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Improve Your Writing Skills: A Beginner's Guide

Article 26 Aug 2024 308 0

Writing is an essential skill, whether for academic, professional, or personal purposes. For beginners, the journey to mastering writing can feel overwhelming. However, with the right approach, anyone can improve their writing skills and develop the ability to communicate effectively and creatively. This guide will provide you with practical tips, writing exercises, and essential techniques to enhance your writing skills, ensuring that you build a strong foundation for your writing journey.

Understanding Writing Fundamentals

Before diving into the intricacies of writing, it's crucial to grasp the basics. Writing fundamentals are the building blocks of effective communication, and mastering them will make the rest of the writing process much easier.

Grammar and Sentence Structure

Grammar is the set of rules that govern how sentences are constructed. Understanding grammar helps you avoid common mistakes and ensures that your writing is clear and coherent. Focus on the following areas:

• Subject-Verb Agreement: Ensure that the subject and verb in a sentence agree in number (singular or plural). For example, "The cat runs" is correct, while "The cat run" is not.
• Tense Consistency: Stick to one tense within a sentence or paragraph to maintain clarity. If you start in the past tense, continue in the past tense unless there’s a reason to switch.
• Sentence Structure: Use a mix of simple, compound, and complex sentences to make your writing more engaging. Avoid run-on sentences and fragments.

Punctuation

Punctuation marks, such as commas, periods, and question marks, are crucial for conveying the intended meaning of your sentences. Incorrect punctuation can lead to confusion or alter the meaning of your writing.

• Commas: Use commas to separate items in a list, after introductory elements, or to set off non-essential information. For example, "Before leaving, she checked the weather."
• Periods: Periods signal the end of a sentence. Use them to complete your thoughts and give your reader a natural pause.
• Apostrophes: Apostrophes indicate possession or form contractions (e.g., "John's book" or "it's" for "it is").

Mastering these fundamentals is the first step toward becoming a proficient writer. Once you feel comfortable with the basics, you can move on to more advanced writing techniques.

Daily Writing Exercises for Beginners

Practice is the key to improvement in any skill, and writing is no exception. By engaging in daily writing exercises, you can gradually enhance your writing fluency, develop your unique style, and overcome common challenges.

Writing Prompts

Writing prompts are a great way to get started, especially when you're unsure of what to write about. Here are a few prompts to kickstart your practice:

• Describe Your Morning Routine: Write a detailed account of how you start your day, focusing on sensory details like sounds, smells, and sights.
• Create a Dialogue: Imagine a conversation between two characters in a coffee shop. Focus on how their personalities influence their speech patterns.
• Write a Letter to Your Future Self: What advice would you give? What do you hope to achieve in the next five years?

Freewriting

Freewriting is a technique where you write continuously for a set period without worrying about grammar, punctuation, or even making sense. The goal is to let your thoughts flow freely, which can help you overcome writer's block and generate new ideas.

• Set a Timer: Start with 10 minutes of non-stop writing. Don’t edit or correct yourself; just write whatever comes to mind.
• Reflect: After your session, review what you’ve written. You may find ideas or phrases that you can develop further in your formal writing.

Revising and Editing

Writing is rewriting. The first draft is often rough and full of mistakes, but that's okay. The real magic happens during revision and editing.

• Take a Break: After completing a draft, step away from it for a while. Returning with fresh eyes will help you spot errors and areas for improvement more easily.
• Read Aloud: Reading your writing aloud helps you catch awkward phrases, unclear sentences, and punctuation errors that you might miss when reading silently.
• Focus on Clarity: Ensure that each sentence clearly conveys your intended meaning. Cut out unnecessary words and simplify complex sentences.

Common Writing Mistakes to Avoid

As a beginner, it's normal to make mistakes. However, being aware of common pitfalls can help you avoid them and improve your writing more quickly.

Run-on Sentences

A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined without proper punctuation or conjunction. This can make your writing difficult to follow. To fix run-ons, split the sentence into smaller sentences or use a conjunction like "and," "but," or "so."

