\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nKeep track of your sources as you research. In fact, you might want to use a citation generator online to collect your source citations as you research so that they\u2019re ready for your source page or bibliography later.<\/p>\n
3. Plan Out Your Thoughts<\/h2>\n
Your next step is to plan out your thoughts. For fictional or personal narratives, you\u2019ll want to fill out a plot diagram with every crazy or elaborate description, action, or idea you can think of; however, for most other essays, you\u2019ll want to think about the research you\u2019ve done and write down as many key points as you can think of. You can narrow your focus later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou might naturally start grouping your ideas or the facts that you\u2019ve read, but whatever you do, write everything down! No idea is a bad idea when you\u2019re planning out your thoughts. Deleting is easy, but remembering an idea you didn\u2019t write down can sometimes be tricky.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n4. Organize The Essay<\/h2>\n
Your next step is to really narrow down your ideas, descriptions, the plot elements, or your main points and evidence. If you\u2019ve done plenty of thinking, researching, and planning ahead of time, then you\u2019ll have lots of content to choose from. It\u2019s time to pick and choose what works best for the writing prompt and organize it into an outline format.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou don\u2019t need to know how you\u2019ll start and end your writing yet. You can add an exciting grabber for your narrative or an inviting introduction for your research paper later, even at the very end of the process right before you revise and edit. The most important thing to do when you\u2019re organizing is focus on the meat of your writing. For a standard essay, you\u2019ll need 3-5 main points to support your thesis. For a narrative, you\u2019ll want a similar number of action points in your story.<\/p>\n
After you\u2019ve got the bones of your writing figured out, it\u2019s time to start filling in the descriptions, evidence, and explanations that make your outline a full-fledged essay. It\u2019s typically a good idea to start with weaker evidence and build to your strongest points. You want to leave your reader thinking about the strongest argument you\u2019ve got, not the bit of information that\u2019s just \u201cokay.\u201d Add each piece of evidence, description, or explanation to the main points.<\/p>\n
Your outline will look something like the outline below, except you\u2019ll include several more main points, and you\u2019ll adjust the amount of evidence you have based on your research.<\/p>\n
\n- \u2022 Thesis<\/li>\n
- \u2022 Main point to support thesis #1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
\n- \n
\n- 1.) Evidence 1 & explanation<\/li>\n
- 2.) Evidence 2 & explanation<\/li>\n
- 3.) Evidence 3 & explanation<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
<\/p>\n
5. Write, Write, Write<\/h2>\n
The only thing to do once you\u2019ve created your outline is to write! Don\u2019t worry about grammar, usage, and mechanics, just let the ideas flow. If you realize that you\u2019re getting off on a tangent, just skip to a new paragraph and get yourself back on track. You can always delete or even cut entire paragraphs later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIf you get stuck on one part of your assignment, skip to another point or section of the narrative. Writers don\u2019t always write in order from top to bottom. The most important step as you write is to just get the words down. Using your outline will help focus yourself, too.<\/p>\n
6. Revise & Edit<\/h2>\n
Revision and editing is a step that some students like to skip, but they\u2019re an important part of making sure you\u2019ve got a solid essay on your hands. At the least, even if you\u2019re not a grammar, usage, or mechanics whiz, you can check to make sure your ideas are all written in a clear, organized way. Be sure that you haven\u2019t included any unnecessary information or forgotten to include a key point.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIf you struggle with grammar, usage, and mechanics, you can still check certain part of your writing. Read your writing aloud and only pause when you see punctuation. If you notice that a lot of your thoughts are running together, check to see where you need to add a period or semicolon. If you catch yourself naturally pausing, then that\u2019s another sign that you need some sort of punctuation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou can check for usage errors, pretty easily, too. Use the \u201cCtrl\u201d + \u201cF\u201d key to find certain words so that you can see if you\u2019ve used them correctly. Here\u2019s a quick list to check:<\/p>\n
\n- 1.) To, too, two<\/li>\n
- 2.) Your & you\u2019re<\/li>\n
- 3.) There, their, they\u2019re<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re not sure how to use each of these words, take some time to look them up so that you are able to communicate effectively in writing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOnce you\u2019ve done some checking yourself, have another person read through your essay to ensure that it makes sense to them. Another person might be able to catch mistakes that you missed, so be sure to rely on a trusted friend or family member to check your work. Being receptive to another person\u2019s feedback is important!<\/p>\n
7. Submit Your Essay<\/h2>\n
Finally, once you\u2019re sure your writing has been revised and edited, it\u2019s time to submit your essay. Take another look at the requirements your instructor has specified. Check the little details that you have missed in other work, and then submit!<\/p>\n
Writing, like any other skill, takes some time and practice. However, the more you write, the more used to the process you\u2019ll be. Eventually, you\u2019ll be flying through these steps without even having to think about them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Although you can always sign up with Train The Brain for help organizing, revising, or editing your written assignments, being able to get some of your writing assignments done independently is an important skill to master. But where do you begin? You can follow these basic steps as a guide for almost any written […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[21,4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1200"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1210,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions\/1210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainthebrain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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