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Planning Your Writing

Do the foundation work for writing your paper

Some simple steps will help you write a well thought out and well written essay or paper.

 

Be sure to reserve:

• a sufficient amount of time for thought and writing development
• a quiet place where you can concentrate
• computer time (if you will be using and sharing a computer)

 

 

Brainstorm

Explore the Subject

 

 

This activity is what writers spend the most time doing before they write. Before your pen touches the paper, learn all that you can about your topic.

• Discuss the topic with others to learn other points of view.
• Read all that you can about the topic to learn the facts. Use your text books, magazines, newspapers and encyclopedia.
• Research the topic on the Internet to find out if there is anything new that you should know. Write down facts that support your position on your topic. (Remember to cite your sources after you finish writing your paper.)
• Draw, take, or gather pictures about your topic.
• Use your creativity and imagination.

The more time you spend thinking and brainstorming at the beginning of an assignment, the less time you will waste writing.

"General Writing Resource." OWL. The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2012. Web. 30 Dec 2013.<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/>.

 

 

 

 

 

Organize

Focus, Plan and Outline

 

Do the following before you prepare to write:

• Focus your topic so that you can effectively cover it. Is it is an essay-length topic or a book-length topic?" 
• Write a topic sentence or thesis that includes your focused topic and your controlling idea.
• Plan how you will order your support. Will you use 'time', 'location' or 'importance' to order your writing?
• Outline your ideas on paper. (Cooperate with another classmate. Exchange outlines and offer each other suggestions on improving the order or the clarity of the wording. It is easier to make changes on your outline than on a completed writing.
• Determine which ideas you will cover. Group your ideas. The groups will become your paragraphs in a short writing or your sections in a longer writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rough Draft

Get Your Ideas on Paper

 

Do the following in your rough draft:

• Get your ideas on paper.  Make sure they are your own.  Remember your instructor doesn't expect you to be the originator of great ideas. You can synthesize (put together) ideas, cite the authors of the ideas and give your personal interpretation, which may become a great idea! Fair Use
• Use clear simple sentences at this stage. (You can add complex clause construction later.) Also, don't worry too much about the grammar yet. Just get your supporting points on paper.   
• Follow your outline or plan. Going 'off subject' happens because the writer is including side comments or thoughts on topics related but not central to the focus of the writing. (Use your text book for ideas on organization)   Avoid writing whatever pops into your head— "Stream of Consciousness".

 

 

 

Edit 1

Revise and Check for Errors

 

Check for organizational errors:

• Remove examples that do not support the thesis (or topic sentence).
• Rearrange ideas or sentences that seem out of order.
• Fill in  supporting examples where they are needed.

 

Check for basic grammar errors:

• Check sentence boundaries (run-ons and fragments).
• Check tense usage—simple vs. progressive (present, past).
• Check subject-predicate agreement (3rd person singular marker).
• Check for tense agreement between main and embedded clauses (backshifting).
• Check for subject-predicate agreement when phrases are present (nouns w/ modifiers).

 

 

 

 

Redraft

Rewrite – add and remove

 

Step back and then return with a fresh mind:

Often when we look at a piece of writing the next day, we can find a lot of things that were missed in the first draft.

• Make sure your thesis is developed clearly.  Does your writing support the point of the thesis? Does the conclusion relate (tie) the ideas together?
• Ask for a second opinion --  Ask your friend:
  • Do you understand the point of the essay / paper? (Can you understand the position taken on the topic?)
  • Is the position clearly stated in the thesis (topic) sentence and logically developed and supported with examples?
  • Are you able to agree or disagree with the thesis?  That is to say, does the essay  expand and support the opinion of the topic rather than state facts like an encyclopedia?
  • Do you have better or contrasting examples that should be included in the essay or paper.
  • Does the conclusion summarize and relate the essay content to the opinion stated in the thesis.

• Add descriptive words by using adjectives and adverbs.
• Remove wordiness by using such things as connectors and modifying clauses. 
• Add transition words to link ideas and improve the flow of your writing—Then, Next, In addition, Finally, Additionally, However, Nevertheless, In contrast, Consequently, and so on.

 

 

 

 

 

Edit 2

Final Edit

 

 

Revise and Check for Errors

• Check for more specific errors. (Don't ignore anything that your instructor has already pointed out or marked.)
• Check article, preposition and punctuation use.  
• Use a dictionary to check the precise meaning and spelling of words if you are unsure about them.
• Ask a friend to read and check if any logic gaps exist in your writing.  (Ask if any part of the writing is unclear,  hard to follow, requires the reader to guess or know something.)

 

 

 

 

 

Final

Write or Type

 

 

Write your final draft:

• Write or type your final draft. 
• Be sure not to copy any errors that you have already identified.
• Follow the style guidelines recommended by your instructor—formatting, citation, length and so on.
• Remember to cite the sources of the facts you used to support your topic position.

 

 

Style Manuals

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. Edited by Thomas Kent, et al., 51st ed., AP, 2016.

The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. U of Chicago P, 2003.

The Gregg Reference Manual. Edited by William A. Sabin, 11th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2011.

MLA Handbook. 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 6th ed., American Psychological Association, 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

Correction Symbols

Understand your instructor's markups

 

 

 

Each instructor has his or her preferred symbols.  Below are some commonly used symbols.

