different stages of writing an academic essay

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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.

The essay writing process consists of three main stages:

Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
Revision: Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

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Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

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different stages of writing an academic essay

Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
Do your research: Read primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
Come up with a thesis: The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Write your essay introduction

The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

See the full essay example

The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

Returns to your thesis
Ties together your main points
Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

Including new arguments or evidence
Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Write your essay conclusion

Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

It gives your writing direction and focus.
It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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Writing with artificial intelligence, the ultimate blueprint: a research-driven deep dive into the 13 steps of the writing process.

This article provides a comprehensive, research-based introduction to the major steps , or strategies , that writers work through as they endeavor to communicate with audiences . Since the 1960s, the writing process has been defined to be a series of steps , stages, or strategies. Most simply, the writing process is conceptualized as four major steps: prewriting , drafting , revising , editing . That model works really well for many occasions. Yet sometimes you'll face really challenging writing tasks that will force you to engage in additional steps, including, prewriting , inventing , drafting , collaborating , researching , planning , organizing , designing , rereading , revising , editing , proofreading , sharing or publishing . Expand your composing repertoire -- your ability to respond with authority , clarity , and persuasiveness -- by learning about the dispositions and strategies of successful, professional writers.

Table of Contents

Like water cascading to the sea, flow feels inevitable, natural, purposeful. Yet achieving flow is a state of mind that can be difficult to achieve. It requires full commitment to the believing gam e (as opposed to the doubting game ).

What are the Steps of the Writing Process?

Since the 1960s, it has been popular to describe the writing process as a series of steps or stages . For simple projects, the writing process is typically defined as four major steps:

drafting

This simplified approach to writing is quite appropriate for many exigencies–many calls to write . Often, e.g., we might read an email quickly, write a response, and then send it: write, revise, send.

However, in the real world, for more demanding projects — especially in high-stakes workplace writing or academic writing at the high school and college level — the writing process involve additional steps, or strategies , such as

collaboration
researching
proofreading
sharing or publishing.

Related Concepts: Mindset ; Self Regulation

Summary – Writing Process Steps

The summary below outlines the major steps writers work through as they endeavor to develop an idea for an audience .

1. Prewriting

Prewriting refers to all the work a writer does on a writing project before they actually begin writing .

Acts of prewriting include

Prior to writing a first draft, analyze the context for the work. For instance, in school settings students may analyze how much of their grade will be determined by a particular assignment. They may question how many and what sources are required and what the grading criteria will be used for critiquing the work.
To further their understanding of the assignment, writers will question who the audience is for their work, what their purpose is for writing, what style of writing their audience expects them to employ, and what rhetorical stance is appropriate for them to develop given the rhetorical situation they are addressing. (See the document planner heuristic for more on this)
consider employing rhetorical appeals ( ethos , pathos , and logos ), rhetorical devices , and rhetorical modes they want to develop once they begin writing
reflect on the voice , tone , and persona they want to develop
Following rhetorical analysis and rhetorical reasoning , writers decide on the persona ; point of view ; tone , voice and style of writing they hope to develop, such as an academic writing prose style or a professional writing prose style
making a plan, an outline, for what to do next.

2. Invention

Invention is traditionally defined as an initial stage of the writing process when writers are more focused on discovery and creative play. During the early stages of a project, writers brainstorm; they explore various topics and perspectives before committing to a specific direction for their discourse .

In practice, invention can be an ongoing concern throughout the writing process. People who are focused on solving problems and developing original ideas, arguments , artifacts, products, services, applications, and texts are open to acts of invention at any time during the writing process.

Writers have many different ways to engage in acts of invention, including

What is the exigency, the call to write ?
What are the ongoing scholarly debates in the peer-review literature?
What is the problem ?
What do they read? watch? say? What do they know about the topic? Why do they believe what they do? What are their beliefs, values, and expectations ?
What rhetorical appeals — ethos (credibility) , pathos (emotion) , and logos (logic) — should I explore to develop the best response to this exigency , this call to write?
What does peer-reviewed research say about the subject?
What are the current debates about the subject?
Embrace multiple viewpoints and consider various approaches to encourage the generation of original ideas.
How can I experiment with different media , genres , writing styles , personas , voices , tone
Experiment with new research methods
Write whatever ideas occur to you. Focus on generating ideas as opposed to writing grammatically correct sentences. Get your thoughts down as fully and quickly as you can without critiquing them.
Use heuristics to inspire discovery and creative thinking: Burke’s Pentad ; Document Planner , Journalistic Questions , The Business Model Canvas
Embrace the uncertainty that comes with creative exploration.
Listen to your intuition — your felt sense — when composing
Experiment with different writing styles , genres , writing tools, and rhetorical stances
Play the believing game early in the writing process

3. Researching

Research refers to systematic investigations that investigators carry out to discover new knowledge , test knowledge claims , solve problems , or develop new texts , products, apps, and services.

During the research stage of the writing process, writers may engage in

Engage in customer discovery interviews and survey research in order to better understand the problem space . Use surveys , interviews, focus groups, etc., to understand the stakeholder’s s (e.g., clients, suppliers, partners) problems and needs
What can you recall from your memory about the subject?
What can you learn from informal observation?
What can you learn from strategic searching of the archive on the topic that interests you?
Who are the thought leaders?
What were the major turns to the conversation ?
What are the current debates on the topic ?
Mixed research methods , qualitative research methods , quantitative research methods , usability and user experience research ?
What citation style is required by the audience and discourse community you’re addressing? APA | MLA .

4. Collaboration

Collaboration refers to the act of working with others to exchange ideas, solve problems, investigate subjects , coauthor texts , and develop products and services.

Collaboration can play a major role in the writing process, especially when authors coauthor documents with peers and teams , or critique the works of others .

Acts of collaboration include

Paying close attention to what others are saying, acknowledging their input, and asking clarifying questions to ensure understanding.
Expressing ideas, thoughts, and opinions in a concise and understandable manner, both verbally and in writing.
Being receptive to new ideas and perspectives, and considering alternative approaches to problem-solving.
Adapting to changes in project goals, timelines, or team dynamics, and being willing to modify plans when needed.
Distributing tasks and responsibilities fairly among team members, and holding oneself accountable for assigned work.
valuing and appreciating the unique backgrounds, skills, and perspectives of all team members, and leveraging this diversity to enhance collaboration.
Addressing disagreements or conflicts constructively and diplomatically, working towards mutually beneficial solutions.
Providing constructive feedback to help others improve their work, and being open to receiving feedback to refine one’s own ideas and contributions.
Understanding and responding to the emotions, needs, and concerns of team members, and fostering a supportive and inclusive environment .
Acknowledging and appreciating the achievements of the team and individual members, and using successes as a foundation for continued collaboration and growth.

5. Planning

Planning refers to

the process of planning how to organize a document
the process of managing your writing processes

6. Organizing

Following rhetorical analysis , following prewriting , writers question how they should organize their texts. For instance, should they adopt the organizational strategies of academic discourse or workplace-writing discourse ?

Writing-Process Plans

What is your Purpose? – Aims of Discourse
What steps, or strategies, need to be completed next?
set a schedule to complete goals

Planning Exercises

Document Planner
Team Charter

7. Designing

Designing refers to efforts on the part of the writer

to leverage the power of visual language to convey meaning
to create a visually appealing text

During the designing stage of the writing process, writers explore how they can use the elements of design and visual language to signify , clarify , and simplify the message.

Examples of the designing step of the writing process:

Establishing a clear hierarchy of visual elements, such as headings, subheadings, and bullet points, to guide the reader’s attention and facilitate understanding.
Selecting appropriate fonts, sizes, and styles to ensure readability and convey the intended tone and emphasis.
Organizing text and visual elements on the page or screen in a manner that is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and supports the intended message.
Using color schemes and contrasts effectively to create a visually engaging experience, while also ensuring readability and accessibility for all readers.
Incorporating images, illustrations, charts, graphs, and videos to support and enrich the written content, and to convey complex ideas in a more accessible format.
Designing content that is easily accessible to a wide range of readers, including those with visual impairments, by adhering to accessibility guidelines and best practices.
Maintaining a consistent style and design throughout the text, which includes the use of visuals, formatting, and typography, to create a cohesive and professional appearance.
Integrating interactive elements, such as hyperlinks, buttons, and multimedia, to encourage reader engagement and foster deeper understanding of the content.

8. Drafting

Drafting refers to the act of writing a preliminary version of a document — a sloppy first draft. Writers engage in exploratory writing early in the writing process. During drafting, writers focus on freewriting: they write in short bursts of writing without stopping and without concern for grammatical correctness or stylistic matters.

When composing, writers move back and forth between drafting new material, revising drafts, and other steps in the writing process.

9. Rereading

Rereading refers to the process of carefully reviewing a written text. When writers reread texts, they look in between each word, phrase, sentence, paragraph. They look for gaps in content, reasoning, organization, design, diction, style–and more.

When engaged in the physical act of writing — during moments of composing — writers will often pause from drafting to reread what they wrote or to reread some other text they are referencing.

10. Revising

Revision — the process of revisiting, rethinking, and refining written work to improve its content , clarity and overall effectiveness — is such an important part of the writing process that experienced writers often say “writing is revision” or “all writing is revision.”

For many writers, revision processes are deeply intertwined with writing, invention, and reasoning strategies:

“Writing and rewriting are a constant search for what one is saying.” — John Updike
“How do I know what I think until I see what I say.” — E.M. Forster

Acts of revision include

Pivoting: trashing earlier work and moving in a new direction
Identifying Rhetorical Problems
Identifying Structural Problems
Identifying Language Problems
Identifying Critical & Analytical Thinking Problems

11. Editing

Editing refers to the act of critically reviewing a text with the goal of identifying and rectifying sentence and word-level problems.

When editing , writers tend to focus on local concerns as opposed to global concerns . For instance, they may look for

problems weaving sources into your argument or analysis
problems establishing the authority of sources
problems using the required citation style
mechanical errors ( capitalization , punctuation , spelling )
sentence errors , sentence structure errors
problems with diction , brevity , clarity , flow , inclusivity , register, and simplicity

12. Proofreading

Proofreading refers to last time you’ll look at a document before sharing or publishing the work with its intended audience(s). At this point in the writing process, it’s too late to add in some new evidence you’ve found to support your position. Now you don’t want to add any new content. Instead, your goal during proofreading is to do a final check on word-level errors, problems with diction , punctuation , or syntax.

13. Sharing or Publishing

Sharing refers to the last step in the writing process: the moment when the writer delivers the message — the text — to the target audience .

Writers may think it makes sense to wait to share their work later in the process, after the project is fairly complete. However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes you can save yourself a lot of trouble by bringing in collaborators and critics earlier in the writing process.

Doherty, M. (2016, September 4). 10 things you need to know about banyan trees. Under the Banyan. https://underthebanyan.blog/2016/09/04/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-banyan-trees/

Emig, J. (1967). On teaching composition: Some hypotheses as definitions. Research in The Teaching of English, 1(2), 127-135. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED022783.pdf

Emig, J. (1971). The composing processes of twelfth graders (Research Report No. 13). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Emig, J. (1983). The web of meaning: Essays on writing, teaching, learning and thinking. Upper Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook Publishers, Inc.

Ghiselin, B. (Ed.). (1985). The Creative Process: Reflections on the Invention in the Arts and Sciences . University of California Press.

Hayes, J. R., & Flower, L. (1980). Identifying the Organization of Writing Processes. In L. W. Gregg, & E. R. Steinberg (Eds.), Cognitive Processes in Writing: An Interdisciplinary Approach (pp. 3-30). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Hayes, J. R. (2012). Modeling and remodeling writing. Written Communication, 29(3), 369-388. https://doi: 10.1177/0741088312451260

Hayes, J. R., & Flower, L. S. (1986). Writing research and the writer. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1106-1113. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.10.1106

Leijten, Van Waes, L., Schriver, K., & Hayes, J. R. (2014). Writing in the workplace: Constructing documents using multiple digital sources. Journal of Writing Research, 5(3), 285–337. https://doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2014.05.03.3

Lundstrom, K., Babcock, R. D., & McAlister, K. (2023). Collaboration in writing: Examining the role of experience in successful team writing projects. Journal of Writing Research, 15(1), 89-115. https://doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2023.15.01.05

National Research Council. (2012). Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.https://doi.org/10.17226/13398.

North, S. M. (1987). The making of knowledge in composition: Portrait of an emerging field. Boynton/Cook Publishers.

Murray, Donald M. (1980). Writing as process: How writing finds its own meaning. In Timothy R. Donovan & Ben McClelland (Eds.), Eight approaches to teaching composition (pp. 3–20). National Council of Teachers of English.

Murray, Donald M. (1972). “Teach Writing as a Process Not Product.” The Leaflet, 11-14

Perry, S. K. (1996). When time stops: How creative writers experience entry into the flow state (Order No. 9805789). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304288035). https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/when-time-stops-how-creative-writers-experience/docview/304288035/se-2

Rohman, D.G., & Wlecke, A. O. (1964). Pre-writing: The construction and application of models for concept formation in writing (Cooperative Research Project No. 2174). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University.

Rohman, D. G., & Wlecke, A. O. (1975). Pre-writing: The construction and application of models for concept formation in writing (Cooperative Research Project No. 2174). U.S. Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Sommers, N. (1980). Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers. College Composition and Communication, 31(4), 378-388. doi: 10.2307/356600

Brevity - Say More with Less

Clarity (in Speech and Writing)

Coherence - How to Achieve Coherence in Writing

Flow - How to Create Flow in Writing

Inclusivity - Inclusive Language

The Elements of Style - The DNA of Powerful Writing

Academic Writing – How to Write for the Academic Community

You cannot climb a mountain without a plan / John Read

Structured Revision – How to Revise Your Work

Professional Writing – How to Write for the Professional World

Credibility & Authority – How to Be Credible & Authoritative in Research, Speech & Writing

Citation Guide – Learn How to Cite Sources in Academic and Professional Writing

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Page Design – How to Design Messages for Maximum Impact

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Citation - Definition - Introduction to Citation in Academic & Professional Writing

Joseph M. Moxley

Explore the different ways to cite sources in academic and professional writing, including in-text (Parenthetical), numerical, and note citations.