Example of a Run-on Sentence: "I went to the store I bought some bread." Corrected Sentence: "I went to the store, and I bought some bread."

Passive Voice

The passive voice can make your writing seem weak or indirect. In passive voice, the subject receives the action rather than performing it. Whenever possible, use active voice to make your writing more engaging.

Passive Voice Example: "The ball was thrown by John." Active Voice Example: "John threw the ball."

Overuse of Adverbs and Adjectives

While adverbs and adjectives can add detail to your writing, overusing them can make your sentences cumbersome. Focus on using strong verbs and nouns that convey meaning without the need for excessive modifiers.

Example of Overuse: "She quickly and quietly opened the old, creaky door." Simplified Version: "She eased the door open."

Valuable Writing Resources

To continue improving your writing skills, it's helpful to have access to resources that can guide you along the way. Here are some tools, books, and courses that you might find useful.

Online Tools

• Grammarly: This online tool checks your writing for grammar, punctuation, and style issues. It also offers suggestions for improving clarity and conciseness.
• Hemingway Editor: This app highlights complex sentences and passive voice, helping you simplify your writing.
• Thesaurus.com: Use this online thesaurus to find synonyms and expand your vocabulary.
• "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White: A classic guide to writing that covers the basics of grammar, style, and composition.
• "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser: This book offers practical advice on writing nonfiction, with a focus on clarity, simplicity, and avoiding jargon.
• "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott: A motivational book that offers insights into the writing process and tips for overcoming writer’s block.
• Coursera’s "Creative Writing Specialization": This series of courses covers the essentials of writing, including plot development, character creation, and style.
• edX’s "English Grammar and Style": Offered by the University of Queensland, this course helps you improve your grammar and sentence structure.
• Udemy’s "Writing with Confidence": This course teaches you how to write clear, concise, and compelling content for various purposes.

The Importance of Feedback

Feedback is one of the most valuable tools for improving your writing. Constructive criticism from others can help you identify areas where you need to improve and provide new perspectives on your work.

Seeking Feedback

• Join a Writing Group: Writing groups offer a supportive environment where you can share your work and receive feedback from other writers.
• Ask for Peer Reviews: Share your writing with friends, family, or colleagues who can provide honest feedback.
• Hire an Editor: For more formal or professional writing, consider hiring an editor who can provide detailed feedback on your work.

Learning from Feedback

• Stay Open-Minded: Feedback can be hard to hear, but it’s important to stay open-minded and view it as an opportunity to grow.
• Ask Questions: If you don’t understand a piece of feedback, ask for clarification. This will help you learn more and improve your skills.
• Apply the Feedback: Use the feedback you receive to make revisions and improve your writing. Over time, you’ll start to see noticeable improvements in your work.

Writing Consistency: The Key to Improvement

One of the most important aspects of developing strong writing skills is consistency. Writing regularly helps you build your skills, develop your voice, and gain confidence in your abilities.

Setting a Writing Schedule

• Daily Writing: Aim to write for at least 15-30 minutes each day. Consistent practice is more effective than occasional, longer writing sessions.
• Use Writing Prompts: If you’re struggling to find something to write about, use prompts to inspire you.
• Keep a Journal: Journaling is a great way to practice writing daily. It doesn’t have to be formal or polished—just write whatever comes to mind.

Tracking Your Progress

• Set Goals: Establish specific writing goals, such as completing a certain number of words each day or finishing a particular piece by a deadline.
• Review Your Work: Periodically review your past writing to see how you’ve improved over time. This can be a great motivator to keep practicing.
• Celebrate Milestones: Recognize and celebrate your progress, whether it’s completing your first essay or getting positive feedback from a reader.

Conclusion: 

Improving your writing skills as a beginner may seem daunting, but with the right approach, it’s entirely achievable. By understanding the fundamentals, practicing regularly, and seeking feedback, you can develop your writing skills and become a more confident and effective communicator.

Remember, writing is a journey, and every writer starts somewhere. Whether you're writing for academic purposes, professional growth, or personal fulfillment, the tips and techniques outlined in this guide will help you on your path to becoming a better writer. So grab your pen, open your laptop, and start writing today—your future self will thank you.