CORRECTION SYMBOLS	EXAMPLES
The correction symbols are placed before the word or phrase.    Correction Symbols.doc
sentence boundaries (Create a new sentence or clause.) // P//    new paragraph	Each sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with a period.  If more than one S+V+O group is used, they must be added using: punctuation (:) (;), or a connector (and, or, but, so, for, yet, ), or a connective (who, that, which, whose, where, when)   ERROR:   Jane went to work and helped her boss finish a project //and it had a lot of problems but came out well. CORRECTION:  Jane went to work and helped her boss finish a project, which had a lot of problems but came out well. CORRECTION:  Jane went to work and helped her boss finish a project. It had a lot of problems but came out well.
fragment sentence FRAG	Each sentence must have an implied subject and verb to be a complete sentence. (Punctuation – fragments) ERROR: My friend, who is a priest who works in the rural areas of my country.   FRAG Often in the city as well. CORRECTION: My friend, who is a priest and who works in the rural areas of my country, often works in the city as well.
verb tense T VT	Each verb must agree with the time frame or time word in the sentence:    (present tense summary)   (present perfect summary) ERROR: I Tlived here since 1992 . CORRECTION:  I have lived here since 1992.   Each verb must agree with the general time frame in the context the whole writing. Tense Unity: ERROR:  Scientists at MIT discovered a new life form last year. They published their research in "The Journal of Biology ". Others Tare questioning the validity of their work. CORRECTION:   Others have been questioning the validity of their work.
Active Voice AV	An active verbs is used when the subject is the "agent" doing the action. EXAMPLE: The pilot  AVwas caused the accident. CORRECTION:  The pilot caused the accident.
Passive Voice PV	In the passive, the direct object or indirect object of an active verb becomes the subject of a passive verb; the subject is the "patient" or the "recipient" of the action.  (passive summary) ERROR:  The accident PVcaused by the pilot. CORRECTION: The accident was caused by the pilot.
subject-verb agreement SV-AGR	The verb must agree in number with the subject noun:  (subject-predicate) ERROR: The number of students in community colleges SV-AGR are increasing. CORRECTION: The number of students in community colleges is increasing.
number (singular-plural) agreement N-AGR	The nouns and pronouns must agree within each sentence. (pronoun summary) ERROR:  Every one of the students N-AGRhave to carry N-AGR  their books in N-AGR their backpacks. CORRECTION:  Every one of the students has to carry his books in his backpack. or CORRECTION:   All of the students have to carry their books in their backpacks.
article use ART	Every noun needs to be considered for article use.  Ask your self if the noun is count or noncount. Is the noun definite (already identified-by earlier mention, later mention, shared knowledge, or uniqueness), or is the noun indefinite. Does the noun follow a more specific rule:  See article summary. ERROR:  We saw the White House and ARTthe Buckingham Palace on our two trips last year. CORRECTION:   We saw the White House and Buckingham Palace on our two trips last year.
preposition use PREP	Some rules cover preposition; however, most preposition use has to be learned as individual expressions:  Preposition Summary. ERROR:  I parked my car PREPon the parking lot and couldn't find it later.  CORRECTION:   I parked my car In the parking lot and couldn't find it later.
spelling use SP	(When in doubt, look it up in your dictionary.) Right-clicking (Control or command + click)  will bring up a dictionary feature on most operating systems. ERROR:  The hotel SPaccomodations were very luxurious.  CORRECTION:   The hotel accommodations were very luxurious.
delete this [....]	ERROR:  My friend also attends [to] Stanford University. CORRECTION:  My friend also attends Stanford University. Avoid wordiness. Stating things simply improves readability. shortening clauses My friend [who was] born in Turkey was traveling with me. My friend born in Turkey was traveling with me.
instructor suggests or rephrase this way (....)	ERROR:  My friend is taking (choosing/considering ) a Business major. CORRECTION: My friend is considering a Business major.
word-use error <error>	ERROR:  <Their>, you can see ducks. CORRECTION: There, you can see ducks.  (correct)
Word forms: WF – word form	ERROR: The WFfly-about kite was beautiful. CORRECTION:  The flying kite was beautiful.
N – noun	ERROR: I love Nmysterious movies. CORRECTION:  I love mystery movies.  (noun modifiers )
ADJ – adjective	ERROR:It was a ADJbeauty day. CORRECTION:  It was a beautiful day. (adjective summary)
ADV – adverb	ERROR:He ran ADVslow to his home. CORRECTION: He ran slowly to his home. (adverb summary)
GER – gerund	ERROR: GERRace horses was his career. CORRECTION:  Racing horses was his career.  (gerund summary )
INF – infinitive	ERROR:  I expect INFto seeing him today. CORRECTION:  I expect to see him today.  (infinitive summary )
CAP – capitalization error	ERROR:  Mr.CAPjanowksi is coming at four o'clock. - should be: CORRECTION: Mr. Janowski .... ERROR: I will study there during the CAPFall semester. CORRECTION:  the fall semester.
P  – punctuation error	ERROR: I am attending college P ,  because I want to improve my English. CORRECTION:  I am attending college because I want to improve my English.  (Punctuation summary)
AWK - awkward phrase or word use	ERROR:  He was trying AWKlooking important to everyone. CORRECTION: He was trying to look important to everyone.  (gerund objects - try )
WO - word order error	ERROR:  She gave WO to me the paper. CORRECTION:  She gave the paper to me. / She gave me the paper. (dative verbs)

 

Additional Resources

• "150 Resources to Help You Write Better, Faster, and More Persuasively" Open Education Database, 19 Feb 2013. Web. 9 June 2013. <http://oedb.org/library/features/150-writing-resources >.