Collaboration - What is the Role of Collaboration in Academic & Professional Writing?

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Genre may reference a type of writing, art, or musical composition; socially-agreed upon expectations about how writers and speakers should respond to particular rhetorical situations; the cultural values; the epistemological assumptions...

Grammar refers to the rules that inform how people and discourse communities use language (e.g., written or spoken English, body language, or visual language) to communicate. Learn about the rhetorical...

Information Literacy - Discerning Quality Information from Noise

Information Literacy refers to the competencies associated with locating, evaluating, using, and archiving information. In order to thrive, much less survive in a global information economy — an economy where information functions as a...

Mindset refers to a person or community’s way of feeling, thinking, and acting about a topic. The mindsets you hold, consciously or subconsciously, shape how you feel, think, and act–and...

Rhetoric: Exploring Its Definition and Impact on Modern Communication

Learn about rhetoric and rhetorical practices (e.g., rhetorical analysis, rhetorical reasoning, rhetorical situation, and rhetorical stance) so that you can strategically manage how you compose and subsequently produce a text...

Style, most simply, refers to how you say something as opposed to what you say. The style of your writing matters because audiences are unlikely to read your work or...

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Writing Studies

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The Writing Process

The writing process is something that no two people do the same way. There is no "right way" or "wrong way" to write. It can be a very messy and fluid process, and the following is only a representation of commonly used steps. Remember you can come to the Writing Center for assistance at any stage in this process.

Steps of the Writing Process

Step 1: Prewriting

Think and Decide

Make sure you understand your assignment. See Research Papers or Essays
Decide on a topic to write about. See   Prewriting Strategies  and Narrow your Topic
Consider who will read your work. See Audience and Voice
Brainstorm ideas about the subject and how those ideas can be organized. Make an outline. See  Outlines

Step 2: Research (if needed)

List places where you can find information.
Do your research. See the many KU Libraries resources and helpful guides
Evaluate your sources. See Evaluating Sources and Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Make an outline to help organize your research. See Outlines

Step 3: Drafting

Write sentences and paragraphs even if they are not perfect.
Create a thesis statement with your main idea. See Thesis Statements
Put the information you researched into your essay accurately without plagiarizing. Remember to include both in-text citations and a bibliographic page. See  Incorporating References and Paraphrase and Summary
Read what you have written and judge if it says what you mean. Write some more.
Read it again.
Write some more.
Write until you have said everything you want to say about the topic.

Step 4: Revising

Make it Better

Read what you have written again. See Revising Content and Revising Organization
Rearrange words, sentences, or paragraphs into a clear and logical order.
Take out or add parts.
Do more research if you think you should.
Replace overused or unclear words.
Read your writing aloud to be sure it flows smoothly. Add transitions.

Step 5: Editing and Proofreading

Make it Correct

Be sure all sentences are complete. See Editing and Proofreading
Correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
Change words that are not used correctly or are unclear.
APA Formatting
Chicago Style Formatting
MLA Formatting
Have someone else check your work.

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The Writing Process

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In this section

Subsections.

A Guide to English: The Writing Process

An Introduction to Rhetoric
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing
The Writing Process
Formatting and Citations
The Reference Collection
Searching for Books
Searching for Articles
Bibliographic Trace
Citation Management
Scholarly Associations
The English Language
Literary Form
Peoples and Identities
Periods and Movements in American Literature
Periods and Movements in Commonwealth Literatures
Thematic Genres and "Genre Fiction"
Award Winners (indexed)
Criticism & Theory
Creative Writing
Multimodal Composition
Text Analysis / Distant Reading
Digital Stewardship
Data Visualization
GIS and Geospatial Data
Statistical Analysis
Programming
Digital Scholarly Editing

In this Section

Academic Writing: How It's Different
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing

Below are some guidebooks aimed at students which give in depth advice on how to go through the multiple steps of the writing process . When we give ourselves time and treat writing as a multi-step process, rather than a task we have to get right in one go (the weekend before the paper is due, right?), we can allow our thoughts and research to more fully develop in the prewriting stage, we feel less inhibited in our initial drafting of the paper, and we recognize that revision has the power to reshape and refine our writing into a rhetorically superior text. Once the content is ready we engage in proofreading to ensure the text is free of errors and ready to appear before the world at the final stage of publishing .

Check out the boxes below for more discussion of each stage the writing process.

Pre-writing

Consider the assignment requirements.

Before doing anything else, look carefully at the instructions or requirements for the assignment you have to complete. Remember: You can produce an amazing piece of writing and still lose points if you do not follow the instructions or are missing required elements.

A rubric is a table that tells you what point values your professor is likely to assign if you perform at a particular level for each criterion . A criterion is an aspect of your paper your professor is indicating you are going to be graded on, with a description typically offered for what a perfect or high score would look like in terms of what your paper achieves.

If you bear in mind the assignment requirements and/or the rubric criteria through each stage of the writing process, you will make it more likely that your final paper will meet all the requirements and achieve a higher score.

Consider the Rhetorical Situation

Fulfilling your professor's expectations is not always so easy as checking a box, however. In college writing we are expected to engage with the genre norms of the scholarly discipline that we are taking a class in. The norms of writing an English paper will differ from the norms of writing a Political Science paper, and will be still more different from the norms of writing a paper for a Biology class.

That is why in order to position ourselves for the most success for the writing task in front of us, it is important to consider the rhetorical situation . The rhetorical situation consists of three main factors:

The message you want to deliver
The audience you want to deliver the message to
Your credibility as a person delivering that message

There is also a fourth factor which shapes the other three, that being the overall context of the situation. At the prewriting stage, you won't necessarily have each of these factors sorted out: that's the whole point of prewriting. Pre-writing is a process of discovery, but while you are exploring it helps to have a general sense of what it is you are looking for (or else you might miss it!)

While pre-writing, think about:

What is the topic I want to deliver a message about? Is my topic too broad or too narrow (which is in great part determined by ...)
Who is my audience? Have they heard this message before? Will it catch their attention? Will my topic strike them as too broad, or will it seem too obscure/narrow? Does my message engage with/address their prior knowledge and understanding about the topic? Does it approach the topic from a "fresh" perspective that the audience could get excited about?
How can I establish my own credibility to write about this topic? What can I do to demonstrate that I should be listened to when writing about this topic? (For example, how does the narrowness or broadness of my topic affect my credibility? How can I engage with and respond to other sources of information who do already have credibility with my audience?)

Developing a Search Strategy: Brainstorming, Concept Mapping, and KWHL

In the prewriting stage, we are trying to unearth both our own preexisting knowledge as well as knowledge we develop through our research. There are various techniques for getting our own knowledge out of our heads and into a form where we can readily go back to it, ranging from pure brainstorming by free-writing thoughts related to the topic, creating a concept or mind map which connects related concepts and allows you to consider what the relations are between the concepts, or using a graphic organizer like a KWHL chart, where you write what you Know (K), Want to Know (W), How You Will Find Out (H), and afterwards, What You Learned (L).

Bubble.us - (semi)free mindmapping tool
A Blank KWHL Chart - useful as a graphic organizer and for setting research objectives

Bear in mind however, that prewriting is a recursive process, meaning it is repetitive: unearthing your existing knowledge about concepts related to a topic will lead you to other sources in order to learn more about those concepts, which can in turn lead you to add more concepts to explore and understand in order to gain a fuller understanding of the topic. When prewriting, paradoxically, we expand before we contract: that is, first we want to expand our understanding, so that we can have sufficient context for the next stage of prewriting, where we narrow our topic in preparation for more focused research and writing.

Narrowing Your Topic

Because academic writing is a conversation, we try to both respond to what other scholars have said and contribute our own original ideas in return. One great strategy to ensure you are well-positioned to both respond and be original is to narrow your topic . When a topic is too large or too general, it becomes much harder to deal with all aspects of it in any reasonable depth. (Think about it: if a topic is broad enough that other people have written 200+ page books about it, it is probably too broad for your paper.)

One way to narrow a topic is to add qualifiers. Instead of covering all of [my topic], how about [my topic] + [a particular time period] OR [a particular situation] OR [a particular group of people]?

Each qualifier narrows the topic even further, and each time you narrow the topic, in all likelihood you also narrow the number of other scholars who have commented on specifically that topic + your chosen qualifiers at the length and depth that you can bring to it. (Fewer preexisting points of view means there is more space for *your point of view.*)

Gathering Sources

Consult the Academic Research tab of this guide to learn about using databases to search for articles, using the Gustavus Library catalog to search for books, and about how to use bibliographic trace techniques to understand the web of scholarly discussion and the keystone texts related to your topic.

As you gather sources and consult them, use critical reading techniques to preserve your thoughts and responses as these will help you come up with the thesis statement you will attempt to prove (and supporting arguments with which to prove it) when you next go to outline your paper.

Creating an Outline

Below you will find a sample outline for a paper taken from the class NDL 112 : Themes in Science Fiction Literature , showing one possible way to organize arguments within a paper. The instructions required students to use at least two primary texts (the short stories and novels that the class read) to prove an argument about how the treatment of a theme in science fiction literature differed across time periods, and why that matters. The outline strategically assigns specific paragraphs for each required element, making it more likely that the first draft at least addresses all required elements on the rubric.

The organization you choose for a given essay might be informed by a variety of factors, including chronology, the need to address a preliminary idea before applying it to a subsidiary idea, or aiming for an elliptical effect by first addressing and then returning to an idea once the elucidation of other ideas can shed a different light.

Regardless of what organization you choose, it is vital to have a clear thesis statement that asserts an original idea that you wish to prove. Without a clear, assertive, and original thesis, the remainder of the paper is undermined because readers cannot understand what it is you are marshaling all this additional information/verbiage to prove. Get the thesis right, however, and you have the makings of a strong essay.

Preview the supporting arguments you will make in your body paragraphs right after your thesis.

A good technique for writing a body paragraph is to begin each paragraph with an assertion (or topic sentence ) that in some way supports your thesis (which you will have previewed in the introduction), then use the remainder of the paragraph to explain and support that assertion, or engage in conversation with others who offer information that relates to or helps you back that assertion up. It is often an effective technique to close a supporting paragraph with a sentence that reconnects to or recontextualizes the supporting argument (which you have just proven) within the main thesis of the paper; alternately, the concluding sentence of a supporting paragraph could be used to transition to the next paragraph, which builds off the supporting arguments that you have just proved.

Introduction: Probably best to lead with the trope and theme you will be addressing. Maybe start with some colorful historical background about this idea: why is it interesting, what is its significance, what could we learn if we were to trace it over time? By the end of your introduction, you should have some kind of clear THESIS STATEMENT about how your theme has changed and what that says about the history and culture of SF in the times you are comparing.

1st body paragraph: Perhaps theorizing the theme? Defining the theme and previewing how the trope changes and influences it. (A good place to bring in SECONDARY SOURCES and engage in conversation with them.)

2nd body paragraph - SUMMARY of FIRST PRIMARY TEXT - maybe touch on its historical and social context, relationships with movements in the history of SF (this could be its own paragraph and a good place to bring in SECONDARY SOURCES)

3rd body paragraph - ANALYSIS of FIRST PRIMARY TEXT and the THEME you are tracing

4th body paragraph - SUMMARY of SECOND PRIMARY TEXT - maybe touch on its historical and social context, relationships with movements in the history of SF (this could be its own paragraph and a good place to bring in SECONDARY SOURCES)

5th body paragraph - ANALYSIS of SECOND PRIMARY TEXT and the THEME you are tracing

6th body paragraph - COMPARISON of FIRST PRIMARY TEXT to SECOND PRIMARY TEXT in terms of how they use the TROPE(S).

7th body paragraph - COMPARISON of FIRST PRIMARY TEXT to SECOND PRIMARY TEXT in terms of how their usage of the TROPE(S) convey similar or different themes.

8th body paragraph - Discussion of how the differences in these themes reflect social or cultural changes and/or different historical movements in the history of SF. (Another great place to bring in SECONDARY TEXTS.)

Conclusion - Tying everything together, explaining what the significance is, especially cool if you can bring it back to how you started.

During the Drafting stage, you use your outline and the ideas you developed during Prewriting and focus on getting the ideas on paper. A draft is not meant to be perfect, nor should you spend much energy at this stage on your grammar or style. Instead think of your first draft as though you are producing clay (or play-doh, if you prefer) which you will substantially reshape during the Revision stage, and then make perfectly presentable (in terms of grammar and style) only when you reach the Proofreading stage. In drafting, by contrast, we are doing something more elemental: we are fulsomely developing our ideas into a text, because only once we have that draft of text in front of us can we do more precise actions to it.

The Revision stage is the stage where our writing goes from the first words and sentences that came out of our heads when working from our outline to the best words and sentences that we can come up with to express what we were trying to say. Experienced writers understand that revision is the stage where the author has the most agency to take an okay-sounding text and turn it into a rhetorical tour de force .

Authors accomplish this by analyzing the text they produced at multiple levels, typically starting from the largest (the paragraph-level) and moving to smaller levels (the sentences, the phrase, individual words) as they go, asking themselves questions like, "Is this the best way to structure this (paragraph, sentence, phrase)? Is there a way that would be more persuasive to my audience?" By proceeding from largest to smallest, they ensure that at all levels of its structure, the text is as good as it can be.

Here are two books that provide additional guidance about the revision process:

❝ "The history of learning is a history of revision — of mastering knowledge in order to improve it." –Matthew Parfitt, Writing in Response

During the Proofreading stage, we let go of our concerns over content and focus strictly on ensuring our grammar and word usage is correct. This is the most narrow and nitpicky stage of the writing process, which is why it makes sense to leave it until after we have dealt with larger questions of form and content during the previous stages of our writing.

Useful resources for Proofreading include the relevant style guide for your course (e.g. the MLA Handbook, the APA Handbook, etc.) and their citation guidelines to ensure you are properly formatting your text and citations. (See the Formatting and Citations page of this section.)

In order to ensure your individual words are accurately expressing what you mean to say, it is helpful to consult usage guides like the ones found in the Modern Grammar & Usage box on the English Language section of this guide.

