Assignment Sheet

• Read the assignment sheet carefully to determine what you are being asked to do. In her book "Writing Matters," author Rebecca Howard states, "frequently, an assignment will specify the approach you should take." Being asked to describe, evaluate, analyze or argue are common tasks with different purposes that require using different approaches. Think of description as providing information with sensory details. Evaluating and arguing involve taking a side on an issue and weighing evidence.
  
  

Schedule

• Enter the assignment due date in your day planner or calendar. Work backwards and schedule time to complete each step of the writing process --- a day to plan and brainstorm, a day to conduct research, a day to write a rough draft, a day to revise and a day to edit. Do not wait until the last minute to begin writing. Understand that good essays must be looked at multiple times and take hours to write.
  
  

Prewriting

• Use prewriting processes to generate ideas. Brainstorming is listing everything you currently know about a subject and then reviewing the list for patterns. Clustering involves placing your main idea in a circle in the center of a page, arranging supporting ideas in circles surrounding it and connecting related ideas by drawing lines. Coming up with questions to explore in the paper is another way to generate ideas. Creating an outline helps writers organize ideas and supporting evidence.
  
  

Drafting

• Form a tentative thesis statement and at least three supporting topics before beginning to draft, as this will help save time by giving the paper a direction. While writing also involves discovery, beginning a paper by taking a firm stand on an issue helps writers maintain focus. Develop paragraphs by including and explaining two or three concrete examples. Do not make readers guess at your meaning. Point out to readers explicitly how the examples connect to the thesis.
  
  

Revising and Editing

• Rework your essay, looking for ways to overhaul its organization, to make sure you have chosen the best examples and to improve wording and sentence structure. Having a peer read the paper and create an outline can help uncover confusing organization and examples or explanations that require clarification. Editing involves proofreading the paper for misspelled words, missing or incorrect punctuation and errors in mechanics or formatting --- errors that distract the reader from the paper's message.