Do not procrastinate with any writing assignment.
Any complicated task becomes easier by breaking it into smaller steps. Students often do not leave themselves sufficient time to complete a complex written product, such as an essay. However, giving yourself a week to complete an essay assignment should result in satisfactory work.
Instructions
1. Brainstorm for an essay topic, if permitted a choice of topics. If your professor assigns a topic to write about, you still need to prewrite to find your thesis, your statement about a controversy. You must have a thesis statement in order to create an essay. Every paragraph and sentence must support that thesis. Prewriting, a step often skipped by rushing students, remains crucial to having something about which to write.
2. When writing the rough draft, do not correct any spelling or grammatical errors.
Begin a rough draft a day after prewriting. In the interim, you probably have thought of other ideas about your topic. You need not start with the introductory paragraph. Begin writing one of the body paragraphs first, and then the introduction.
3. Finish the rough draft by the second day. Any ideas or quotes from another source need documentation in the format your professor will state on the assignment sheet.
4. Take a break from drafting before beginning the revision process. Minimally pause for a two-hour break; a day's break works even better. Review the rough draft with fresh eyes, not remembering what you had intended to say.
5. Cut the revision process into four steps. The best writing happens in revision. Read through the essay, asking if the thesis appears clearly stated with convincing support. Pause for several hours, forgetting about the essay. Look at paragraph structure to ensure that all paragraphs have topic sentences, supporting details and closing sentences. Take another break. When you return, double-check sentence or grammatical errors. Ensure that documentation exists for ideas and words not your own. Create a works-cited entry for sources. Finally, tweak individual words; read aloud to listen for wordiness.
Tags: rough draft, grammatical errors, revision process, your professor