Here are couple more books with useful information about the proofreading process:

You may not realize it yet, but there are numerous venues and formats available for publishing your writing. Publishing allows other people to read your work and enables you to get recognized. There are different processes for getting published in a popular or a scholarly venue, and there are also more modalities for publishing your work than just as a research paper.

For publishing in a popular venue, consult the Getting Published box on the Creative Writing page of this guide.

For a list of just some of the literary journals you could submit to, consult the Literary Reviews available in print and online box on the Searching for Articles page, go to the website of a journal that seems appropriate for your topic and study their Submission Requirements .

Here are some books that present more information about publishing in a scholarly journal, as well as other possible publishing formats:

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Last Updated: Apr 2, 2024 10:54 AM
URL: https://libguides.gustavus.edu/english

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How to Write an Essay

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

Essay Writing Fundamentals

How to prepare to write an essay, how to edit an essay, how to share and publish your essays, how to get essay writing help, how to find essay writing inspiration, resources for teaching essay writing.

Essays, short prose compositions on a particular theme or topic, are the bread and butter of academic life. You write them in class, for homework, and on standardized tests to show what you know. Unlike other kinds of academic writing (like the research paper) and creative writing (like short stories and poems), essays allow you to develop your original thoughts on a prompt or question. Essays come in many varieties: they can be expository (fleshing out an idea or claim), descriptive, (explaining a person, place, or thing), narrative (relating a personal experience), or persuasive (attempting to win over a reader). This guide is a collection of dozens of links about academic essay writing that we have researched, categorized, and annotated in order to help you improve your essay writing.

Essays are different from other forms of writing; in turn, there are different kinds of essays. This section contains general resources for getting to know the essay and its variants. These resources introduce and define the essay as a genre, and will teach you what to expect from essay-based assessments.

Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab

One of the most trusted academic writing sites, Purdue OWL provides a concise introduction to the four most common types of academic essays.

"The Essay: History and Definition" (ThoughtCo)

This snappy article from ThoughtCo talks about the origins of the essay and different kinds of essays you might be asked to write.

"What Is An Essay?" Video Lecture (Coursera)

The University of California at Irvine's free video lecture, available on Coursera, tells you everything you need to know about the essay.

Wikipedia Article on the "Essay"

Wikipedia's article on the essay is comprehensive, providing both English-language and global perspectives on the essay form. Learn about the essay's history, forms, and styles.

"Understanding College and Academic Writing" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This list of common academic writing assignments (including types of essay prompts) will help you know what to expect from essay-based assessments.

Before you start writing your essay, you need to figure out who you're writing for (audience), what you're writing about (topic/theme), and what you're going to say (argument and thesis). This section contains links to handouts, chapters, videos and more to help you prepare to write an essay.

How to Identify Your Audience

"Audience" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This handout provides questions you can ask yourself to determine the audience for an academic writing assignment. It also suggests strategies for fitting your paper to your intended audience.

"Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries)

This extensive book chapter from Writing for Success , available online through Minnesota Libraries Publishing, is followed by exercises to try out your new pre-writing skills.

"Determining Audience" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This guide from a community college's writing center shows you how to know your audience, and how to incorporate that knowledge in your thesis statement.

"Know Your Audience" ( Paper Rater Blog)

This short blog post uses examples to show how implied audiences for essays differ. It reminds you to think of your instructor as an observer, who will know only the information you pass along.

How to Choose a Theme or Topic

"Research Tutorial: Developing Your Topic" (YouTube)

Take a look at this short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to understand the basics of developing a writing topic.

"How to Choose a Paper Topic" (WikiHow)

This simple, step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through choosing a paper topic. It starts with a detailed description of brainstorming and ends with strategies to refine your broad topic.

"How to Read an Assignment: Moving From Assignment to Topic" (Harvard College Writing Center)

Did your teacher give you a prompt or other instructions? This guide helps you understand the relationship between an essay assignment and your essay's topic.

"Guidelines for Choosing a Topic" (CliffsNotes)

This study guide from CliffsNotes both discusses how to choose a topic and makes a useful distinction between "topic" and "thesis."

How to Come Up with an Argument

"Argument" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

Not sure what "argument" means in the context of academic writing? This page from the University of North Carolina is a good place to start.

"The Essay Guide: Finding an Argument" (Study Hub)

This handout explains why it's important to have an argument when beginning your essay, and provides tools to help you choose a viable argument.

"Writing a Thesis and Making an Argument" (University of Iowa)

This page from the University of Iowa's Writing Center contains exercises through which you can develop and refine your argument and thesis statement.

"Developing a Thesis" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This page from Harvard's Writing Center collates some helpful dos and don'ts of argumentative writing, from steps in constructing a thesis to avoiding vague and confrontational thesis statements.

"Suggestions for Developing Argumentative Essays" (Berkeley Student Learning Center)

This page offers concrete suggestions for each stage of the essay writing process, from topic selection to drafting and editing.

How to Outline your Essay

"Outlines" (Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill via YouTube)

This short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows how to group your ideas into paragraphs or sections to begin the outlining process.

"Essay Outline" (Univ. of Washington Tacoma)

This two-page handout by a university professor simply defines the parts of an essay and then organizes them into an example outline.

"Types of Outlines and Samples" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab)

Purdue OWL gives examples of diverse outline strategies on this page, including the alphanumeric, full sentence, and decimal styles.

"Outlining" (Harvard College Writing Center)

Once you have an argument, according to this handout, there are only three steps in the outline process: generalizing, ordering, and putting it all together. Then you're ready to write!

"Writing Essays" (Plymouth Univ.)

This packet, part of Plymouth University's Learning Development series, contains descriptions and diagrams relating to the outlining process.

"How to Write A Good Argumentative Essay: Logical Structure" (Criticalthinkingtutorials.com via YouTube)

This longer video tutorial gives an overview of how to structure your essay in order to support your argument or thesis. It is part of a longer course on academic writing hosted on Udemy.

Now that you've chosen and refined your topic and created an outline, use these resources to complete the writing process. Most essays contain introductions (which articulate your thesis statement), body paragraphs, and conclusions. Transitions facilitate the flow from one paragraph to the next so that support for your thesis builds throughout the essay. Sources and citations show where you got the evidence to support your thesis, which ensures that you avoid plagiarism.

How to Write an Introduction

"Introductions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page identifies the role of the introduction in any successful paper, suggests strategies for writing introductions, and warns against less effective introductions.

"How to Write A Good Introduction" (Michigan State Writing Center)

Beginning with the most common missteps in writing introductions, this guide condenses the essentials of introduction composition into seven points.

"The Introductory Paragraph" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming focuses on ways to grab your reader's attention at the beginning of your essay.

"Introductions and Conclusions" (Univ. of Toronto)

This guide from the University of Toronto gives advice that applies to writing both introductions and conclusions, including dos and don'ts.

"How to Write Better Essays: No One Does Introductions Properly" ( The Guardian )

This news article interviews UK professors on student essay writing; they point to introductions as the area that needs the most improvement.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

"Writing an Effective Thesis Statement" (YouTube)

This short, simple video tutorial from a college composition instructor at Tulsa Community College explains what a thesis statement is and what it does.

"Thesis Statement: Four Steps to a Great Essay" (YouTube)

This fantastic tutorial walks you through drafting a thesis, using an essay prompt on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter as an example.

"How to Write a Thesis Statement" (WikiHow)

This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through coming up with, writing, and editing a thesis statement. It invites you think of your statement as a "working thesis" that can change.

"How to Write a Thesis Statement" (Univ. of Indiana Bloomington)

Ask yourself the questions on this page, part of Indiana Bloomington's Writing Tutorial Services, when you're writing and refining your thesis statement.

"Writing Tips: Thesis Statements" (Univ. of Illinois Center for Writing Studies)

This page gives plentiful examples of good to great thesis statements, and offers questions to ask yourself when formulating a thesis statement.

How to Write Body Paragraphs

"Body Paragraph" (Brightstorm)

This module of a free online course introduces you to the components of a body paragraph. These include the topic sentence, information, evidence, and analysis.

"Strong Body Paragraphs" (Washington Univ.)

This handout from Washington's Writing and Research Center offers in-depth descriptions of the parts of a successful body paragraph.

"Guide to Paragraph Structure" (Deakin Univ.)

This handout is notable for color-coding example body paragraphs to help you identify the functions various sentences perform.

"Writing Body Paragraphs" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries)

The exercises in this section of Writing for Success will help you practice writing good body paragraphs. It includes guidance on selecting primary support for your thesis.

"The Writing Process—Body Paragraphs" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

The information and exercises on this page will familiarize you with outlining and writing body paragraphs, and includes links to more information on topic sentences and transitions.

"The Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post discusses body paragraphs in the context of one of the most common academic essay types in secondary schools.

How to Use Transitions

"Transitions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explains what a transition is, and how to know if you need to improve your transitions.

"Using Transitions Effectively" (Washington Univ.)

This handout defines transitions, offers tips for using them, and contains a useful list of common transitional words and phrases grouped by function.

"Transitions" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This page compares paragraphs without transitions to paragraphs with transitions, and in doing so shows how important these connective words and phrases are.

"Transitions in Academic Essays" (Scribbr)

This page lists four techniques that will help you make sure your reader follows your train of thought, including grouping similar information and using transition words.

"Transitions" (El Paso Community College)

This handout shows example transitions within paragraphs for context, and explains how transitions improve your essay's flow and voice.

"Make Your Paragraphs Flow to Improve Writing" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post, another from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming, talks about transitions and other strategies to improve your essay's overall flow.

"Transition Words" (smartwords.org)

This handy word bank will help you find transition words when you're feeling stuck. It's grouped by the transition's function, whether that is to show agreement, opposition, condition, or consequence.

How to Write a Conclusion

"Parts of An Essay: Conclusions" (Brightstorm)

This module of a free online course explains how to conclude an academic essay. It suggests thinking about the "3Rs": return to hook, restate your thesis, and relate to the reader.

"Essay Conclusions" (Univ. of Maryland University College)

This overview of the academic essay conclusion contains helpful examples and links to further resources for writing good conclusions.

"How to End An Essay" (WikiHow)

This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) by an English Ph.D. walks you through writing a conclusion, from brainstorming to ending with a flourish.

"Ending the Essay: Conclusions" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This page collates useful strategies for writing an effective conclusion, and reminds you to "close the discussion without closing it off" to further conversation.

How to Include Sources and Citations

"Research and Citation Resources" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab)

Purdue OWL streamlines information about the three most common referencing styles (MLA, Chicago, and APA) and provides examples of how to cite different resources in each system.

EasyBib: Free Bibliography Generator

This online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style. Be sure to select your resource type before clicking the "cite it" button.

CitationMachine

Like EasyBib, this online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style.

Modern Language Association Handbook (MLA)

Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of MLA referencing rules. Order through the link above, or check to see if your library has a copy.

Chicago Manual of Style

Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of Chicago referencing rules. You can take a look at the table of contents, then choose to subscribe or start a free trial.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

"What is Plagiarism?" (plagiarism.org)

This nonprofit website contains numerous resources for identifying and avoiding plagiarism, and reminds you that even common activities like copying images from another website to your own site may constitute plagiarism.

"Plagiarism" (University of Oxford)

This interactive page from the University of Oxford helps you check for plagiarism in your work, making it clear how to avoid citing another person's work without full acknowledgement.

"Avoiding Plagiarism" (MIT Comparative Media Studies)

This quick guide explains what plagiarism is, what its consequences are, and how to avoid it. It starts by defining three words—quotation, paraphrase, and summary—that all constitute citation.

"Harvard Guide to Using Sources" (Harvard Extension School)

This comprehensive website from Harvard brings together articles, videos, and handouts about referencing, citation, and plagiarism.

Grammarly contains tons of helpful grammar and writing resources, including a free tool to automatically scan your essay to check for close affinities to published work.

Noplag is another popular online tool that automatically scans your essay to check for signs of plagiarism. Simply copy and paste your essay into the box and click "start checking."

Once you've written your essay, you'll want to edit (improve content), proofread (check for spelling and grammar mistakes), and finalize your work until you're ready to hand it in. This section brings together tips and resources for navigating the editing process.

"Writing a First Draft" (Academic Help)

This is an introduction to the drafting process from the site Academic Help, with tips for getting your ideas on paper before editing begins.

"Editing and Proofreading" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page provides general strategies for revising your writing. They've intentionally left seven errors in the handout, to give you practice in spotting them.

"How to Proofread Effectively" (ThoughtCo)

This article from ThoughtCo, along with those linked at the bottom, help describe common mistakes to check for when proofreading.

"7 Simple Edits That Make Your Writing 100% More Powerful" (SmartBlogger)

This blog post emphasizes the importance of powerful, concise language, and reminds you that even your personal writing heroes create clunky first drafts.

"Editing Tips for Effective Writing" (Univ. of Pennsylvania)

On this page from Penn's International Relations department, you'll find tips for effective prose, errors to watch out for, and reminders about formatting.

"Editing the Essay" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This article, the first of two parts, gives you applicable strategies for the editing process. It suggests reading your essay aloud, removing any jargon, and being unafraid to remove even "dazzling" sentences that don't belong.

"Guide to Editing and Proofreading" (Oxford Learning Institute)

This handout from Oxford covers the basics of editing and proofreading, and reminds you that neither task should be rushed.

In addition to plagiarism-checkers, Grammarly has a plug-in for your web browser that checks your writing for common mistakes.

After you've prepared, written, and edited your essay, you might want to share it outside the classroom. This section alerts you to print and web opportunities to share your essays with the wider world, from online writing communities and blogs to published journals geared toward young writers.

Sharing Your Essays Online

Go Teen Writers

Go Teen Writers is an online community for writers aged 13 - 19. It was founded by Stephanie Morrill, an author of contemporary young adult novels.

Tumblr is a blogging website where you can share your writing and interact with other writers online. It's easy to add photos, links, audio, and video components.

Writersky provides an online platform for publishing and reading other youth writers' work. Its current content is mostly devoted to fiction.

Publishing Your Essays Online

This teen literary journal publishes in print, on the web, and (more frequently), on a blog. It is committed to ensuring that "teens see their authentic experience reflected on its pages."

