“The more clearly the writer perceives the shape, the better are the chances for success” (Strunk & White, 15).
If you’re returning to school after a long break, the prospect of having to navigate academic writing assignments can be intimidating. After all, you may feel that you’ve been out of the loop for too long. Or perhaps, like many adult learners, you had to abandon your academic pursuits in the past, and now you’re feeling insecure about your ability to tackle the work.
For many, among the more intimidating prospects of entering an academic program are the required academic writing assignments. What will you be asked to write? How will you come up with good ideas? Will your writing be up to snuff? How do you write for academic purposes? These and other questions may swirl around your anxiety cortex (there must be such as thing!) as you consider taking the plunge into a graduate or undergraduate program.
Take courage! The hardest step in any worthwhile pursuit is the first one. After that initial plunge, each small step will take you closer to your goal. So, let’s dip our toes into the unknown waters of academic writing and take away 5 important steps for approaching an academic writing task with a winning strategy.
Students often have difficulty moving from the pre-writing phase to actually developing a good product. They sit down with a blank page and a blank mind, and they just start writing as ideas pop into their head. This is called freewriting. Freewriting is often a good way to get ideas for writing, to explore your own thoughts on a subject, and to practice putting ideas into words. But it isn’t so good for actual academic writing. At least, not at the stage where you might actually be submitting something for grading.
Think about it this way: If you’re not sure what exactly you want to communicate, it will be very difficult for you to write well.
Consider this example: If you were an artist who wanted to carve a sculpture, you would need to know right from the start how you wanted the end result to look. You would continually hold that goal in your mind as you carved, comparing your progress to your end goal. The same is true for writing.
So, when you’re ready to open your syllabus and get started on your first writing assignment, here are a few guidelines to keep in mind:
1. Know Exactly What Is Expected
Don’t quote me to your prof, but it’s not always the student’s fault when a submitted assignment doesn’t meet up to the teacher’s expectations. Sometimes the assignment is simply unclear. But at the end of the day it’s the student’s grade that suffers. It’s therefore worthwhile for you as a student take ownership of that kind of situation.
Remember that your professor is only human, and humans sometimes make erroneous assumptions about what others will know and understand–without being explicitly told. If that seems to be the case with an assignment, take time clarify before you start.
However, more often than not, students who score poorly simply didn’t follow the instructions. Be sure you know what your professor wants, and then follow her instructions to the letter. If possible, put this step to bed before class ends, but definitely take care of it before you actually start the assignment. Don’t shove the assignment in your backpack and rush out (or close the assignment window and log out, online students). Don’t wait until the last moment to ask your questions. Scan the assignment quickly and respectfully ask your questions without delay.
2. Generate Ideas That Interest You
Staring at a blank page is frustrating, and the longer you stare, the more demoralized you will become. Start somewhere. Brainstorm, freewrite, chart, draw…do whatever helps you get your creative juices flowing. Some of your thoughts and ideas will not be usable. However, at this stage, you just need to get moving on the assignment.
Doing a research paper? Surf for information and see what’s out there. Something might pique your interest, and this is really important. If at all possible, take your assignment in a direction that interests you. Trust me, if you find your paper mind-numbingly boring to research and write, the person grading it will feel the same way.
3. Regroup and Decide
Sometimes students get stuck at the second step. They have a sort of commitment phobia when it comes to making a decision and getting started on the actual project. Have you been surfing, doodling, or freewriting for more than an hour or so? If so, it’s time to get out of the never-ending hypothetical assignment dreamland loop. If something hasn’t already popped out at you as your favorite topic of interest, it’s time to take a serious look at your ideas and make a choice. Which idea fits the assignment’s requirements and interests you the most?
If you are having trouble committing to topic or are vacillating between several ideas, one way to help you decide is to do a quick search for sources. Whichever idea has the most accessible (and probably most recent) source material should be the one you choose. After all, you don’t want to end up struggling to find useful data.
Note: If you’ve already spent some time surfing aimlessly on the web for usable sources but aren’t sure what you’re looking for, check out this primer on the kinds of sources you come across online, and how to evaluate the type that is acceptable for research.
4. Sketch Out a Rough Plan
Let’s assume that you’ve now narrowed your focus to a main idea that both interests you and works for the assignment. Now you need to plan the actual essay.
You don’t necessarily need to create a formal outline unless the assignment calls for one or specifies a minimum number of points, arguments, sub-points, etc. What you really need here is a viable shape for your writing. Where do you want to end up, and how will you get there? For me, this involves first jotting down my ideas about the topic I have chosen. I then number them in the strongest order of presentation, along with sources and arguments I plan to include.
5. Time to Write!
Once you have this rough sketch of your overall plan, it is time to start writing. It’s perfectly fine to deviate from your initial plan, as long as you are doing it because you’ve thought of something better as you write. Just be sure to be mindful of the original goals you set out to accomplish. These goals should include the requirements of the assignment and what your introduction/thesis promised to cover. You can always add your late-breaking ideas to the intro…just don’t forget to do so.
Even if your final product ends up looking different from what you initially set out to accomplish, following these steps will give your writing clearer focus and direction. And that will prevent you from submitting a paper that seems sloppy and poorly thought-out.
Remember, every experienced writer has a slightly different process. You will also develop a process that works for you as you move through your studies. Just remember that most people can’t come up with an excellent A-plus-worthy piece of writing simply by freewriting and then submitting. If you can, then I guess you don’t need my advice, do you? 😉
Best of luck, everyone!
Citation: Strunk, W. & White, E. (2000). The elements of style. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
