WRITING SKILLS

1. Starting

Starting an essay, paper or thesis is often the hardest step. Here are some top tips to make it less daunting.

1. Start by writing some provisional headings for your work

2. Choose the heading you think will be easiest and begin there. There is no need to write the beginning of a piece of work first, abstracts and introductions are often the last sections to be written!

3. Don't worry about writing it perfectly first time, just write what comes into your head. It is easier to rearrange and tidy up once you have SOMETHING to work with.

2. Focusing

It is important to make the focus clear when putting together a piece of academic writing, whether essay, article or thesis. The reader should be able to identify the central idea that unifies the text and gives it direction. It should also be possible to identify the intellectual commitment of the writer to that focus.

The focus may even change as you write and realise where it actually lies! As P. Elbow says:

It is simply a fact that most of the time you can't find the right words till you know exactly what you are saying, but that you can't know exactly what you are saying until you find the right words. The consequence is that you must start by writing the wrong meanings in the wrong words, but keep writing till you get to the right meanings in the right words. Only at the end will you know what you are saying ...

(Based on Writing without Teachers, OUP, 1973; quoted in Social Sciences Booklet)

3. Drafting

The following recommendation is made in the Social Sciences Booklet.

There are some suggestions below about how you might produce a first draft. The suggestions assume writing by hand, but can easily be adapted to word processing.

• Begin writing and do not stop to read over what you have written. Write quickly and with as few hesitations or pauses as possible.
• Do not worry about writing polished prose. Do not worry about spelling, word choice, punctuation or paragraphing.
• You will sometimes find yourself stuck on a particular idea or sentence. You should start again with a fresh line and move on to some other part of what you are writing.
• You may drift away from the track you were following or start repeating yourself. Stop writing, skip one or two lines, and try to get back on track again.
• Do not cross anything out (or delete it from your word processor) at this stage.
• A tangential idea may occur to you. Do not let it divert your writing but, if it seems relevant or useful, make a note of it in brackets or on a fresh line. Return to the good idea when your current stream of thoughts runs out.

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©University of Leicester, 1997. Writing Skills for Postgraduates and Other Research Scientists, Lucy Birkinshaw and Professor Robert Smith. Based on a pamphlet originally prepared by Robert Ash for the Faculty of Social Sciences. Web-editors: Ted Gaten and Magnus Johnson

Last updated: May 2003
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