The Matador Review

This youth writing platform celebrates "alternative," unconventional writing. The link above will take you directly to the site's "submissions" page.

Teen Ink has a website, monthly newsprint magazine, and quarterly poetry magazine promoting the work of young writers.

The largest online reading platform, Wattpad enables you to publish your work and read others' work. Its inline commenting feature allows you to share thoughts as you read along.

Publishing Your Essays in Print

Canvas Teen Literary Journal

This quarterly literary magazine is published for young writers by young writers. They accept many kinds of writing, including essays.

The Claremont Review

This biannual international magazine, first published in 1992, publishes poetry, essays, and short stories from writers aged 13 - 19.

Skipping Stones

This young writers magazine, founded in 1988, celebrates themes relating to ecological and cultural diversity. It publishes poems, photos, articles, and stories.

The Telling Room

This nonprofit writing center based in Maine publishes children's work on their website and in book form. The link above directs you to the site's submissions page.

Essay Contests

Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards

This prestigious international writing contest for students in grades 7 - 12 has been committed to "supporting the future of creativity since 1923."

Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest

An annual essay contest on the theme of journalism and media, the Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest awards scholarships up to $1,000.

National YoungArts Foundation

Here, you'll find information on a government-sponsored writing competition for writers aged 15 - 18. The foundation welcomes submissions of creative nonfiction, novels, scripts, poetry, short story and spoken word.

Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest

With prompts on a different literary work each year, this competition from Signet Classics awards college scholarships up to $1,000.

"The Ultimate Guide to High School Essay Contests" (CollegeVine)

See this handy guide from CollegeVine for a list of more competitions you can enter with your academic essay, from the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards to the National High School Essay Contest by the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Whether you're struggling to write academic essays or you think you're a pro, there are workshops and online tools that can help you become an even better writer. Even the most seasoned writers encounter writer's block, so be proactive and look through our curated list of resources to combat this common frustration.

Online Essay-writing Classes and Workshops

"Getting Started with Essay Writing" (Coursera)

Coursera offers lots of free, high-quality online classes taught by college professors. Here's one example, taught by instructors from the University of California Irvine.

"Writing and English" (Brightstorm)

Brightstorm's free video lectures are easy to navigate by topic. This unit on the parts of an essay features content on the essay hook, thesis, supporting evidence, and more.

"How to Write an Essay" (EdX)

EdX is another open online university course website with several two- to five-week courses on the essay. This one is geared toward English language learners.

Writer's Digest University

This renowned writers' website offers online workshops and interactive tutorials. The courses offered cover everything from how to get started through how to get published.

Writing.com

Signing up for this online writer's community gives you access to helpful resources as well as an international community of writers.

How to Overcome Writer's Block

"Symptoms and Cures for Writer's Block" (Purdue OWL)

Purdue OWL offers a list of signs you might have writer's block, along with ways to overcome it. Consider trying out some "invention strategies" or ways to curb writing anxiety.

"Overcoming Writer's Block: Three Tips" ( The Guardian )

These tips, geared toward academic writing specifically, are practical and effective. The authors advocate setting realistic goals, creating dedicated writing time, and participating in social writing.

"Writing Tips: Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block" (Univ. of Illinois)

This page from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Center for Writing Studies acquaints you with strategies that do and do not work to overcome writer's block.

"Writer's Block" (Univ. of Toronto)

Ask yourself the questions on this page; if the answer is "yes," try out some of the article's strategies. Each question is accompanied by at least two possible solutions.

If you have essays to write but are short on ideas, this section's links to prompts, example student essays, and celebrated essays by professional writers might help. You'll find writing prompts from a variety of sources, student essays to inspire you, and a number of essay writing collections.

Essay Writing Prompts

"50 Argumentative Essay Topics" (ThoughtCo)

Take a look at this list and the others ThoughtCo has curated for different kinds of essays. As the author notes, "a number of these topics are controversial and that's the point."

"401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing" ( New York Times )

This list (and the linked lists to persuasive and narrative writing prompts), besides being impressive in length, is put together by actual high school English teachers.

"SAT Sample Essay Prompts" (College Board)

If you're a student in the U.S., your classroom essay prompts are likely modeled on the prompts in U.S. college entrance exams. Take a look at these official examples from the SAT.

"Popular College Application Essay Topics" (Princeton Review)

This page from the Princeton Review dissects recent Common Application essay topics and discusses strategies for answering them.

Example Student Essays

"501 Writing Prompts" (DePaul Univ.)

This nearly 200-page packet, compiled by the LearningExpress Skill Builder in Focus Writing Team, is stuffed with writing prompts, example essays, and commentary.

"Topics in English" (Kibin)

Kibin is a for-pay essay help website, but its example essays (organized by topic) are available for free. You'll find essays on everything from A Christmas Carol to perseverance.

"Student Writing Models" (Thoughtful Learning)

Thoughtful Learning, a website that offers a variety of teaching materials, provides sample student essays on various topics and organizes them by grade level.

"Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo)

In this blog post by a former professor of English and rhetoric, ThoughtCo brings together examples of five-paragraph essays and commentary on the form.

The Best Essay Writing Collections

The Best American Essays of the Century by Joyce Carol Oates (Amazon)

This collection of American essays spanning the twentieth century was compiled by award winning author and Princeton professor Joyce Carol Oates.

The Best American Essays 2017 by Leslie Jamison (Amazon)

Leslie Jamison, the celebrated author of essay collection The Empathy Exams , collects recent, high-profile essays into a single volume.

The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate (Amazon)

Documentary writer Phillip Lopate curates this historical overview of the personal essay's development, from the classical era to the present.

The White Album by Joan Didion (Amazon)

This seminal essay collection was authored by one of the most acclaimed personal essayists of all time, American journalist Joan Didion.

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace (Amazon)

Read this famous essay collection by David Foster Wallace, who is known for his experimentation with the essay form. He pushed the boundaries of personal essay, reportage, and political polemic.

"50 Successful Harvard Application Essays" (Staff of the The Harvard Crimson )

If you're looking for examples of exceptional college application essays, this volume from Harvard's daily student newspaper is one of the best collections on the market.

Are you an instructor looking for the best resources for teaching essay writing? This section contains resources for developing in-class activities and student homework assignments. You'll find content from both well-known university writing centers and online writing labs.

Essay Writing Classroom Activities for Students

"In-class Writing Exercises" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page lists exercises related to brainstorming, organizing, drafting, and revising. It also contains suggestions for how to implement the suggested exercises.

"Teaching with Writing" (Univ. of Minnesota Center for Writing)

Instructions and encouragement for using "freewriting," one-minute papers, logbooks, and other write-to-learn activities in the classroom can be found here.

"Writing Worksheets" (Berkeley Student Learning Center)

Berkeley offers this bank of writing worksheets to use in class. They are nested under headings for "Prewriting," "Revision," "Research Papers" and more.

"Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism" (DePaul University)

Use these activities and worksheets from DePaul's Teaching Commons when instructing students on proper academic citation practices.

Essay Writing Homework Activities for Students

"Grammar and Punctuation Exercises" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

These five interactive online activities allow students to practice editing and proofreading. They'll hone their skills in correcting comma splices and run-ons, identifying fragments, using correct pronoun agreement, and comma usage.

"Student Interactives" (Read Write Think)

Read Write Think hosts interactive tools, games, and videos for developing writing skills. They can practice organizing and summarizing, writing poetry, and developing lines of inquiry and analysis.

This free website offers writing and grammar activities for all grade levels. The lessons are designed to be used both for large classes and smaller groups.

"Writing Activities and Lessons for Every Grade" (Education World)

Education World's page on writing activities and lessons links you to more free, online resources for learning how to "W.R.I.T.E.": write, revise, inform, think, and edit.

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The Writing Process

Whether writing a paper for school or a document for work, high-stakes writing requires careful thought and execution. The steps involved in this form of writing constitute a writing process. Even though everyone ultimately has his/her/their own process for getting ideas down on paper and turning those ideas into a finished product, there are identifiable steps involved in the process of writing that can be defined, developed, and discussed. These steps include:

Getting Started (from deciphering a writing task assignment to getting your initial thoughts on a topic on paper)
Drafting (from organizing your ideas, to strategies for refining drafts to dealing with writer’s block)
Organization and Structure
Gathering and Using Feedback (from responding to comments to using comments constructively)
Revising, Editing, Proofreading

Common Types of Writing Assignments (Southwestern University) Your best resource for questions about assignments is your professor. However, here are a few links that discuss some common types of assignments. Please remember that these are just guides and that each assignment is different.

If I Were a Carpenter: The Tools of the Writer (Roy Peter Clark, Senior Scholar at The Poynter Institute and director of the National Writers’ Workshop) Includes 20 of the best writing tips that Clark has learned from reporters, editors, authors, teachers, and coaches.

Stages of the Writing Process (MIT Writing and Communication Center) Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. It is known as a recursive process. While you are revising, you might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas.

Starting The Writing Process (Purdue OWL) The highly regarded OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University offers a large collection of online guides on writing that are updated regularly and cover a myriad of topics. This is a link to their page on the writing process.

Strategies for Essay Writing (Harvard College Writing Center) The links below provide concise advice on some fundamental elements of academic writing.

How to Read an Assignment
How to Do a Close Reading
Essay Structure
Developing a Thesis
Topic Sentences and Signposting
Transitioning
How to Write a Comparative Analysis
Conclusions

Tips and Tools Handouts (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center) A comprehensive collection of handouts that deal with various aspects of the writing process including: writing the paper; citation, style, and sentence level concerns; specific writing assignments or contexts; and writing for specific fields.

GETTING STARTED

Before you begin writing, there are a few steps you can take to help you prepare yourself for the task at hand. The first step in any writing task is to understand what you need to write . In a classroom setting, this means understanding the assignment. In a professional setting, this means studying the publication: its audience, writer’s guidelines, and editorial reviewers. And in a business setting, it means identifying and understanding the needs of your customers.

Once you have an idea of what you need to write and why, you can begin brainstorming and generating ideas on what you want to write. Below are resources on prewriting, also known as invention, in the writing process.

Brainstorming Strategies for Student Writing (Cardinal Stritch University) Posted on YouTube: Oct. 20 2013 | length: 10:42 This tutorial provides “5 Brainstorming Methods for Writing Better College Papers.”

Developing an Outline (Purdue OWL) This guide demonstrates how to develop an outline for a first draft.

Getting Started (Pace University, The Writing Center) (Podcast) Posted on iTunes U: May 6 2009 | length: 1:45 / Access: iTunes U “Not sure how to begin your paper? Stuck on a topic? Not sure where to begin? Listen to this short podcast about how to get yourself started quickly and easily!” “Getting Started” is item 19 on the list of resources.

How Do I Make Sure I Understand an Assignment? (University of Michigan) “While some writing assignments are straightforward, others may need careful deciphering to make sure you are following the guidelines. Looking carefully at the instructions provided for any writing assignment to be certain that you understand the guidelines not only prevents missteps but can also help you develop strategies for conquering the task ahead.”

Introduction to Prewriting (Purdue OWL) This guide introduces the writer to strategies and techniques for developing an idea for a writing assignment through a series of questions.

Prewriting Questions (Purdue OWL) “This section explains the prewriting (invention) stage of the composing process. It includes processes, strategies, and questions to help you begin to write..”

More Prewriting Questions

Starting the Writing Process (Purdue OWL) This guide addresses how to begin thinking about a writing project.

The Perils of Writer’s Block: A Poem (Pace University, The Writing Center) (Podcast) Posted on iTunes U: April 10 2009 | length: :40 / Access: iTunes U “We all hate writer’s block and this fun poem will give you an opportunity to rant and rave with our very own consultants!” “The Perils of Writer’s Block” is item 20 on the list of resources.

Understanding an Assignment (MIT Writing and Communication Center) When you get a writing task, the first step is to make sure you understand what you are being asked to do. This guide explains how to understand a writing assignment.

Understanding Assignments (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center) “The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects.”

Understanding Writing Assignments (Purdue OWL) “This resource describes some steps you can take to better understand the requirements of your writing assignments. This resource works for either in-class, teacher-led discussion or for personal use.”

Write a Great Essay Using The Topoi (Associate Professor of Writing Mark Marino, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences) Posted on YouTube: Oct. 27, 2008 | length: 10:22 This video demonstrates how to brainstorm a topic using the prewriting strategy called “Topoi.”

Writer’s Block (Purdue OWL) This guide discusses the causes and provides ideas and suggestions for dealing with writer’s block.

More Writer’s Block Strategies

Writing Anxiety (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center) “This handout discusses the situational nature of writer’s block and other writing anxiety and suggests things you can try to feel more confident and optimistic about yourself as a writer.”

CLAIM (THESIS)

Prior to writing and during the drafting stage, you should be thinking about the central claim – also known as the thesis or argument – of your paper. Developing a single statement that clearly articulates the main argument of your paper is a key component to writing a strong paper. As you delve further into research and exploration, your argument may change slightly or drastically; thus, you should continually reread and revise your central claim so that it provides a true representation of your paper. Many people like to think of a central claim as a roadmap of the paper, as it offers your readers a guide for where the paper is headed. Usually a central claim is written at the end of an introduction, though it may be present anywhere in your paper.

Argument (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center) “This handout will define what an argument is and explain why you need one in most of your academic essays.”

Developing a Thesis (Harvard College Writing Center) “A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should “telegraph” how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.” This resource provides steps for writing a thesis statement along with caveats and examples.

Developing a Thesis Statement (Univ. of Wisconsin – Madison, The Writing Center) Offers a step-by-step approach to developing a thesis statement, from defining a topic to drafting a statement and finalizing it.

How to Write a Thesis Statement (Indiana University Writing Tutorial Services) Covers what a thesis statement is, why your paper needs one, and how to write/assess a thesis statement based on the following:

How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned
How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned
How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One

The Thesis Statement: A Roadmap for Your Essay (Modesto Junior College) A PowerPoint presentation (approximately 20 slides) that uses many examples to help you understand what a thesis statement looks like and where you might add it to your paper.

Now you’re ready to put your ideas together and produce a first draft. This early and rough draft will lead you to your second, third, and fourth drafts as you continue to conduct more research and refine your ideas.

