a map of the different relationships and threads in your topic. You will probably not include all of the information from your web in your writing but will have a visual to help you “see” your topic.
After brainstorming
- Review your brainstorms and your questions.
- Identify ideas that are interesting to you. These may become subtopics or arguments for your writing.
- You may want to revise your questions at this point to reflect new ideas or directions that have come out of your brainstorms.
See a Model: Step 3: Brainstorming
Brainstorming: Freewrite Take 1
Recycling. Should we? Some think we shouldn’t bother but we’ve been doing it and it’s helped a lot. How? Let’s see. It has saved trees. (Item 1) What about all those horrible treeless areas in washington last summer? Shouldn’t it help that? It also reduces landfills-there’s that saying that one person’s trash is another’s treasure-shouldn’t throw away perfectly good stuff when you can use it. (Item 2) Also I kind of like doing it- everyone’s recycling on trash day and it’s good to feel like I’m doing something. (Item 3)
New topic! Recycling paper to create recycled stuff, save trees, reduce landfills (Item 4)
Features of Freewrite Take 1
Item 1. When freewriting, just write quickly and freely about the topic, without worrying about whether the ideas are good or the grammar is correct.
Item 2. Go back and look for material that could be used, such as this idea, which would serve as an example. Pick out ideas that could be researched to be used as supporting material in body paragraphs.
Item 3. Take the strongest ideas from the freewrite and use them to help research, outline, and write drafts for the paper.
Item 4. The first freewrite has narrowed down the broad topic, recycling, to a more specific topic of interest. It has helped identify potential subtopics that are more manageable and provide focus.
Step 4. Develop a Thesis
Before you continue in the process, review your brainstorming documentation. This may require some revision to narrow your focus or further develop ideas. Then, develop a preliminary thesis that states what you are going to write about. In your thesis, answer your research questions and include subtopics from your brainstorms. Writing a thesis before you start will help you research and take notes as you will be much more focused.
Your thesis should map out what you want to write about and give a tentative conclusion about what you will find.
Parts of a Thesis
- Your topic (for example, space travel to Mars)
- Subtopics or subarguments (for example, challenges in traveling to Mars, current status of research to Mars, why we want to go to Mars)
- Purpose or direction (for example, to see whether traveling to Mars is worth the challenges)
Example: To see whether travel to Mars is worth studying, I will look at the challenges of traveling there, current status of Mars research, and the reasons we want to go to Mars.
By developing a preliminary thesis, you now have a map for your research. Focus on the subtopics you state in your thesis. Use them to organize and guide your research. As you continue to research your topic, your thesis should become more specific.
See a Model: Step 4: Develop a Thesis
Freewrite Take 2 with Thesis Statement
Recyclings good bc it can make paper into new stuff, save trees, and reduce landfills. i think save trees and landfills are most improtant. (Item 1) if we keep cutting down trees there won’t be any more left and trees make oxygen we need oxygen to live. trees are pretty look at cities they are ugly and no trees. plus landfills are gorss. so much trash but there is stuff we can do with it like make cups and new paper. (Item 2) like some palces only use recycle paper stuff and its good. (Item 3) some people like recycl stuff more bc it makes them feel good about the environment.
(Item 4) lots of stuff can be made out of paper and its not as pretty bc sometimes its browner but thats okay bc it still works, right? and if we start making new stuff out of old paper then its just less stuff to get thrown away okay. its so easy to recycle too you just put newspaper and stuff in the recycle box not the trash can. (Item 5)
Thesis: Recycling is a simple practice that lets us reuse paper materials and can help the environment by saving trees and reducing landfills. (Item 6)
.
Features of Freewrite Take 2 with Thesis Statement
Item 1. This is a potential organizer for the paper, putting ideas into order of importance.
Item 2. This is a very good, analytic point that should be supported with background research and more explanation.
Item 3. In this freewrite, the idea of recycling paper into new products follows the other ideas. But is it connected to the other ideas, such as saving trees? Where is a logical place for this to fit in the paper?
Item 4. Using “some people” in a formal paper won’t work, but maybe this is an idea that could be used to convince other people to try recycling. Bridge ideas from the freewrite into more developed concepts and arguments that will suit the purpose of the writing.
Item 5. This is a very compelling point and important information to provide, especially for the second example of writing an opinion letter. It should be included in the introduction and repeated in the conclusion.
Item 6. Write out a simple thesis to help focus early in the writing process. This will be revised into a more polished sentence but states the main points the author will try to support in the paper.