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Explanatory Essay: Definition, Outline, Writing Steps & Samples

An explanatory essay informs readers about a specific topic or idea. It gives clear information without trying to change anyone's mind. This article will help you create a good explanatory essay. We'll cover what it is, how to plan it, and how to write your ideas clearly.

What Is an Explanatory Essay: Definition

An explanatory thesis is the main idea of this type of writing. It's a sentence that tells the reader what the essay is about. Explanatory essays need to present facts, not opinions. They use evidence and logic to explain things.

For example, if you're writing about climate change, your explanatory thesis might say: "Climate change is influenced by both natural events and human activities, and it affects the planet's ecosystems in many ways."

How to Start an Explanatory Essay: Important Steps

Knowing how to start an explanatory essay is important to get readers interested. Here's what to do:

• Pick an interesting topic
• Conduct thorough research
• Develop a clear thesis statement
• Create an outline

When choosing a topic, think about what your readers might like and what information you can find. For instance, if you're writing about clean energy, you could focus on new ways to use sunlight for power.

After you gather information, write your thesis statement. It should be specific and give a clear roadmap for your essay. For example: "Solar technology is changing how we produce and use energy around the world, offering both environmental and economic benefits."

Explanatory Essay Outline

A great outline helps you organize your thoughts and make your essay easy to follow. Here's a basic informational essay format:

1. Introduction

• A catchy hook
• Background information
• Thesis statement (Main idea)

2. Body Paragraphs (usually 3-5 sentences)

• Topic sentence
• Facts that support your idea
• Explanation
• Transition to the next point

3. Conclusion

• Restate main idea
• Sum up the main points
• Final thoughts

This structure helps keep your essay clear. Remember, each paragraph should focus on one main point that supports your main idea.

How to Write an Explanatory Essay

Now that you know the structure, let's talk about how to write explanatory essay well.

• Introduction: Start with something interesting—a surprising fact, a question, or a short story. Give some background on your topic and end with your main idea.
• Body Paragraphs: Each paragraph should talk about one part of your topic. Use reliable sources to support your points, and explain how this information relates to your main idea. For example, when writing about solar energy, you might have paragraphs about how it helps the environment, how much it costs, and new ways to use it.
• Conclusion: How to write a conclusion for an explanatory essay: Sum up your main points and say your main idea again in a different way. Share some final thoughts about why your topic matters.

Throughout your essay, use words that help connect your ideas. This keeps readers interested and shows how your points are related.

Remember, the goal of an explanatory essay is to inform, not to argue. Stick to the facts, present them clearly, and let the information speak for itself.

Explanatory Essay Conclusion

How to write a conclusion for an explanatory essay is important to make your readers remember what you wrote. Your conclusion should:

• Restate your main idea but in a fresh way
• Go over the main points you talked about in your essay
• Give a final thought or suggest what to do next

For example, if you wrote about clean energy, you might end by stating the importance of continued research and investment in these technologies for a sustainable future.

Explanatory Essay Example

Here's a short example about artificial intelligence in healthcare:

Introduction: 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is bringing significant changes to various fields, with healthcare being a notable beneficiary. From diagnosis to treatment planning, AI is enhancing the capabilities of medical professionals and improving patient care outcomes.

Body Paragraph (example): 

One significant application of AI in healthcare is in medical imaging analysis. AI algorithms can now detect abnormalities in X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans with accuracy comparable to experienced radiologists. A 2020 study demonstrated that an AI system outperformed human experts in breast cancer detection, reducing false positives by 5.7% and false negatives by 9.4%. This technology not only improves diagnostic accuracy but also potentially reduces the workload on healthcare professionals, allowing them to focus on complex cases and patient care.

Conclusion: 

As AI technology advances, its integration into healthcare promises to enhance diagnostic accuracy, streamline treatment plans, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. While challenges remain, the potential benefits of AI in medicine underscore the importance of continued research and responsible implementation in this field.