Pre-writing Activities and Drafting Your Essay (Purdue OWL) “This handout covers major topics relating to writing about fiction. This covers prewriting, close reading, thesis development, drafting and common pitfalls to avoid.”

Composing Processes: Drafting, Designing and Revising (Writing@CSU) “These guides provide advice on composing processes such as developing a thesis statement, creating a first draft, designing documents, revising, editing, proofreading, and carrying out peer review. Use these guides to help yourself write an effective document.”

The Structure of an Essay Draft (Univ. of Arizona) Tips for drafting your introduction, body, and conclusion. (Handout based on Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference )

INTRODUCTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Sometimes writers have difficulties beginning and ending their papers. However, many effective introductions share similar elements – a hook, context, your argument, etc. – depending on the type of paper being composed. Likewise, many introductions and conclusions attempt to convey the “so what” factor, or why your reader should care about the subject. If you get stuck when writing the introduction, you might try moving onto your body paragraphs and then writing the introduction after the rest of your draft is complete. The websites listed below also provide a number of useful strategies and tips.

Conclusions (UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center) “This handout will explain the functions of conclusions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you evaluate conclusions you’ve drafted, and suggest approaches to avoid.”

Conclusion Strategies (MIT Writing and Communication Center; Click here for a full list of their online resources for writers) Examples of strategies to use in writing an introduction for a college essay.

Ending the Essay: Conclusions (Harvard College Writing Center) Offers strategies on how to provide readers with closure at the end of your essay or leave them thinking critically about the larger implications. It also provides some suggestions on ways not to end an essay.

Introductions (UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center) “This handout will explain the functions of introductions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you check your drafted introductions and provide you with examples of introductions to be avoided.”

Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper (Purdue OWL) This guide addresses how to develop the key parts of a paper: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. There is a similar guide for writing exploratory papers.

Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for Exploratory Papers (Purdue OWL) This guide addresses how to develop the key parts of a paper: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. There is a similar guide for writing argument papers.

Introduction Strategies (MIT Online Writing and Communication Center; Click here for a full list of their Writing and Communication Center Resources) Examples of strategies to use in writing an introduction for a college essay.

Writing Introductions (Franklin and Marshall College Writing Center) A handout that breaks the introductory paragraph into manageable units – the opening sentence, middle sentences, and thesis statement. It also includes a sample effective introductory paragraph and ineffective introductory paragraph.

Writing Strong Conclusions (Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania, Kathleen Jones White Writing Center) Presents “five basic methods for concluding your paper in a way that will leave your reader intrigued and impressed”: anecdote, basic summary, startling summary, famous ideas, and hinting at related issues.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

The organization of your paper should always be intentional. Whether you choose to structure your ideas chronologically, thematically, or in some other way, you should be thinking about the most effective way to present your argument to readers. You should also be able to clearly see how ideas are interwoven. Within each individual paragraph and between multiple paragraphs, you should seamlessly transition between concepts so your readers never lose track of your thought process.

Essay Structure (Harvard College Writing Center) This source reviews the logic behind essay writing explaining how “successfully structuring an essay means attending to a reader’s logic.”

On Paragraphs (Purdue OWL) “Learning to write good paragraphs will help you as a writer stay on track during your drafting and revision stages.”

Organizing an Exploratory Essay (Purdue OWL) “This resource will help you with exploratory/inquiry essay assignments.”

Organizing Your Analysis (Purdue OWL) “This resource covers how to write a rhetorical analysis essay of primarily visual texts with a focus on demonstrating the author’s understanding of the rhetorical situation and design principles.”

Organizing Your Argument (Purdue OWL) Explains the Toulmin Method of logic/argumentation and offers an example.

Transitions (The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) “This handout will introduce you to some useful transitional expressions and help you employ them effectively.”

Strategies for Organizing as You Write (Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas; Click here for a full list of their handouts) (PDF) Describes different ways to organize your writing including creating headings, color coding, and outlining.

GATHERING AND USING FEEDBACK

Because writing is meant to be read, one of the best ways to improve your writing is to have others read your work. In academic circles, this is called peer review. In business, it is just called review. Your instructor might also give you feedback with the opportunity to revise. Gathering this feedback and using it constructively is a vital step in producing a quality piece of writing.

Challenges of Good Writing Part 3: Asking for Feedback (Arizona State University at iTunes U–ASU Challenges of Good Writing – Asking for Feedback) Posted on iTunes U: March 11, 2009 | length: 13:45 Dr. Jeanne Simpson, Director of the ASU Writing Centers, interviews professors from a variety of disciplines regarding exemplary writing in their fields These professors share their thoughts, challenges, and frustrations about the writing process. “Challenges of Good Writing” is item 8 on the list of resources in iTunes.

Getting Feedback (UNC Chapel Hill, Writing Center) “Sometimes you’d like feedback from someone else about your writing, but you may not be sure how to get it. This handout describes when, where, how and from whom you might receive effective responses as you develop as a writer.”

Peer Reviewing (University of Maryland Global Campus) From “The Writing Process” in the Online Guide to Writing and Research This page presents a series of checklists to direct the person reviewing your writing to particular areas and provide more focused feedback.

REVISING, EDITING AND PROOFREADING

When you submit a paper to a teacher for a grade, a journal for possible publication, or a customer or colleague in a business setting, you want your writing to be the best it can be in presenting your ideas. If your paper is riddled with pesky typos, misspelled words, or grammatical and punctuation errors, the reader will only focus on the errors. You need to edit and proofread your work closely so your reader focuses on the quality of your ideas.

Editing and Proofreading (UNC Chapel Hill, Writing Center) A handout on the differences between editing and proofreading with tips and strategies for revising and editing your own writing.

Proofreading Your Paper (Purdue OWL) Strategies for reviewing your finished writing to catch grammar and punctuation errors.

Questions to Ask Yourself as you Revise Your Essay (Writing@CSU) Questions to guide the essay revision process.

Reverse Outlining: An Exercise for Taking Notes and Revising Your Work (Purdue OWL) This guide provides a specific strategy of revising your paper by making an outline of a paper after it has been written to see what works and what is missing.

Revisions (Pace University, Writing Center) (Podcast) Posted on iTunes U: April 10 2009 | length: 2:04 “This short podcast will show you effective ways to look at your finished paper and improve it on your own. Revision is item 17 on the list of resources in iTunes.”

Strategies for Revision (Duke University; posted by USF Writing Commons) Posted on YouTube: June 19 2014 length: 8:22 This video clip provides specific strategies and helpful guidance on the best ways to revise an essay.

MULTIMODAL WRITING

Multimodal writing is the practice of using different modalities (audio, visual, spatial, and more) to help create meaning. Multimodality is common in academic and workplace writing. Use the resource below to help guide you on how to incorporate multimodality in your writing.

Digital Writing 101 (Amy Goodloe) A blog created by former University of Colorado-Boulder professor comprised of a variety of how-to guides for digital projects, including video, digital images, and digital storytelling, and more. It also contains sample student projects that use various media.

WRITING TIMED ESSAYS

You may not always have time to go through the steps writing a well-developed essay usually requires. This section provides background information and strategies you can use for completing the GRE Analytical Writing section or other timed essay tests.

For the GRE:

Overview of the GRE Analytical Writing Measure (ETS) An introduction to the Analytical Writing portion of the GRE that includes tips on how to prepare, information on scoring, and sample tasks. The GRE Analytical Writing prompts will ask you to analyze an issue and analyze an argument . In order to prepare for the test, you may want to review the topic pool for issue tasks and topic pool for argument tasks that have been published by the GRE.

For any timed essay:

Timed Essay/Essay Exam (Duke University, Writing Studio) “At some point during your college career, you will likely encounter a timed essay. Known collectively as timed essays, essay exams, or in-class essays, these essays require you to demonstrate disciplinary knowledge by producing a writing sample within a limited time period. Timed essays are popular because they allow teachers to grade students holistically in a very brief amount of time. This handout offers a few ways to prepare for timed essays and provides advice for how to answer a timed essay question effectively.”

Writing Essays for Exams (Purdue OWL) “While most OWL resources recommend a longer writing process (start early, revise often, conduct thorough research, etc.), sometimes you just have to write quickly in test situations. However, these exam essays can be no less important pieces of writing than research papers because they can influence final grades for courses, and/or they can mean the difference between getting into an academic program (GED, SAT, GRE). To that end, this resource will help you prepare and write essays for exams.”

Subject Guides

Academic writing: a practical guide

Academic writing
The writing process
Academic writing style
Structure & cohesion
Criticality in academic writing
Working with evidence
Referencing
Assessment & feedback
Dissertations
Reflective writing
Examination writing
Academic posters
Feedback on Structure and Organisation
Feedback on Argument, Analysis, and Critical Thinking
Feedback on Writing Style and Clarity
Feedback on Referencing and Research
Feedback on Presentation and Proofreading

Showing your understanding of a topic and the critical arguments that relate to it.

What are essays?

Most degree programmes include essays. They are the most common form of written assignment and so for most students, being good at essays is essential to gaining good marks, which lead to good grades, which lead to the degree classification desired. Essays are both a particular method of writing and a collection of sub-skills that students need to master during degree studies.

Find out more:

Essays: a Conceptual and Practical Guide [interactive tutorial] | Essays: a Conceptual and Practical Guide [Google Doc]

General essay writing

You have an essay to write... what next .

Read the assessment brief carefully to find out what the essay is about, what you are required to do specifically. What instructions are you given (discuss, explain, explore)? What choices do you need to make?
Work through the practical guide to essays above. This will help you to think about what an essay is and what is required of you.
Look at the assignment writing process . How will you produce your essay?
Make a plan for when, where, and how you will research, think, draft, and write your essay.
Execute your plan .
Finish early. Leave a couple of spare days at the end to edit and proofread .
Hand it in and move on to the next challenge!

Features of essay writing

Essays vary lots between disciplines and specific tasks, but they share several features that are important to bear in mind.

They are an argument towards a conclusion. The conclusion can be for or against a position, or just a narrative conclusion. All your writing and argumentation should lead to this conclusion.
They have a reader. It is essential that you show the logic of your argument and the information it is based on to your reader.
They are based on evidence . You must show this using both your referencing and also through interacting with the ideas and thinking found within the sources you use.
They have a structure. You need to ensure your structure is logical and that it matches the expectations of your department. You should also ensure that the structure enables the reader to follow your argument easily.
They have a word limit. 1000 words means 'be concise and make decisions about exactly what is important to include' whereas 3500 words means 'write in more depth, and show the reader a more complex and broad range of critical understanding'.
They are part of a discipline/subject area, each of which has conventions . For example, Chemistry requires third person impersonal writing, whereas Women's Studies requires the voice (meaning experiential viewpoint) of the author in the writing.

Types of essay

Each essay task is different and consequently the information below is not designed to be a substitute for checking the information for your specific essay task. It is essential that you check the assessment brief, module handbook and programme handbook, as well as attend any lectures, seminars and webinars devoted to the essay you are working on.

Essays in each subject area belong to a faculty (science, social sciences, arts and Humanities). Essays within the same faculty tend to share some features of style, structure, language choice, and scholarly practices. Please click through to the section relevant to your faculty area and if you want to be curious, the other ones too!

Arts & Humanities essays

Arts and Humanities is a faculty that includes a huge range of subject areas, from Music to Philosophy. Study in the arts and humanities typically focuses on products of the human mind, like music, artistic endeavour, philosophical ideas, and literary productions. This means that essays in the arts and humanities are typically exploring ideas, or interpreting the products of thinking (such as music, art, literature).

There are a range of essay writing styles in arts and humanities, and each subject area has its own conventions and expectations, which are explained and built into modules within each degree programme. Typically, each essay explores an idea, using critical engagement with source material, to produce an argument.

There is typically more reliance on the interpretation of ideas and evidence by the student than in the sciences and social sciences. For the student, the challenge is to understand and control the ideas in each essay, producing a coherent and logical argument that fulfils the essay brief. As with all essays, careful structure, word choices, and language use are essential to succeeding.

Department-specific advice for essays in Arts and Humanities

Some departments provide web-based advice:

English and Related Literature essay writing advice pages
Philosophy essay writing advice pages
Music Department 'House Style' guidance for essay writing
Language and Linguistic Science style guide

If your department does not appear above, do ask your supervisor or other academic staff what specific guidance is available.

Key Features of Arts and Humanities essays

They are based on evidence . It is important that ideas used in essays are derived from credible and usable sources to root your essay in the scholarly materials of the subject that you are writing about.
There is usually a thesis statement. This appears towards the end of your introductory paragraph, concisely outlining the purpose and the main argument of the essay. It is short (once sentence), concise, and precise. Though the essay may have multiple sub-arguments, all must tie into the thesis statement. This means it is important to know, state and stick to the primary focus set out in your thesis statement.
They require you to interpret evidence. It is unlikely that you will find a source that directly answers the essay question set. You will typically be required to interpret primary and secondary evidence. Primary evidence includes the manuscript of a novel, or a letter describing an historical event. Secondary evidence includes academic books and peer reviewed articles.
They require you to apply ideas. Many essays will ask you to apply an abstract idea to a scenario, or interpretation of something. For example, you could be asked to apply a Marxist ideology upon Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights or Post-Colonialist theories upon Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Essays vary greatly in terms of length, required depth of thinking and purpose. You must carefully read the assessment brief and any supporting materials provided to you. It is also important to complete formative tasks that prepare you for an essay, as these will help you to become use to the requirements of the summative essay.
They must show criticality. When interpreting evidence, or applying ideas in your essay you must be aware that there is more than one possible understanding. Through exploring multiple sources and showing the limits and interconnectedness of ideas you show criticality. More information on criticality can be found on the Criticality page of this guide .

Example extract of an arts and humanities essay

Essay Title: Liturgical expression and national identity during the reign of Æthelred the Unready

This essay is from English studies and shows typical features of an arts and humanities essay. It is examining two ideas, namely 'national identity' and 'liturgical expression' and applying them both to a period of history. The essay does this by analysing linguistic choices, using interpretation from the literature base to create an argument that addresses the essay title.