Step 5: Research and Document
If research is necessary for your writing purposes, you should consult a range of primary and secondary resources. (You may not have to do extensive research if you are answering a question about yourself or your job although it is a good idea to double-check your company policies and resources before committing information.)
- Consult secondary resources such as textbooks and encyclopedias to get a general idea about your topic. You should not use these as your top resources when you sit down to write; these are just to give you background information about your topic.
- Use keywords, names, and terms that you come across in your background research to help you search for more specific primary and secondary resources, such as books, journal articles, and multimedia. Computer card catalogs, indexes, and other library sources will help you identify and locate these resources.
Primary and Secondary Sources
Primary sources provide first-hand information about an event or time period, such as commentary and footage from people who were there or were involved, documents and recordings, and books, articles, and reports written during that time. While these resources are ‘closer’ to the event or time period, they may also carry bias, assumptions, and limitations of the author or creator. Because they are usually singular accounts, primary sources must be considered carefully for biases of the times in which they were created and the individuals who created them.
Secondary sources interpret and analyze historical events, just as you are in your paper. Secondary sources can be books, articles, textbooks, and multimedia resources and are usually already a step away from events. The author(s) of secondary sources have consulted a variety of sources to describe and represent the topic. A secondary source is only as valuable as the primary sources it has consulted. Consider the work’s reputation, purpose, and audience when assessing its value and validity.
Documenting Sources and Tracking Notes
Record all of the bibliographic information for your sources as you read and research.
- Capture the bibliographic information you’ll need for your Works Cited, References, or Bibliography pages..
Take notes as you read and research.
- Use sticky notes to flag pages that are important, or copy useful information onto index cards, notepaper, or a computer.
- Use a note-taking method that makes sense to you and will be easy for you to organize later.
- Record page numbers as you take notes from books and journals so you have no problem checking facts and writing citations.
- Review your notes. If they are on cards or sticky notes (don’t forget page numbers if you remove sticky notes from a book!), organize your notes into piles by topic. Make comments on your notes in a different color to record your ideas and thoughts.
See a Model: Step 5: Research and Document
Documenting Sources and Tracking Notes
Key words: recycling, recycled paper, landfills, save trees, environment (Item 1)
Sources:
Frack, Peter. “Does Recycling Help or Hurt Our Environment?” The Environmental Weekly. 25 May 2006. faculty.fortlewis.edu/fox_j/env%20policy/student%20web%20pages%20envpol/Freas%20Recycling%20web%20page.doc 25 April 2007. (Item 2)
“Recycling.” Wikipedia. (Item 3) 25 April 2007. (Item 4)
Smith, Marylin. Recycling for a Better World. Seattle: University Press, 1989. (Item 5)
Notes:
Frack, p. 1 (Item 6)–some think recycling is bad for our environment bc it creates water pollution
p. 2–some think its good bc less solid waste in landfills
Smith, p. 20–recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees
p. 45– landfills only have space for 50 more years of trash at our rate of throwing away stuff (Item 7)
Features of Documenting Sources and Tracking Notes
Item 1. Make a list of words from brainstorms that will help search for resources.
Item 2. This source information is written in MLA format so it can be easily put into a bibliography or works cited page later — no need to track down the magazine at the last minute to find publishing information.
Item 3. Use encyclopedias only for personal background and research. Find more select, in-depth sources to support the paper. Be especially cautious of web sources, which may not be authoritative.
Item 4. Whenever information is found on the web, the date that it was found must be stated. This is because information on the web can change at any time. If someone tries to check the resource, it may no longer be available or be different than what is cited. The access date helps to validate the information that was originally found there.
Item 5. In a current events paper, a resource this old might not be relevant. The information in it will be dated — use caution when referencing works on current topics that are more than 10 years old.
Item 6. This identifying information will help double-check facts and write citations. Record page numbers when taking notes.
Item 7. This fact is from Smith’s book, which was published in 1989. Is it likely that it has changed? Do not simply alter such dated information to be current, for example, changing 50 years to 30. Find a newer resource that has accurate information.
Step 6: Organize and Outline
Plan what you are about to write before you start your first draft. Review the questions you formed earlier and organize the information and ideas that you must convey to answer those questions. If you are just writing a short letter or response, you may only need to make a list of things you must include. If you have done research and are writing an essay, paper, or article, or are writing a formal, important document, you should take time to organize your notes and put the information you want to write about in an outline before you begin.
After you have organized your notes by topic, put them in a logical order within each topical group. You might want to put the most important notes in one group, or further group your notes into subgroups. At some point, you will need to put your notes in the order that you want to address them in your writing. Organizing and ordering your notes before writing will make writing easier and can help you make your final product more logical and organized.
