Process -- Generating Ideas 

• Create a plan or outline for your work.

• Use pre-writing to generate and organize ideas. Some people free-write, while others make lists, charts and/or diagrams. 

• Just get all your ideas out on paper or on a word-processing document, and then work on organizing and developing them. 

• I  free-write and organize my ideas using cut and paste. Sometimes I create an outline and sort of "fill it in" as I free-write and incorporate juicy quotes and data.  At other times, I do not have a clear outline in mind -- so I free write and "pull" important quotes and ideas from the sources I am using. Then I stand back, try to see what kind of pattern emerges and develop my  arguments and outline.

• I also let my essay "gestate." I leave it alone for  little while and go do something pleasant. Then, when I come back -- I can sometimes see my organizational pattern or argument more clearly.

• Revise, draft and polish.  Writing is a process. Essays are not just born all at once. 

• Get feedback on your work from outside readers who can help correct your paper. They will be able to see problems more easily than the author.

Structure

• Be sure your essay is well organized -- that ideas that belong together stay together. Apples with apples. Oranges with oranges.

• Organize your work carefully - by time, by order of importance or by logical progression.

• Include an introduction that is interesting and that sets up the essay -- either by setting the scene or introducing key issues, concepts, questions and/or arguments. "Tell 'em what you are going to tell 'em."

• Be sure your essay's main sections have strong topic sentences.

• Use transitions to help the reader follow your logic (therefore), to mark contrasts (on the other hand), similarity (similarly), sequence (next), or example (for instance).

• Include a conclusion that sums up your main points and that illustrates the larger significance and meaning of your work.  Be sure your conclusion answers the "so what" question.

Argumentation and Analysis

• Keep your purpose and audience in mind.

• Be sure you are working at the level of critical thinking. In other words, be sure you are making claims with reasons, establishing arguments and/or posing complex questions.

• Move beyond unsubstantiated opinion.   For instance: "Cats are better than dogs" is merely my opinion. 

• Now, an opinion plus reasons becomes an argument.  If I write: "Cats make better pets than dogs because they are cleaner and more independent," then I have made a claim with reasons. Now we are in business.

• Avoid summary except to support an argument or claim.  Don't explain "what happened" or give information unless it is directly related to the larger idea or the point you are making.

• Avoid generalizations that are not immediately followed by specific, supporting evidence, details or examples.

• Avoid claims that include absolute generalizations like the words "all, "always,"  or "never."   For instance,  the claim that "All women have maternal instincts" is essentially impossible to support and defend. 

• Use qualifiers like "many," "some" or "most" to make statements less difficult to defend. You might want to consider using qualifying words and phrases like "perhaps" or "It is possible that..." or "Some have suggested that..." 

• Develop your ideas.  Flesh them out. Comment extensively. Make your claim. Use evidence to support it. Then comment and connect the evidence to your point. Explain how it supports your idea.

• Use direct quotes and paraphrases (properly documented) in addition to examples and details to help support your work.  See: Diane Hacker's interactive guide to documentation and Bedford's guide to documenting on-line sources at Documentation and On-Line Documentation

Style

• Do not announce your opinion or "soap-box." Simply state your case. The reader will gather how you feel about a certain issue from the tone, the focus of the argument, the claim itself. 

• Avoid passive voice sentences. They usually employ some for of "to be" (is/am/are/was/were) and can make matters very confusing. They also make for weak sentences. 

• For instance, the sentence: "My bird was eaten by my cat" places the culprit (my cat) at the end of the sentence. "My cat ate my bird" is more direct, clear and muscular.

• Pick a tense (usually the present tense) and stick with it, unless you refer the historical past tense within your present tense writing. 

• Chose your words carefully.

• Show me, don't tell me.  Use descriptive language that "takes the reader there."

• Avoid vague and over-used expressions like "In today's society..."  I will jump off a bridge if I read this one more time.

• The same goes for "Since the  beginning of time..." 

• Also, use the term "humankind" rather than "mankind." It is simply more precise.