Overview

Good writing is usually the result of a process of pre-writing, drafting, reviewing, revising, and rewriting.  It’s rare that anyone is able to express his or her thoughts in the best way possible on the first try although the more we practice, the better we become at it. Experienced, published writers readily admit that they have revised their writing several times before publication.

Revise means to see again. After we’ve done our first draft, it’s helpful to leave it for a while before looking at it again. While having others read the paper may help, the goal is to become self-editors and see the writing as others would see it. We need to be sure that it says what we mean to communicate in a way that will show the legitimacy of our position.

A good essay must prove the thesis: a one-sentence statement taking a position. Once you have a thesis, even though you may change it, it’s easier to formulate ideas about the body paragraphs since they just have to prove the thesis.

Proof paragraphs are just reasons why your thesis is right. Just as an essay has a controlling idea expressed in the thesis statement, paragraphs also have a controlling idea expressed in a topic sentence.

While experienced writers sometimes take poetic liberties in some contexts such as fiction or informal writing, good writers know how to use proper grammar and punctuation, and in college writing, it should be used.

Proofreading carefully helps to ensure that the writing says what we want it to say and that it uses proper grammar. Sometimes, it helps to read the paper aloud. It’s easy to miss an error.

Whether you are writing a paragraph, an essay, another type of assignment for school such as a reaction paper, or simply a letter, here are key elements to remember.

Subject, Purpose, and Audience

  • Subject –  (picking the right topic, narrowing the topic, supporting the topic)
  • Audience – For whom are you writing? (experts, teachers, general public?)
  • Purpose – (explaining, persuading, comparing, entertaining….)

Writing is a Process

  1. Pre-writing (freewriting, brainstorming, clustering, asking questions (research), keeping a Journal)
  2. Organizing (grouping, eliminating, adding) and narrowing the topic (focus on a point)
  3. Rough Draft
  4. Revising (self-check, peer  review, tutoring)
  5. Final Copy (typed)

Pre-writing: Free-writing, Brainstorming, Clustering, Asking Questions (Research), Keeping a Journal

Pre-writing consists of various strategies to help overcome a writing block, to get ideas, or just to get organized. Whether you are writing a letter or doing a writing assignment for school, one or more of the following may be used as needed.

1.     Focused Free-writing

More “poetic” than typical prose writing for college classes. Contains many vivid details and extra information that will need to be cut, added to, or rearranged.

2.     Brainstorming

A filled page of just word or sentence fragments. Complete sentences are not required, but a large amount of ideas should be present. Add details to fill the page.

3.    Clustering

Start with the topic in the center and draw spokes outward as thoughts take you in new, more detailed directions. A cluster typically takes a full page.

4.     Asking Questions (Research)

Ask yourself the reporter’s six questions: Who? What? Where? Why? When, How? Use these questions to focus on what you really want to write about and what you know about.

When accessing sources beyond your own knowledge is appropriate – either you don’t know enough about the topic or the assignment requires outside research – find out what others say about the topic or research question

5.     Keeping a Journal

Your journal is a private place where you can develop ideas! When you see something interesting or have a new, exciting thought, write it down and use it for a later writing assignment.

Narrowing the Topic – Focus on a Point

A paragraph, an essay, or a research paper (also called research essay), must focus on a point.

  1. The point of a paragraph is called a topic sentence.
  2. The topic sentence of a paragraph tells the reader what the paragraph will prove.
  3. The point of an essay or research paper is called the thesis.
  4. A thesis tells the reader what the paper will prove.

An essay has different types of paragraphs:

  1. Introduction (introductory paragraph) – gives a background and states the thesis. The topic sentence of an introductory paragraph is called the thesis and it belongs at the end of the first paragraph.
  2. Body paragraphs – each of which gives a different reason with supporting details on why the thesis is accurate. The topic sentence of a body paragraph belongs at the beginning of the paragraph.
  3. Concluding paragraph – sums up the proof and restates the thesis and/or draws an implication from the information presented depending on instructor preference. The topic sentence of a concluding paragraph is a restatement of the thesis and may go anywhere in the concluding paragraph.

In some assignments, you are given a question to answer to form a thesis or topic sentence. This type of assignment usually does not present a problem in finding a focus. For example, if your assignment is to research what treatment is best for a particular disease or whether the cycles of the moon affect human beings, the result of your research will generate an answer to the question which will be your thesis statement. An example of this is "The best treatment for ovarian cancer is..." The topic sentences for your body paragraphs will each be one reason as to why that treatment is the best.

In other cases, you are given a topic and you must narrow your topic to find a focus. Here are some strategies to help develop a one-sentence topic sentence or a thesis:

  • Narrow your topic by thinking about what you know about the topic and a specific area that interests you if there is not a research component.  For example, if the topic is about how computers have affected our lives, you may think about the various types of computers and focus in on personal computers.  The question then becomes “How have personal computers affected our lives.”
  • If there is a research component, think about what questions you have about the topic and/or what your exploratory research has found. For example, let's say you research the topic of how computers have affected our lives. You then find information on the different types of computers used in appliances and how we use them every day. One of your questions may be "How have computers used in household appliances affected our lives?”
  • Think about your topic until you can find a main idea or question that is not as broad as the topic your instructor gave you if you were assigned a topic. This should be an idea that is interesting to you and something you know about.
  • A thesis statement should include both the subject and the controlling idea.

Drafting, Reviewing, Revising, and Editing

Regardless of the type of writing, the first attempt must be considered a rough draft.  Don’t worry too much about grammar. The first goal is to get the ideas down. Generate ideas by reviewing your pre-writing efforts if you use any of those strategies.

  • Are there any natural groups that you can arrange your ideas into?
  • Take the most promising groups and add information and details.
  • Any ideas that do not fit into these groups or don’t have many details should be discarded.

Once the first draft is complete, you must review it to see if the ideas and wording flow logically and support the topic sentence within a paragraph and the thesis of an academic essay. Paragraphs must be limited to information about the topic sentence. Related ideas must be together in one section. There must be an internal organization from paragraph to paragraph that the reader can easily follow. Transitions may be needed from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph for the sentences and/or paragraph to flow from one to the next. See Paragraphs in Related Pages on the right sidebar for more information.

Revise as needed by moving or adding sentences or paragraphs, and modifying wording. The last step is editing where you make sure the writing is grammatically correct. There must be sentences and not fragments. The punctuation should be accurate. Check for spelling.

Writing an Academic Essay

An academic essay has a particular type of organization with an introduction paragraph with a thesis, body paragraphs which prove the thesis, and a concluding paragraph which sums up the proof and restates the thesis. See Essay Organization for more information.

To write an academic essay, it is helpful to start with an outline. An outline is a plan of what your essay will look like.

  1. Start with the thesis statement.
  2. Then, list the separate reasons why your thesis is accurate as I, II, and so on. These will be the topic sentences for your body paragraphs.  The number of paragraphs will be determined by the assigned length of the paper. These must be complete sentences.
  3. Under each of the topic sentences, include the details that fit into this group.

An essay can be written right from the outline. You would have to add background information before the thesis to complete the introductory paragraph. You would have one paragraph each for sections I, II, III, and IV, depending on how many sections are in your outline. Your concluding paragraph just sums up the proof in the body and restates the thesis.  

See Related Pages on the right sidebar for more information.

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