Concluding Words

Writing a well-structured, informative, and explanatory essay requires careful planning and a clear understanding of the topic you are writing about. If you follow the tips in this guide and practice regularly, you'll get better at writing exceptional explanatory essays about any topic.

For writers looking to simplify their essay-writing process, Aithor can provide valuable assistance in organizing ideas, suggesting relevant information, and ensuring clear, coherent prose. While the core of your essay should always come from your own understanding and research, such tools can enhance your writing efficiency and effectiveness.

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Online Programs

Ap® english language and composition (intensive, ncaa approved).

• Advanced CTY-Level
• Session-Based
• Language Arts

Learn to write college-level essays, expand your vocabulary, and prepare to take the Advanced Placement® Exam in English Language and Composition during this intensive 12-week course. We’ll study a variety of nonfiction texts to understand the interplay between author’s purpose, message, and audience expectations. You’ll also write your own arguments and research-based and rhetorical analysis essays while developing your skills at analyzing diction, syntax, persuasive appeals, methods of development, and more. After each essay, you will write a reflection explaining and evaluating your writing process. You’ll receive feedback from your instructor and often from your peers, revising your work along the way. You will also practice answering multiple-choice questions similar to those on past AP® exams, and develop strong essay test-taking skills like organization and time management. Through written collaboration with classmates from around the world, you’ll explore new perspectives and develop your own ideas. This writing course has been reviewed and approved by the College Board to use the AP® designation.

Time Commitment: 6-10 hours of independent work per week.  

Course Overview

What we'll do

Over 10 course units, we will develop key reading and writing skills and apply them in activities, workshops, writing assignments, and revisions. We’ll hone our text comprehension and analysis skills with multiple-choice questions based on nonfiction passages. In addition, we’ll write 13 full essays, including three for a final practice exam that mimics a full AP exam. Through our reading and writing, we’ll explore how people communicate their ideas and feelings through language, how readers understand those ideas and feelings, and what types of communication are most effective for each situation. You will continually improve by applying instructor and classmate feedback on your own writing.

What we’ll learn

• To analyze an author’s use of diction, tone, syntax, comparisons, methods of development, figurative language, audience appeals, and formatting
• To write persuasively on a variety of topics based on given evidence and your own knowledge and experiences
• To effectively use strategies such as introducing and concluding an essay, writing strong thesis statements, seamlessly embedding quotations, qualifying arguments, rebutting counterarguments, and creating cohesion in an essay

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Explain how writers’ choices reflect the components of the rhetorical situation
• Make strategic choices in a text to address a rhetorical situation
• Identify and describe the claims and evidence of an argument
• Analyze and select evidence to develop and refine a claim
• Describe the reasoning, organization, and development of an argument
• Illuminate the line of reasoning in an argument with organization and commentary
• Explain how writers’ stylistic choices contribute to the purpose of an argument
• Select words and use elements of composition to advance an argument
• Annotate texts, narrow multiple-choice options, and outline essays to prepare for timed tests
• Communicate effectively and empathetically about topics that affect all people

How we'll measure learning

The objectives for this course align exactly with those released by the College Board for this exam, and course lessons cover all of these objectives. You will demonstrate mastery of course skills with multiple-choice quizzes in every unit and three different types of essays. All multiple-choice questions and essay prompts either appeared on a previous AP exam, or closely mimic AP style and format. In this graded course, each assignment will be assessed using a rubric aligned to AP grading standards.

This course is

Register for an Online course by selecting an open class below. If no open classes are listed, then course enrollment is currently closed. Note: You will need to have an active CTY Account to complete registration through MyCTY

This course is not open for enrollment at this time. Please check back later.

Testing and Prerequisites

Students must achieve qualifying scores on an advanced assessment to be eligible for CTY programs. If you don’t have qualifying scores, you have several different testing options. We’ll help you find the right option for your situation.

Cost and Financial Aid

Application fee.

• Nonrefundable Application Fee - $15 (Waived for financial aid applicants)
• Nonrefundable International Fee - $20 (outside US only)

Financial Aid

We have concluded our financial aid application review process for Academic Year 2023-2024 Online Programs (Courses with start dates July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024). Our application for Academic Year 2024-2025 Online Programs is expected to open in January. We encourage those who may need assistance in the future to apply for aid as early as possible.