It also has the feature of the student using sources of evidence to offer an interpretation that may disagree with some published sources. This use of evidence to create an argument that is novel to the student and requires interpretation of ideas is typical of arts and humanities writing. '"engla God", these liturgical verses themselves both signify and enact a ritualised unity with God.' is an example from the essay extract that shows the careful language choices used to create a concise and precise argument that clearly conveys complex thought to the reader from the author.

One way of thinking about a good arts and humanities essay is that it is like you are producing a garment from threads. The overall piece has a shape that people can recognise and understand, and each word, like each stitch, builds the whole piece slowly, whilst some key threads, like core ideas in your argument, run through the whole to hold it all together. It is the threading together of the strands of argument that determines the quality of the final essay, just as the threading of strands in a garment determine the quality of the final piece.

Good arts and humanities essay writing is...

Based on evidence sources,
built on the interpretation and application of ideas, evidence and theories,
a clearly expressed, logical argument that addresses the essay question,
carefully constructed to guide the reader in a logical path from the introduction to the conclusion,
filled with carefully chosen language to precisely and accurately convey ideas and interpretations to the reader,
built on rigorous, careful and close analysis of ideas,
constructed using careful evaluation of the significance of each idea and concept used,
readable, meaning it is clear and logical, using clearly understandable English,
rewarded with high marks.

Common mistakes in arts and humanities essay writing

Not answering the question posed. It is very easy to answer the question you wished had been asked, or drift away from the question during your writing. Keep checking back to the question to ensure you are still focussed and make a clear plan before writing.
Moving beyond the evidence. You are required to interpret ideas and evidence that exist, this requires some application and novelty, but should not be making up new ideas/knowledge to make your argument work; your writing must be rooted in evidence.
Using complex and long words where simpler word choices would convey meaning more clearly. Think of the reader.
Leaving the reader to draw their own conclusion s, or requiring the reader to make assumptions. They must be able to see your thinking clearly on the page.
Using lots of direct quotes . There are times when using quotes is important to detail lines from a novel for example, but you need to use them carefully and judiciously, so that most of your writing is based on your use of sources, for which you gain credit.

Social Science essays

Social Sciences, as the name suggests, can be thought of as an attempt to use a 'scientific method' to investigate social phenomena. There is a recognition that applying the strict rules of the level of proof required in science subjects is not appropriate when studying complex social phenomena. But, there is an expectation of as much rigour as is possible to achieve in each investigation.

Consequently, there is a huge variation in the types of essays that can be found within the social sciences. An essay based on the carbon dating of human remains within Archaeology is clearly very different from an essay based on the application of an ethical framework in Human Resources Management. The former is likely to be much more like a science essay, whilst the latter may edge towards a Philosophy essay, which is part of arts and humanities.

Key features of social science essays

They are evidence-based. It is crucial to use the evidence in a way that shows you understand how significant the evidence used is.
They require interpretation of evidence . By its nature, evidence in social sciences may be less definite than in sciences, and so interpretation is required. When you interpret evidence, this too must be based on evidence, rather than personal opinion or personal observation.
They often require the application of abstract theories to real-world scenarios . The theories are 'clean and clear' and the real world is 'messy and unclear'; the skill of the student is to make plausible judgements. For example,
The level of detail and breadth of knowledge that must be displayed varies greatly, depending on the length of the essay. 1000 word essays need concise wording and for the student to limit the breadth of knowledge displayed in order to achieve the depth needed for a high mark. Conversely, 5000 word essays require both breadth and depth of knowledge.
They should show criticality. This means you need to show uncertainty in the theories and ideas used, and how ideas and theories interact with others. You should present counter-facts and counter-arguments and use the information in the literature base to reach supported conclusions and judgements.

Example extract of a social science essay

Essay Title: Who Gets What in Education and is that Fair?

Education in the western world has historically favoured men in the regard that women were essentially denied access to it for no other reason than their gender (Trueman,2016) and even though it would seem there is certainly “equality on paper” (Penny, 2010,p1.) when looking at statistics for achievement and gender, the reality is that the struggles facing anyone who does not identify as male require a little more effort to recognise. An excellent example of this can be found in the 2014 OECD report. In the UK women significantly outnumbered men in their application for university places- 376,860 women to 282,170 men (ICEF,2014)- but when observed closer men are applying for places at higher ranking universities and often studying in fields that will eventually allow them to earn better salaries. The same report praised women for the ability to combine their studies with family life and having higher aspirations than boys and therefore likely as being more determined to obtain degrees (ICEF, 2014), yet in reality women have very little choice about coping with the stressful burdens placed on them. The concepts of double burden and triple shift where women are expected to deal with housework and earning an income, or housework, raising children and earning an income (Einhorn, 1993) could in this case relate to the pressure for women to work hard at school to allow them to be able to provide for their families in future. Even women who do not necessarily have their own families or children to care for must face the double burden and triple shift phenomenon in the workplace, as women who work in the higher education sector almost always have the duty of a more pastoral and caring role of their students than male counterparts (Morley,1994).

Education is a social science subject. Some studies within it follow a scientific method of quantitative data collection, whilst others are more qualitative, and others still are more theoretical. In the case of this extract it is about gendered effects in university applications. This is an inevitably complex area to write about, intersecting as it does with social class, economic status, social norms, cultural history, political policy... To name but a few.

The essay is clearly based on evidence, which in places in numerical and in places is derived from previously written papers, such as 'triple shift where women are expected to deal with housework and earning an income, or housework, raising children and earning an income (Einhorn, 1993)', where the concept of triple shift is derived from the named paper. It is this interleaving of numerical and concrete facts with theoretical ideas that have been created and/or observed that is a typical feature in social sciences. In this case, the author has clearly shown the reader where the information is from and has 'controlled' the ideas to form a narrative that is plausible and evidence-based.

When compared to science writing, it can appear to be more wordy and this is largely due to the greater degree of interpretation that is required to use and synthesise complex ideas and concepts that have meanings that are more fluid and necessarily less precise than many scientific concepts.

Good social science essay writing is...

filled with clearly articulated thinking from the mind of the author,
well structured to guide the reader through the argument or narrative being created,
focussed on answering the question or addressing the task presented,
filled with carefully chosen evaluative language to tell the reader what is more and less significant,
readable - sounds simple, but is difficult to achieve whilst remaining precise,

Common mistakes in social science essay writing

Speculating beyond the limits of the evidence presented . It is important to limit your interpretation to that which is supported by existing evidence. This can be frustrating, but is essential.
Using complex words where simpler ones will do. It is tempting to try to appear 'clever' by using 'big words', but in most cases, the simplest form of writing something is clearer. Your aim is to clearly communicate with the reader.
Giving your personal opinion - this is rarely asked for or required.
Not answering the question or fulfilling the task . This is possibly the most common error and largely comes from letting one's own ideas infect the essay writing process.
Not being critical. You need to show the limits of the ideas used, how they interact, counter-arguments and include evaluation and analysis of the ideas involved. If you find yourself being descriptive, ask why.
Using lots of direct quotes, particularly in first year writing . Quotes should be rare and used carefully because they are basically photocopying. Use your words to show you have understood the concepts involved.

Science essays

Science essays are precise, logical and strictly evidence-based pieces of writing. They employ cautious language to accurately convey the level of certainty within the scientific understanding that is being discussed and are strictly objective. This means that the author has to make the effort to really understand the meaning and significance of the science being discussed.

In a science essay, your aim is to summarise and critically evaluate existing knowledge in the field. If you're doing your own research and data collection, that will be written up in a report instead.

The skill of the student is to thread together the ideas and facts they have read in a logical order that addresses the task set. When judgements are made they must be justified against the strength and significance of the theories, findings, and ideas being used. Generally, the student should not be undertaking their own interpretation of the results and facts, but instead be using those of others to create a justifiable narrative.

Example extract of a science essay

Essay title: To what extent has Ungerleider and Mishkin’s notion of separate ‘what’ and ‘where’ pathways been vindicated by neuropsychological research?

Van Polanen & Davare (2015) showed that the dorsal stream and ventral streams are not strictly independent, but do interact with each other. Interactions between dorsal and ventral streams are important for controlling complex object-oriented hand movements, especially skilled grasp. Anatomical studies have reported the existence of direct connections between dorsal and ventral stream areas. These physiological interconnections appear to gradually more active as the precision demands of the grasp become higher.

However, cognition is a dynamic process, and a flexible interactive system is required to coordinate and modulate activity across cortical networks to enable the adaptation of processing to meet variable task demands. The clear division of the dorsal and ventral processing streams is artificial, resulting from experimental situations, which do not reflect processing within the natural environment (Weiller et al., 2011). Most successful execution of visual behaviours require the complex collaboration and seamless integration of processing between the two systems.

Cloutman (2013) had stated that dorsal and ventral streams can be functionally connected in three regards: (1) the independent processing account – where they remain separate but terminate on the same brain area, (2) the feedback account – where feedback loops from locations downstream on one pathway is constantly providing input to the other and (3) the continuous cross-talk account – where information is transferred to and from the system constantly when processing.

Indeed, the authors found that there were numerous anatomical cross-connections between the two pathways, most notably between inferior parietal and inferior temporal areas. For example, ventral regions TE and TEO have been found to have extensive connectivity with dorsal stream areas, demonstrating direct projections with areas including V3A, MT, MST, FST and LIP (Baizer et al., 1991; Disler et al., 1993).

The first obvious comment is that it is not going to win a prize for literary entertainment! The writing is what one might call 'dry'. This is because it is good scientific writing. It is clearly evidence-based, and is explaining complex interrelationships in a way that is clear, leaves little for the reader to assume and that uses carefully graded language to show the significance of each fact.

The language choices are carefully aligned with the strength of the evidence that is used. For example, 'have been found to have extensive interconnectivity' is graded to convey that many connections have been detailed in the evidence presented. Similarly, 'Most successful execution of visual behaviours require the complex collaboration' is graded carefully to convey meaning to the reader, derived from the evidence used. The sample displays many examples of controlled word choices that leave the reader in no doubt regarding the meaning they are to take from reading the piece. This concise, controlled, evidence-based and carefully considered writing is typical of that found in the science essays.

Good science essay writing is...

evidence-based,
cohesive due to language choices,
well-structured to help the reader follow the ideas,
carefully planned,
filled with carefully chosen evaluative and analytical language,
rewarded with high grades.

Common mistakes in science essay writing

The most common mistake is a lack of accuracy in the language used to convey meaning. This can be due to inadequate reading or a lack of understanding of the subject matter, or alternatively, due to not giving sufficient care to word choice. 'Increased greatly' is different to 'increased', which is different again to 'increased significantly'; it is very important that you understand what you are writing about in enough detail that you can accurately convey an understanding of it accurately to the reader.
Trying to put 'you' into the essay. It is highly unlikely that you will be required to refer to your own viewpoints, opinions or lived experience within scientific essay writing. Science is impersonal, it deals in fact, and so you are a third person, impersonal author who is interpreting and curating facts and knowledge into an essay that makes sense to the reader.
Going beyond the facts. It is rare that you will be asked to speculate in a science essay. When you are, you will be asked to extrapolate from known understanding in the relevant literature. Stick to the facts and to their meaning and significance.
Not placing understanding in context . Each scientific idea sits within a bigger discipline and interacts with other ideas. When you write about ideas, you need to acknowledge this, unless you are specifically told to only focus on one idea. An example would be genomics of viral pathogens, which is currently a much discussed area of activity. This sits within public health, virology, and genomics disciplines, to name a few. Depending on how it is to be written about, you may need to acknowledge one or more of these larger areas.

Using evidence in essays

Sources of evidence are at the heart of essay writing. You need sources that are both usable and credible, in the specific context of your essay.

A good starting point is often the materials used in the module your essay is attached to. You can then work outwards into the wider field of study as you develop your thinking, and seek to show critical analysis, critical evaluation and critical thought in your essay.

Discover more about using evidence in your assignments:

Structuring an essay

Clear structure is a key element of an effective essay. This requires careful thought and you to make choices about the order the reader needs the information to be in.

These resources contain advice and guides to help you structure your work:

You can use these templates to help develop the structure of your essay.

Go to File > Make a copy... to create your own version of the template that you can edit.

Structuring essay introductions

Play this tutorial in full screen

Explain the different functions that can be fulfilled by an introduction.
Provide examples of introductions from the Faculties of Social Sciences, Sciences, and Arts and Humanities.
Evaluating your own introductions.
Matching elements of an introduction to a description of their purpose.
Highlighting where evidence is used to support elements of the introduction.
Highlighting how introductions can make clear links to the essay question.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

In this section, you will learn about the functions and key components of an essay introduction.

An introduction can fulfill the functions below. These often move from a broad overview of the topic in context to a narrow focus on the scope of the discussion, key terms and organisational structure.

Click on each function to reveal more.

It can establish the overall topic and explain the relevance and significance of the essay question to that topic
What is the topic?
Why is the essay question worth exploring? Why is the essay worth reading?
How is it relevant to wider / important / current debates in the field?
It can briefly explain the background and context and define the scope of the discussion
Is it helpful to mention some background, historical or broader factors to give the reader some context?
Is the discussion set in a particular context (geographical; political; economic; social; historical; legal)?
Does the essay question set a particular scope or are you going to narrow the scope of the discussion?
It can highlight key concepts or ideas
Are the key concepts or ideas contentious or open to interpretation?
Will the key concepts need to be defined and explained?
It can signpost the broad organisational structure of the essay
Indicate what you will cover and a brief overview of the structure of your essay
points made should be supported by evidence
clear links should be made to the question

Note: Introductions may not cover all of these elements, and they may not be covered in this order.

Useful Link: See the University of Manchester’s Academic Phrasebank for useful key phrases to introduce work.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

In this activity, you will review and evaluate introductions you have written, identifying areas for improvement.

Find some examples of introductions you have written for essays.

Which of the features do they use?
Are any elements missing?
How might you improve them?

For the following tasks, you will be using an example introduction from one of the following three faculties. Select a faculty to use an introduction from a corresponding subject.

In this activity, you will look at examples of introductions, identifying key features and their purpose.