Outlines can take many forms, but all outlines lay out information in an organized hierarchy of ideas. Use an outline to group facts, quotes, and opinions by topic and to order them by importance or logical relationship, such as general-to-specific or chronological.
The two most common formats for an outline are alpha-numeric and decimal. Click on one below to see an example. Both order topics, subtopics, facts, and details with a system of Roman numerals and letters or numbers and decimals. You can make an outline as long and detailed as you need it to be to cover the information in your paper by adding levels of information. Most people make each line a brief phrase so points are easy to see at a glance. This outline may change as you go but will be a valuable reference for keeping your writing focused and logical.
Alpha-numeric Outline
I. Topic
A. First Subtopic
1. Most general or important fact
a. detail
b. detail
2. Second most general or important fact
B. Second Subtopic
1. Most general or important fact
2. Second most general or important fact
Decimal Outline
1. Topic
1.1 First Subtopic
1.1.1 Most general or important fact
1.1.1.1 detail
1.1.1.2 detail
1.1.2 Second most general or important fact
1.2 Second Subtopic
1.2.1 Most general or important fact
1.2.2 Second most general or important fact
See a Model: Step 6: Organize and Outline
Outline
I. Introduction
A. Saving trees and the environment
has never been so easy — or so
important. (Item 1)
B. Modern recycling practices and
processes make it easy for people.
C. Some people think it isn’t a good
idea (Frack, p. 5) (Item 2)
1. say it wastes money and energy
2. gain is too little for the cost
3. actually creates more water
pollution
D. (Thesis) I believe we should
continue to recycle because it
prevents the devastation and
depletion of forests (Item 3), saves
energy (Item 4), and unites people
in a common purpose. (Item 5)
II. Body Paragraph I
A. Recycling prevents the devastation
of forests. (Item 6)
1. Recycling 1 ton of paper saves
17 trees (Item 7) (Smith, p. 20)
(Item 8)
B. Need for paper causes whole
forests to be cut down
1. Example: deforested areas in
Washington (Item 9)
Features of an Outline
Item 1. This idea, developed from the freewriting, could serve as an attention-grabbing first statement in the introduction.
Item 2. These two ideas (IB and IC), also taken from the freewriting, will work in the introduction to set a context for the reader and introduce the thesis statement.
Item 3. The thesis statement takes the main ideas from the freewrite and research and offers them in one clear, strong statement. It may take several drafts, and a lot of revising, before the thesis is coherent and powerful enough for the final paper.
Item 4. This is a new subtopic that was discovered during research. Brainstorms are just a beginning to writing a paper. The ideas that come out of brainstorming and early thesis writing can always be edited and revised as more is discovered about a topic.
Item 5. The thesis statement takes the main ideas from the freewrite and research and offers them in one clear, strong statement. It may take several drafts, and a lot of revising, before the thesis is coherent and powerful enough for the final paper.
Item 6. The topic sentence sums up the point of this paragraph. It is clearly related to the points made in the thesis statement.
Item 7. This fact supports the topic sentence by showing how recycling saves trees. It develops an idea from the freewrite through research.
Item 8. The source is cited in the outline for reference.
Item 9. Example also comes from the freewriting. This example should be researched so it can be explained in detail, if necessary, and a source should be given to support it.
Step 7. Write a Draft
With all of your notes, brainstorms, and outlines at hand, you can begin to write. Think of this draft as another activity on your way to a final product — like freewriting, drafting is about getting your ideas out in full sentences. Do not slow yourself down to worry about proper grammar, style, and spelling as you can fix these easily later.
Write the draft paragraphs in any order.
Because you have an outline to help you keep your information and ideas organized, you can start writing at whatever point you choose.
- Write in your thesis and the main points on your outline in heading (chapter) form.
- Write about each topic below its heading, following the points you lay out in your outline.
- Make notes at points where you need to add information and make sure you remember to return to these spots!
- Focus on making your points and connections clear through transitions and direct wording.
- Revise your style and sentence construction later.
Step 8. Revise
Drafting and revising are interlocking steps. At times when you are writing your draft, you may take breaks to revise what you have already written. Similarly, as you are revising, you might find you need to go back and write more or even do more research. Expect to revise your writing several times if you want to write well. Even the best writers revise their drafts multiple times before considering themselves finished.
As you revise, check your writing for grammar, style, and the truth and accuracy of your content. Revise your writing for these key elements:
Proper sentence construction
- Look for very long sentences. Break up complex sentences into shorter, simpler sentences. Make sure each short sentence has a subject and a verb. You can recombine these short sentences, but it is easier to check that they are written properly when you break them up.