Course Materials

Please acquire all course materials by the course start date, unless noted as perishable. Items marked as “perishable” should not be acquired until the student needs them in the course . If you have questions about these materials or difficulty locating them, please contact [email protected] .  

No textbooks are required for this course

Technical Requirements

This course requires a computer with high-speed Internet access and an up-to-date web browser such as Chrome or Firefox. You must be able to communicate with the instructor via email. Visit the Technical Requirements and Support page for more details.

This course uses a virtual classroom for instructor-student communication. The classroom works on standard computers with the Zoom desktop client , and on tablets or handhelds that support the Zoom Mobile app . Recorded meetings can only be viewed on a computer with the Zoom desktop client installed. The Zoom desktop client and Zoom Mobile App are both free to download.

Terms & Conditions

Students may interact in online classrooms and meetings that include peers, instructors, and occasional special guests.

After a you complete a course, your projects may be used to illustrate work for future students. 

You will need to create an account on a third-party site to access course resources.

About Language Arts at CTY

Enhance your skills in creative writing and critical reading, learn to craft effective sentences, and develop an analytical approach to reading and writing through our Language Arts courses. Guided by our expert instructors, you can further develop your communication skills in our interdisciplinary visual fluency courses, and explore topics in communication theory, design theory, and cognitive psychology. Through coursework and online discussions with classmates from around the world, you’ll elevate your writing structure and style, hone your craft, and become an adept wordsmith fluent in the language of literary arts. 

Write, Edit, Publish

Walk in the shoes of a writer, editor, and publisher this fall in Master Class I: Writing, Editing, and Publishing , and then collaborate with peers to create the next issue of our CTY Online student-developed literary journal, Lexophilia , in Master Class II: Writing, Editing, and Publishing , offered in the winter.

Explore Greek Myths

Newly revised for fall 2021, you'll read, discuss, and write about Greek myths in Young Readers’ Series: Greek Myths Revisited , studying exciting, heroic characters and ancient narratives that continue to teach us all valuable lessons about life, love, and family.

Meet our Language Arts Instructors

I realize that I love teaching on an almost daily basis. It comes to me in the form of a student's 'ah-ha' moment, when everything clicks and the student understands a challenging concept. I get goose bumps just thinking about it!

Yvonne Borresen

Language Arts Instructor

Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

Student Identity Is Complex. Here’s How to Honor It

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This is the latest post in a monthslong series on how we can lift up student identities in the classroom.

‘All About Me’ Books

Jessica Wood is the director of experiential marketing for EL Education with 25 years of experience as a teacher, counselor, and outdoor education enthusiast.

Kristin Hoins is a school designer and coach for EL Education with 25 years of experience as a teacher, project- and place-based curriculum designer, leadership and team coach, and dedicated organizational belonging and inclusion researcher.

Identity is who we are, who others say we are, and who we desire to be; we are constantly socially constructing our identities, redefining and revising within a fluid, multidimensional, and highly relational social and cultural ecosystem (Muhammad, 2020). Literacy practices within a curriculum that embraces and celebrates diverse student identities offer humanizing pathways for students to explore and express their unique perspectives, promoting empathy, understanding, and self-advocacy. Ensuring that students and educators have time to explore together a multitude of facets of self-hood is foundational to identity development.

Knowing oneself through ongoing inquiry prepares us to live in the world with belonging, purpose, and agency . Optimally, learning to learn, live, and love through identity-affirming experiences in school and beyond helps us live joyfully in the world, a world that may tell us negative things about who we are. School community learning experiences that prepare students to seek an understanding of our differences and engage with culturally defined power differentials help students take this inquiry stance from an early age.

EnCompass Academy, an EL Education partner school, in East Oakland, Calif., puts students’ wealth of knowledge at the center of their school experience, empowering them to cultivate their own genius while countering the negative narrative about young people in their city. With 66 percent of students being English-language learners and 76 percent identifying as Hispanic, EnCompass scholars learn that the path to a better world must “start with self, be guided by family, engage with community, and be rooted in ancestors.”