Here is an example question:

Sociology: Examine some of the factors that influence procrastination in individuals, exploring and evaluating their impact. Identify an area(s) for future research, justifying your choice.

And here is a sample introduction written for this question:

Procrastination is a complex concept which manifests itself in different types of behaviour yet is experienced by individuals universally. A useful definition of procrastination is ‘the voluntary delay of important, necessary, and intended action despite knowing there will be negative consequences for this delay’ (Ferrari and Tice, 2000, Sirois and Pychyl, 2013 cited in Sirois and Giguère, 2018). The influences on procrastination are multi-faceted, which makes their study incredibly challenging. Researchers are now producing a body of work dedicated to procrastination; including meta-analyses such as those by Varvaricheva (2010) and Smith (2015). Influences on procrastination can be considered in two categories, factors with external, environmental, sources and factors with internal sources due to individual differences. However, these external and environmental categories are not completely independent of one another and this essay will seek to explore the complexities of this interdependence. This essay will discuss how different factors influence individual procrastination, by first examining how gender, age and personality affect the procrastination trait under internal factors, before discussing the external factors; how task aversiveness, deadlines and the internet affect procrastination behavioural outcomes. This will be followed by a brief exploration of how the two interact. Finally there a number of gaps in the literature, which suggest avenues for future research.

Click on the Next arrow to match each section of this introduction with a description of its purpose.

Procrastination is a complex concept which manifests itself in different types of behaviour yet is experienced by individuals universally.

Signposts the broad organisational structure of the essay

Narrows the topic and explains its relevance or significance to current debates

Defines the scope of the discussion

Establishes the topic and explains its broad significance

Defines key concepts

That's not the right answer

Have another go.

Yes, that's the right answer!

A useful definition of procrastination is ‘the voluntary delay of important, necessary, and intended action despite knowing there will be negative consequences for this delay’ (Ferrari and Tice, 2000, Sirois and Pychyl, 2013 cited in Sirois and Giguère, 2018).

The influences on procrastination are multi-faceted, which makes their study incredibly challenging. Researchers are now producing a body of work dedicated to procrastination; including meta-analyses such as those by Varvaricheva (2010) and Smith (2015).

Influences on procrastination can be considered in two categories, factors with external, environmental, sources and factors with internal sources due to individual differences. However, these external and environmental categories are not completely independent of one another and this essay will seek to explore the complexities of this interdependence.

This essay will discuss how different factors influence individual procrastination, by first examining how gender, age and personality affect the procrastination trait under internal factors, before discussing the external factors; how task aversiveness, deadlines and the internet affect procrastination behavioural outcomes. This will be followed by a brief exploration of how the two interact. Finally there a number of gaps in the literature, which suggest avenues for future research.

In this activity, you will identify how introductions make links to the question.

Here is the question again:

Click to highlight the places where the introduction below links closely to the question.

Have another go. You can remove the highlighting on sections by clicking on them again.

Those are the parts of the introduction that link closely to the question.

In this activity, you will consider how introductions make use of supporting evidence.

Define key concepts
Establish the topic and explain its relevance or significance

Click to highlight the places where the introduction below supports points with evidence .

Those are the parts of the introduction that use evidence to support points.

Congratulations! You've made it through the introduction!

Click on the icon at the bottom to restart the tutorial.

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Nursing: Drawing on your own experiences and understanding gained from the module readings, discuss and evaluate the values, attributes and behaviours of a good nurse.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) (2015) Code states that a nurse must always put the care of patients first, be open and honest, and be empathic towards patients and their families. Student nurses are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the need for these key skills even at the interview stage and then gain the experiences to develop certain fundamental attributes, values and behaviours in order to advance through the stages of nursing. This assignment will highlight a variety of values, attributes and behaviours a good nurse should have, focusing on courage in particular. Views of courage from political, professional, and social perspectives will be considered, alongside a comparison between the attribute courage and a student nurse’s abilities. This will be demonstrated using observations from practice, appropriate theorists such as Sellman (2011), Lachman (2010) and philosophers including Aristotle and Ross (2011).

The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) (2015) Code states that a nurse must always put the care of patients first, be open and honest, and be empathic towards patients and their families.

Explains the context to the discussion, with reference to the workplace

Defines the scope of the discussion by narrowing it

Defines relevant key concepts or ideas

Student nurses are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the need for these key skills even at the interview stage and then gain the experiences to develop certain fundamental attributes, values and behaviours in order to advance through the stages of nursing.

This assignment will highlight a variety of values, attributes and behaviours a good nurse should have, focusing on courage in particular.

Views of courage from political, professional, and social perspectives will be considered, alongside a comparison between the attribute courage and a student nurse’s abilities. This will be demonstrated using observations from practice, appropriate theorists such as Sellman (2011), Lachman (2010) and philosophers including Aristotle and Ross (2011).

Define relevant key concepts or ideas
Signpost the broad organisational structure of the essay, making a clear link to the question

Archaeology: Explain some of the ways in which Star Carr has been re-interpreted since the initial discovery in the 1940s. Briefly evaluate how the results of recent excavations further dramatically affect our understanding of this site.

Star Carr has become the ‘best known’ Mesolithic site in Britain (Conneller, 2007, 3), in part because of its high levels of artefact preservation due to waterlogging, as the site was once on the Eastern edge of the ancient Lake Flixton, close to a small peninsula (Taylor, 2007). First excavated by Grahame Clark in 1949-51, there was a further invasive investigation in 1985 and 1989, again in 2006-8, and 2010. An impressive haul of artefacts have been excavated over the years, including bone and antler tools, barbed points, flint tools and microliths, and enigmatic red deer frontlets (Milner et al., 2016). Since Clark’s first published report in 1954 there have been numerous re-examinations of the subject, including by Clark himself in 1974. Resulting interpretations of the site have been much debated; it has been classified as ‘in situ settlement, a refuse dump, and the result of culturally prescribed acts of deposition’ (Taylor et al., 2017). This discussion will explore the ways in which the site has been variously re-interpreted during this time period, and consider how more recent study of the site has prompted new perspectives.

Explains the background to the discussion and its significance

Establishes the topic

Explains the scope of the topic and highlights key interpretations

First excavated by Grahame Clark in 1949-51, there was a further invasive investigation in 1985 and 1989, again in 2006-8, and 2010. An impressive haul of artefacts have been excavated over the years, including bone and antler tools, barbed points, flint tools and microliths, and enigmatic red deer frontlets (Milner et al., 2016).

Since Clark’s first published report in 1954 there have been numerous re-examinations of the subject, including by Clark himself in 1974. Resulting interpretations of the site have been much debated; it has been classified as ‘in situ settlement, a refuse dump, and the result of culturally prescribed acts of deposition’ (Taylor et al., 2017).

This discussion will explore the ways in which the site has been variously re-interpreted during this time period, and consider how more recent study of the site has prompted new perspectives.

Establish the topic, explains the background and significance
Explains the significance of the topic
Highlights key interpretations

Structuring essay conclusions

In this section you will consider the different functions a conclusion can fulfil, look at examples of conclusions, and identify key features and their purpose.

• • • • • • • • •

A conclusion can fulfil the functions below. These often move from a narrow focus on the outcomes of the discussion to a broad view of the topic's relevance to the wider context.

Summary of the main points in relation to the question

This might involve restating the scope of the discussion and clarifying if there any limitations of your discussion or of the evidence provided
This may include synthesising the key arguments and weighing up the evidence

Arrive at a judgement or conclusion

Having weighed up the evidence, come to a judgement about the strength of the arguments

Restate the relevance or significance of the topic to the wider context

Make it clear why your conclusions - which are based on your discussion through the essay - are important or significant in relation to wider/current debates in the field

Make recommendations or indicate the direction for further study, if applicable

Recommendations may be for further research or for practice/policy
What further research/investigation would be necessary to overcome the limitations above?
What are the implications of your findings for policy/practice?

Note: Conclusions may not cover all of these elements, and they may not be covered in this order.

Clear links should be made to the question
Do not make new points in the conclusion

Useful Link: See the University of Manchester’s Academic Phrasebank for useful key phrases to conclude work.

• • • • • • • • •

In this activity, you will look at an example conclusion, identifying key features and their purpose.

In this task, you will be using an example conclusion from one of the following three faculties. Select a faculty to use a conclusion from a corresponding subject.

And here is a sample conclusion written for the question:

In conclusion procrastination is a complex psychological phenomenon that is influenced by a number of factors, both internal and external. However it has a hugely multifaceted nature and the factors that influence it are not truly independent of one another. Character traits and the environmental impact on behaviour are interrelated; for example similar procrastination outcomes may arise from a highly conscientious individual in a distracting environment and an individual low in conscientiousness in a non-distracting setting. This means that future studies need to be very considered in their approach to separating, or controlling for, these factors. These further studies are important and urgently needed as the impact of procrastination on society is far-reaching. For instance: individuals delay contributing to a pension, meaning that old age may bring poverty for many; couples put off entering into formal contracts with each other, potentially increasing disputes over child custody and inheritance; and indeed women delay starting a family and increasing age leads to decreased fertility, thus leading to higher societal costs of providing assisted fertilisation. Furthermore one could expand the scope to include the effects on children of being born to older parents (such as risks of inherited genetic defects). These are themselves wide fields of study and are mentioned merely to illustrate the importance of further research. Until the nature of influences on procrastination is fully understood, our development of approaches to reduce procrastination is likely to be hindered.

Click on the Next arrow to match each section of the conclusion with a description of its purpose.

In conclusion procrastination is a complex psychological phenomenon that is influenced by a number of factors, both internal and external.

Synthesises the key arguments and weighs up the evidence

Indicates limitations

Restates the scope of the discussion

Indicates the direction and significance for further study

Summary of the main point in relation to the question

However it has a hugely multifaceted nature and the factors that influence it are not truly independent of one another.

Character traits and the environmental impact on behaviour are interrelated; for example similar procrastination outcomes may arise from a highly conscientious individual in a distracting environment and an individual low in conscientiousness in a non-distracting setting.

This means that future studies need to be very considered in their approach to separating, or controlling for, these factors. These further studies are important and urgently needed as the impact of procrastination on society is far-reaching. For instance: individuals delay contributing to a pension, meaning that old age may bring poverty for many; couples put off entering into formal contracts with each other, potentially increasing disputes over child custody and inheritance; and indeed women delay starting a family and increasing age leads to decreased fertility, thus leading to higher societal costs of providing assisted fertilisation. Furthermore one could expand the scope to include the effects on children of being born to older parents (such as risks of inherited genetic defects). These are themselves wide fields of study and are mentioned merely to illustrate the importance of further research.

Until the nature of influences on procrastination is fully understood, our development of approaches to reduce procrastination is likely to be hindered.

Opportunities for nurses to display courage occur every day, although it is at the nurse’s discretion whether they act courageously or not. As discussed in this assignment, courage is likewise an important attribute for a good nurse to possess and could be the difference between good and bad practice. It is significantly important that nurses speak up about bad practice to minimize potential harm to patients. However nurses do not need to raise concerns in order to be courageous, as nurses must act courageously every day. Professional bodies such as the RCN and NMC recognise that courage is important by highlighting this attribute in the RCN principles. The guidelines for raising concerns unite the attribute courage with the RCN’s principles of nursing practice by improving nurses’ awareness of how to raise concerns. Lachman’s (2010) CODE is an accessible model that modern nurses could use as a strategy to help them when raising concerns. Although students find it difficult to challenge more senior nursing professionals, they could also benefit from learning the acronym to help them as they progress through their career. For nursing students, courage could be seen as a learning development of the ability to confront their fear of personal emotional consequences from participating in what they believe to be the right action. On the whole a range of values, attributes and behaviours are needed in order to be a good nurse, including being caring, honest, compassionate, reliable and professional. These qualities are all important, but courage is an attribute that is widely overlooked for nurses to possess but vitally fundamental.

Arrives at an overall judgement or conclusion

Make recommendations for practice

Professional bodies such as the RCN and NMC recognise that courage is important by highlighting this attribute in the RCN principles. The guidelines for raising concerns unite the attribute courage with the RCN’s principles of nursing practice by improving nurses’ awareness of how to raise concerns. Lachman’s (2010) CODE is an accessible model that modern nurses could use as a strategy to help them when raising concerns.

Although students find it difficult to challenge more senior nursing professionals, they could also benefit from learning the acronym to help them as they progress through their career. For nursing students, courage could be seen as a learning development of the ability to confront their fear of personal emotional consequences from participating in what they believe to be the right action.

On the whole a range of values, attributes and behaviours are needed in order to be a good nurse, including being caring, honest, compassionate, reliable and professional. These qualities are all important, but courage is an attribute that is widely overlooked for nurses to possess but vitally fundamental.

Star Carr is one of the most fascinating and informative Mesolithic sites in the world. What was once considered to be the occasional winter settlement of a group of hunter-gatherer families, now appears to be a site of year-round settlement occupied over centuries. Since its initial discovery and excavation in the late 1940s and early 1950s, a great deal of further data has been collected, altering interpretations made by the primary excavators who pioneered analysis of the site. What once was considered a typical textbook Mesolithic hunting encampment is now theorized to be a site of ritual importance. The site has produced unique findings such as a multitude of barbed points, twenty one antlered headdresses and the earliest known example of a permanent living structure in Britain. These factors will combine to immortalise the site, even when its potential for further research is thoroughly decayed, which tragically could be very soon (Taylor et al. 2010).

Star Carr is one of the most fascinating and informative Mesolithic sites in the world.

Synthesise the main points

Limitations and implications for future research

Restate the significance of the topic to the wider context

What was once considered to be the occasional winter settlement of a group of hunter-gatherer families, now appears to be a site of year-round settlement occupied over centuries. Since its initial discovery and excavation in the late 1940s and early 1950s, a great deal of further data has been collected, altering interpretations made by the primary excavators who pioneered analysis of the site. What once was considered a typical textbook Mesolithic hunting encampment is now theorized to be a site of ritual importance. The site has produced unique findings such as a multitude of barbed points, twenty one antlered headdresses and the earliest known example of a permanent living structure in Britain.

These factors will combine to immortalise the site, even when its potential for further research is thoroughly decayed, which tragically could be very soon (Taylor et al. 2010).

