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Academic Writing: Planning your writing

Planning Your Writing

Writing at university often requires careful planning and preparation. Making sure that you leave enough time for this is very important. For more information about managing your time click here.  By planning effectively, you are more likely to produce a well-structured assignment that meets the marking criteria. It can be helpful to think of writing at university as a process.  Here is a typical example of the different stages involved in the writing process: 
 

Stages of Writing

Stage 1: Analysing the question  

  • Analysing the question means making sure you understand what you have got to do. For more information about different assignment types click here.
  • It can be helpful to try and identify different elements of a question, for example: Topic—Action word—Parameter (TAP).
  • For an essay entitled: ‘There is no freedom without democracy’ Discuss with reference to 20th century political history, the main topic (T) is ‘freedom’, the action (A) word is ‘discuss’ and the parameters (P) or scope of the essay is ‘reference to 20th century political history’. 

Stage 2: Reading and making notes

  • Once you have analysed your question or decided on your research question, it is time to start reading and gathering information from relevant and authoritative sources. Your reading list is always a good place to start! Not sure where else to look? Consult our Finding Information guide. 
  • It is important to make notes as you read to keep track of any titles, authors, publication dates, or relevant quotes that may be useful in your essay. 
  • There are many different styles of note making (e.g., mind mapping; Cornell 3-column format  and it is important to experiment with different approaches until you find a system (or systems) that you like. For more information about note making click here.
  • When you are reading, it is helpful to adopt a questioning or critical approach. In other words, don’t take anything you read at face value. For more information about reading techniques click here.

Stage 3: Planning and outlining 

  • Once you have gathered key information, you can begin to create an essay outline.
  • This will identify the main ideas you want to cover in your essay and will provide an initial plan to follow.
  • Remember however, the outline is not fixed / set in stone—it is natural for the structure to evolve throughout the writing process.  

Stage 4: Writing a first draft 

  • Now it’s time to start writing a first draft. 
  • Sometimes it can be easier to begin by writing the body paragraphs, saving the introduction until later when you have a better idea of the text you are introducing.
  • Think about paragraph structure—make sure each paragraph has a clear main point, contains evidence, explanation and evaluation and links back to your topic. For more information about how to structure your writing click here.
  • Remember, the first draft does not need to be perfect—during later stages in the writing process you will be able to revise and refine your draft.  
     

Stage 5: Redrafting and revising 

  • Remember to allow time in the writing process for redrafting and revising your work.  Sometimes it helps to have a break from your writing and to return to it with fresh eyes.  
  • At this stage try to identify arguments that are unclear or illogical and amend them.
  • Change the order of your paragraphs if you think it would improve the flow of your writing. 
  • Delete sections that are not relevant.
  • Add information that you think is missing. 
  • You may need to revise and redraft several times, until you are happy with your writing. 
     

Stage 6: Proofreading 

  • During this final stage of the writing process, it is important to focus on the smaller details.  
  • It might be helpful to read your work out loud or use the PDF Aloud tool to read it to you to. 
  • Check spelling, grammar and punctuation (e.g., try to avoid using any incomplete sentences or long and confusing sentences and remember to use full stops at the end of sentences)

Further Reading