- Look for subordinating words like after, before, although, and when in the beginning of sentences. Make sure that these sentences have a second part with an independent subject and verb pair.
- Watch out for verbs that end in -ing. These verb forms, called gerunds, cannot be the main verb in a sentence. However, they can be subjects and objects, and should be used in these places. For example, I enjoy swimming is correct. I swimming is not.
- Check that compound and complex sentences are parallel. In lists and compound or complex sentences, make sure that you use the same verb conjugation throughout the whole thing. For example, He ran, and I walk is not correct because ran is past tense and walk is present tense. I like shopping, dancing, and to go to the cinema is also not correct, because to go to the cinema does not ‘match’ the tense of the other two items in the list.
Style
- Review the genre, audience, and purpose of your task.
- Use a tone that is appropriate for your task and purpose. Papers and essays should be more formal, while letters and articles are often more informal.
Correct Word Use
- Make sure that you are using the correct words for what you mean.
- Use a dictionary, such as the Lexipedia resource in Word Help, to make sure you have chosen the right word.
- Do not always trust thesauruses and automatic translation services. If you are not completely sure of what a word means, do not use it.
- Avoid using slang and casual or offensive language.
Accuracy
- Double-check all of the information you include to make sure it is accurate and correct. Check numbers, dates, and statistics if you have mentioned any.
- Make sure all of the information you provide is properly cited, giving credit to the author.
Content Flow
- Check that your ideas flow logically from one another.
- Make sure you complete each point you start.
- Is it clear why you include your points in the order that you do?
Completeness
- Review the questions you are answering. Highlight important parts of each question.
- Make sure you answer each question completely, to the best of your ability.
Revision Checklist: Revising by Domain
There is more than one way to revise. The method shown below uses domain-specific questions to guide your revision, editing, and proofreading.
Focus/Purpose
Have you formed or identified the questions you must answer?
- Come up with specific questions that you will answer with your writing.
- If you have been asked the questions you need to answer, highlight important words and parts of each question.
- Focus your research and writing around these questions.
Do you have ideas about what you want to write about?
- Brainstorm ideas about your topic and questions.
- Use your brainstorms to help you identify key words, themes, and subtopics.
- Keep your brainstorms for reference.
Do you have a rough thesis to focus your writing and research?
- Use the questions you have identified and your brainstorms to develop a basic thesis.
- Be specific. Use your thesis to narrow your research and writing topic.
- Adjust and revise your thesis as you go, but keep in mind how much time you have before making dramatic changes.
Development/Elaboration
Do you have the necessary information, facts, and resources?
- Consider what your reader expects to learn by reading your writing. What kind of information is necessary?
- Do research in primary and secondary sources to find information about your topic.
- Double-check the information you are writing, even if you do not have to do research.
Have you recorded the source information for all of your resources, including bibliographic details and page numbers of specific facts?
- Check a bibliographic style manual to see what information you should record.
- Record this information as you go to save time later.
- Note page numbers when taking notes so you can double-check facts and quotations and write citations easily.
- Double-check all quotations and facts in the original resource.
- Properly cite all information, quotations, and facts that you include.
Organization
Do you take notes using a method that you understand and will be easy to organize?
- Use index cards, sticky notes, or a computer so organizing your notes is simple.
- Write each fact, quotation, or piece of information on a separate card or as a separate note so you can see each note easily.
- Record comments and ideas using a different color in your notes.
- Keep your notes together in a safe place so you do not lose them.
Have you organized your notes by topic and put them in a logical order?
- Group your notes into topics and subtopics that you have defined in your questions, brainstorms, and thesis.
- Within each group, put notes in a logical order, such as order of importance, specificity, or chronology.
- Identify the notes and information that you will use in your writing.
- Keep all of your notes until you are finished writing. You never know what you might decide to add later.
Have you organized and ordered your information and ideas into an outline?
- Use an outline format to record your notes and information in one organized place.
- Include all of the information that you will address in your writing.
- Use brief, specific phrases and keywords to fill in your outline.
- Check your outline to make sure that information is in a logical order before you begin writing.
- Refer to your outline regularly as you write. Use it to focus and organize your writing.
Language/Style
Do you know how to write for the genre, audience, and purpose of your writing task?
- Look for examples of writing in this genre.
- Think about the kind of language that is appropriate for your audience and that they will understand.
- Consider what you are trying to achieve with your writing. What qualities do you want to express through your writing?
Do you have any specific style or formatting requirements?
- If this is an assignment, check whether you should follow a specific format or style.
- See if there a specific format for this kind of writing.