Congratulations! You've made it through the conclusion!

Click on the icon below to restart the tutorial.

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Other support for essay writing

Online resources.

The general writing pages of this site offer guidance that can be applied to all types of writing, including essays. Also check your department guidance and VLE sites for tailored resources.

Other useful resources for essay writing:

Appointments and workshops

There is lots of support and advice for essay writing. This is likely to be in your department, and particularly from your academic supervisor and module tutors, but there is also central support, which you can access using the links below.

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University of Lynchburg

The Writing Process

Discovery/investigation.

The first step in writing a successful paper in college requires an active engagement with your sources. Simply reading a primary source for content is no longer sufficient. The question should no longer be “What happened?” but rather “Why did that happen? What does that say about the character(s)/plot?” Make notes of your thoughts and ideas as you read.

Once the writer has finished an active reading of the primary source, it may be necessary to obtain secondary sources to back up the thesis. If your research yields books, remember that it is not necessary to read the entire book. You can either look for a chapter title that you believe will have information pertinent to your paper, or look at the index for terms that you will be discussing.

Peer-reviewed journals available online will be your most commonly used secondary resource. Use the online searches through the Knight-Capron Library, but remember that other search engines, such as Google Scholar, can yield results.

Prewriting is the step in which tools such as free writing, brainstorming, outlining, or clustering are used. In prewriting, no idea is too off topic or too strange. It is these sometimes dissociative ideas that can lead you to a paper topic that you never would have considered.

Though the common perception is that there is nothing that hasn’t been written about before, if you allow yourself to think outside the box, you can find a way of looking at an old topic through new eyes.

It is also during prewriting that the writer needs to make a decision about audience. Asking questions like: “Who is going to read my paper?”, “What is the purpose of this paper?”, and “Why are they going to read my paper?” will help you set your audience.

The simple answer to these questions is “My professor” and “Because they assigned it.” They are not the true answers. It could be that your paper needs to be geared towards elementary level students or participants in a seminar or peers at a conference. The language and tone for either of those audiences would be very different.

Drafting is the beginning of “writing” your paper. It is important to remember that in drafting you should already have a thesis idea to guide your writing. Without a thesis, your writing will be prone to drift, making it harder to frame after the fact.

In drafting, the writer should use materials created in the prewriting stage and any notes taken in discovery and investigation to frame and build body paragraphs.

Many writers will tackle their body paragraphs first instead of beginning with an introduction (especially if you are not sure of the exact direction of your paper). Beginning with body paragraphs will allow you to work through your ideas without feeling restricted by a specific thesis, but be prepared to delete paragraphs that don’t fit.

Afterwards, create an opening paragraph (with an appropriate revised thesis) that reflects the body of your essay.

There are two different scopes of revision: global and local.

Global Revision

Global revision involves focusing on higher order concerns. We frequently think of higher order concerns as involving audience, purpose, thesis claims, development (and support), and organization.

When looking your paper over with global revision in mind, ask yourself the following questions:

What does my audience already know about this topic, and what do they need to know? Have I included information from sources that my audience values?
Is the purpose of my paper clear? Does my thesis claim reflect the purpose, and does it fully capture my paper’s content?
Have I offered enough supporting evidence in my supporting paragraphs? Have I effectively quoted, paraphrased, and/or summarized my sources? Have I provided appropriate in-text citations and entries in my works cited or reference page?
Have I effectually discussed my evidence? Have I put my sources into context for the reader (perhaps by using signal phrases), and I have discussed the evidence I have used so that the reader understands its relevance/importance? Have I quoted sources but have failed to discuss the quotes?
Have I organized my paper in a logical manner? Did I go from least important/shocking points to most important/shocking points?

Many also believe that global revision involves looking for issues like cohesion and the overall progression of your paper. If your paragraphs jump from point to point without a clear connection between the points, there is an issue with cohesion. If your paragraphs contain too many points, this is also an issue. Ideally, a paragraph contains one point that is thoroughly discussed and supported with credible evidence.

Lastly, If your paper has paragraphs that do not flow into each other, but change topic abruptly only to return to a previous thought later, your paper has poor cohesion.

A paper that includes smooth transitions is significantly easier to read and understand. It is preferable to keep all like thoughts together and to arrange your paragraphs in such a way that your argument builds, rather than laying everything out with equal weight.

Though the blueprint for your paper is in the thesis, the end result of your argument should not come early in the paper, but at the end. Allow the supporting paragraphs to build to your conclusions.

Local Revision

Local issues involve looking for clarity in sentences, ensuring coherence with your ideas. The greatest asset to avoiding and fixing local issues is to use varied sentence structure and to avoid using the same words repeatedly. Repeating the same sentence structure can make your paper feel mechanical and make an interesting topic feel boring.

Local revision also involves being mindful of lower order concerns, such as sentence structure, word choice, grammar, and spelling.

The final stage in writing a paper requires a review of what you have written. In this last read of your paper, you should look for any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors that have slipped through the cracks during the revising stage, or that were introduced in your revisions.

Reading your paper aloud, or asking a friend to read your paper to you is a good way to catch errors. Often if you read your own paper, especially out loud, you can catch errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Though this step seems minor within the process of writing, it is an easy way to prevent the loss of points over simple mistakes.

Formatting, Inner-text Citation, and Works Cited

The formatting required for your paper will change depending on the field of your topic. Generally, the sciences and business and economics use APA or CSE formatting. English, and other humanities will use MLA, and History uses Chicago. The appearance of inner-text citations, and Works cited page will all be affected by these different formats.

Consult your syllabus or ask your professor to learn what format you should use. Guides for APA, Chicago, and MLA are available online .

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The Basics of Essay Writing

What does a good essay need.

An academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence .

An academic essay should answer a question or task .
It should have a thesis statement (answer to the question) and an argument .
It should try to present or discuss something: develop a thesis via a set of closely related points by reasoning and evidence.
An academic essay should include relevant examples , supporting evidence and information from academic texts or credible sources.

Basic steps in writing an essay

Although there are some basic steps to writing an assignment, essay writing is not a linear process. You might work through the different stages a number of times in the course of writing an essay. For example, you may go back to the reading and notetaking stage if you find another useful text, or perhaps to reread to locate specific information.

Possible steps (In no strict order)

Establish a possible thesis/point of view

Use books, journals and other credible academic sources for support and evidence.

from your readings.

and organise your ideas.

to include your introduction, body and conclusion.

Set the draft aside for a day or two, then

- ask a friend/parent/colleague to read it.

your essay.

Complete or finalise your

Complete your final draft and

See next: Getting Started

Essay and assignment writing guide.

Getting started
Research the topic
Organise your ideas
Write your essay
Reference your essay
Edit your essay
Hand in your essay
Essay and assignment planning
Answering assignment questions
Editing checklist
Writing a critical review
Annotated bibliography
Reflective writing
^ More support

Do You Know The 7 Steps Of The Writing Process?

How much do you know about the different stages of the writing process? Even if you’ve been writing for years, your understanding of the processes of writing may be limited to writing, editing, and publishing.

It’s not your fault. Much of the writing instruction in school and online focus most heavily on those three critical steps.

Important as they are, though, there’s more to creating a successful book than those three. And as a writer, you need to know.

The 7 Steps of the Writing Process

Read on to familiarize yourself with the seven writing process steps most writers go through — at least to some extent. The more you know each step and its importance, the more you can do it justice before moving on to the next.

1. Planning or Prewriting

This is probably the most fun part of the writing process. Here’s where an idea leads to a brainstorm, which leads to an outline (or something like it).

Whether you’re a plotter, a pantser, or something in between, every writer has some idea of what they want to accomplish with their writing. This is the goal you want the final draft to meet.

With both fiction and nonfiction , every author needs to identify two things for each writing project:

Intended audience = “For whom am I writing this?”
Chosen purpose = “What do I want this piece of writing to accomplish?”

In other words, you start with the endpoint in mind. You look at your writing project the way your audience would. And you keep its purpose foremost at every step.

From planning, we move to the next fun stage.

2. Drafting (or Writing the First Draft)

There’s a reason we don’t just call this the “rough draft,” anymore. Every first draft is rough. And you’ll probably have more than one rough draft before you’re ready to publish.

For your first draft, you’ll be freewriting your way from beginning to end, drawing from your outline, or a list of main plot points, depending on your particular process.

To get to the finish line for this first draft, it helps to set word count goals for each day or each week and to set a deadline based on those word counts and an approximate idea of how long this writing project should be.

Seeing that deadline on your calendar can help keep you motivated to meet your daily and weekly targets. It also helps to reserve a specific time of day for writing.

Another useful tool is a Pomodoro timer, which you can set for 20-25 minute bursts with short breaks between them — until you reach your word count for the day.

3. Sharing Your First Draft

Once you’ve finished your first draft, it’s time to take a break from it. The next time you sit down to read through it, you’ll be more objective than you would be right after typing “The End” or logging the final word count.

It’s also time to let others see your baby, so they can provide feedback on what they like and what isn’t working for them.

You can find willing readers in a variety of places:

Social media groups for writers
Social media groups for readers of a particular genre
Your email list (if you have one)
Local and online writing groups and forums

This is where you’ll get a sense of whether your first draft is fulfilling its original purpose and whether it’s likely to appeal to its intended audience.

You’ll also get some feedback on whether you use certain words too often, as well as whether your writing is clear and enjoyable to read.

4. Evaluating Your Draft

Here’s where you do a full evaluation of your first draft, taking into account the feedback you’ve received, as well as what you’re noticing as you read through it. You’ll mark any mistakes with grammar or mechanics.

And you’ll look for the answer to important questions:

Is this piece of writing effective/ Does it fulfill its purpose?
Do my readers like my main character? (Fiction)
Does the story make sense and satisfy the reader? (Fiction)
Does it answer the questions presented at the beginning? ( Nonfiction )
Is it written in a way the intended audience can understand and enjoy?

Once you’ve thoroughly evaluated your work, you can move on to the revision stage and create the next draft.

5. Revising Your Content

Revising and editing get mixed up a lot, but they’re not the same thing.

With revising, you’re making changes to the content based on the feedback you’ve received and on your own evaluation of the previous draft.

To correct structural problems in your book or story
To find loose ends and tie them up (Fiction)
To correct unhelpful deviations from genre norms (Fiction)
To add or remove content to improve flow and/or usefulness

You revise your draft to create a new one that comes closer to achieving your original goals for it. Your newest revision is your newest draft.

If you’re hiring a professional editor for the next step, you’ll likely be doing more revision after they’ve provided their own feedback on the draft you send them.

Editing is about eliminating errors in your (revised) content that can affect its accuracy, clarity, and readability.

By the time editing is done, your writing should be free of the following:

Grammatical errors
Punctuation/mechanical and spelling errors
Misquoted content
Missing (necessary) citations and source info
Factual errors
Awkward phrasing
Unnecessary repetition

Good editing makes your work easier and more enjoyable to read. A well-edited book is less likely to get negative reviews titled, “Needs editing.” And when it comes to books, it’s best to go beyond self-editing and find a skilled professional.

A competent editor will be more objective about your work and is more likely to catch mistakes you don’t see because your eyes have learned to compensate for them.

7. Publishing Your Final Product

Here’s where you take your final draft — the final product of all the previous steps — and prepare it for publication.

Not only will it need to be formatted (for ebook, print, and audiobook), but you’ll also need a cover that will appeal to your intended audience as much as your content will.

Whether you budget for these things or not depends on the path you choose to publish your book:

Traditional Publishing — where the publishing house provides editing, formatting, and cover design, as well as some marketing
Self-Publishing — where you contract with professionals and pay for editing, formatting, and cover design.
Self-Publishing with a Publishing Company — where you pay the company to provide editing, formatting, and cover design using their in-house professionals.

And once your book is live and ready to buy, it’s time to make it more visible to your intended audience. Otherwise, it would fail in its purpose, too.

Are you ready to begin 7 steps of the writing process?

Now that you’re familiar with the writing process examples in this post, how do you envision your own process?

While it should include the seven steps described here, it’ll also include personal preferences of your own — like the following:

Writing music and other ambient details
Writing schedule
Word count targets and time frames

The more you learn about the finer details of the writing process, the more likely you are to create content your readers will love. And the more likely they are to find it.

Wherever you are in the process, our goal here is to provide content that will help you make the most of it.

Other ways to search:

Events Calendar

Want to write a college essay that sets you apart? Three tips to give you a head start

1. Keep it real. It’s normal to want to make a good impression on the school of your choice, but it’s also important to show who you really are. So just be yourself! Compelling stories might not be perfectly linear or have a happy ending, and that’s OK. It’s best to be authentic instead of telling schools what you think they want to hear.

2. Be reflective . Think about how you’ve changed during high school. How have you grown and improved? What makes you feel ready for college, and how do you hope to contribute to the campus community and society at large?

3. Look to the future. Consider your reasons for attending college. What do you hope to gain from your education? What about college excites you the most, and what would you like to do after you graduate? Answering these questions will not only give colleges insight into the kind of student you’ll be, but it will also give you the personal insight you’ll need to choose the school that’s right for you.

Have questions about college prep? We're here to help.

Written by CU Boulder Office of Admissions

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As a student or prospective student at CU Boulder, you have a right to certain information pertaining to financial aid programs, the Clery Act, crime and safety, graduation rates, athletics and other general information such as the costs associated with attending CU Boulder. To view this information visit colorado.edu/your-right-know .

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1. Hook your reader

2. Provide background on your topic

3. Present the thesis statement

4. Map the structure

Length of the body text

Paragraph structure

What not to include in a conclusion

Checklist: Essay

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Encyclopedia

What are the Steps of the Writing Process?

Summary – Writing Process Steps

1. Prewriting

2. Invention

3. Researching

4. Collaboration

5. Planning

6. Organizing

Writing-Process Plans

Planning Exercises

7. Designing

8. Drafting

9. Rereading

10. Revising

11. Editing

12. Proofreading

13. Sharing or Publishing

Brevity - Say More with Less

Clarity (in Speech and Writing)

Coherence - How to Achieve Coherence in Writing

Flow - How to Create Flow in Writing

Inclusivity - Inclusive Language

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