Planning a work before starting to write will give you the opportunity to think through the story you want to tell before trying to express it. Without a plan, you might end up choosing your ideas as you write, which often means it’s the most recent idea that ends up in the text, not the best idea, and the thread of the story may be difficult for readers to follow. Having a detailed plan reduces the likelihood of poor structure, unclear arguments, missing elements, and wordiness, as well as helping to reduce stress and reduce the likelihood of writer's block. See below for more information, and for more information and resources, please visit Planning the Paper.
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When you're writing for an academic audience, you'll likely be expected to demonstrate your critical thinking skills by telling your reader what you think as well as why you think that way. Sharing the "why" usually involves explaining the connections between your arguments and the evidence you're using to support them. If you think back to a high school math class, you might remember your teacher telling you to "show your work" when solving math problems. Demonstrating your critical thinking in your academic writing is the same thing: show your reader how you came to the position or answer you're sharing in your writing.
While "evidence" may refer to information obtained from peer-reviewed scholarly sources, don't forget to also consider other sources of knowledge that may be appropriate for the story you want to tell; for example, see "Gather Knowledge From Experts" in Gather Information From Others in the Four Feathers Writing Guide for more information on Indigenous sources of Knowledge.
If your final project is a thesis, major paper, or major project, one of the first steps will be writing a proposal for your project. This guide provides general information on the sections that are typical to a proposal, but for program-specific details, please check your handbook.
If you would like to view the embedded guide in a new window, please visit Thesis, Major Paper, and Major Project Proposals.