Students at EnCompass create “all about me” books called My Compass Guide , which include personal and familial research, hopes and dreams, maps of family birthplaces, and special stories about parents/caregivers and living or ancestral grandparents. Students share their unique books with their school and local community in a gathering that honors storytelling as a pathway for academic and cultural transformation. Creating and sharing these compass guides builds students’ confidence, self-awareness, and expertise in their histories, springboarding them toward futures as active citizen scholars.

At least “half of the curriculum walks in the classroom as the textbooks of (students’) lives” (Style, 2014, p. 67). The My Compass Guide schoolwide project is a great example of how a school community can connect to their students’ and families’ funds of knowledge (Moll et al., 1992) and funds of identity (Estaban-Guitart & Moll, 2014) to honor their stories and support their well-being and learning (Campano, 2007). Funds of identity are the “historically accumulated, culturally developed, and socially distributed resources that are essential for a person’s self-definition, self-expression, and self-understanding” (Estaban-Guitart & Moll, 2014, p. 31).

The wealth of knowledge and experiences accumulated by students’ ancestors and immediate family create a household body of knowledge and skills.

When these funds are actively brought forth and shared in the community, students have opportunities to integrate their multiple identity dimensions and to feel whole as a result of bringing their full selves to their learning and growing experiences. This inclusion and validation of student and family experience diversity are foundational to cultivating belonging, agency, and purpose. Rich literacy practices that include students’ identity content through storytelling help students, their families, and teachers develop a broad regard for themselves, each other, and the variability of human experience.

Arbor-Vitae Woodruff School, another EL Education partner, in Woodruff, Wis., is deeply committed to empowering each student to make a positive difference and to achieve personal greatness as demonstrated in three dimensions of student achievement: character, mastery of content and skills, and high-quality work.

With 6 percent of the student body identifying as American Indian or Alaskan Native, the foundation for this work is building an understanding of and respect for the Indigenous tribes of Wisconsin, both the native people that historically lived on the lands these students inhabit and the native people that live there today. Students build connections directly with tribe members as they learn and create together. In 2023, students celebrated Better World Day by learning to introduce themselves in Ojibwe, practicing written Ojibwe language in a community-garden project, and collaboratively creating original artwork with Ojibwe symbols. The work culminated in a schoolwide powwow and drum circle led by local Ojibwe elder Brian Jackson, Big Buck.

Historical and community-based ways of understanding are specific sets of knowledge that help shape how we see and understand the world. Arbor-Vitae Woodruff School attends to the history of their land and the native people in their Better World Day project, demonstrating their culturally responsive school leadership practices (Khalifa, 2018). The learning process was all-encompassing as students engaged in a collection of cultural and linguistic experiences that gave them windows to deeply understand the experiences and ways of knowing the Ojibwe people of their greater school community.

There are a multitude of ways of seeing and reading the world and a more expansive approach to literacy learning that socially constructs and cultivates students’ knowledge of themselves, their families, their ancestors, and community members with different identities, as well as the larger history of their community lands and people. It also gives students and teachers an ecologically “balanced sense of their place in the world” (Style, 1998). Perhaps most importantly, the incredible learning conversations that take place in these identity and relationship-prioritized learning pathways illuminate our shared humanity found in seeking an understanding of another’s experience while deepening our understanding of ourselves.

Encouraging students to tell their own stories—sharing who they are and what is important to them—supports individual identity development and cultivates the relational capacity of students and educators to sit with difference.

This support of a wide array of experiences and perspectives through storytelling is the meaning-making process and nourishment students and teachers need to develop as learners and people. Storytelling is also the antidote to many systemic cultural practices that can dissuade us from tapping our cultural collective interdependent potential.

‘Sharing Stories Is Foundational’

Becky Corr is a coordinator for the Language, Culture, and Equity Department in Colorado’s Douglas County school district and the owner of EdSpark Consulting. She develops and leads family, school, and community partnerships; professional learning, and coaching opportunities:

Classroom environments that honor student identities create spaces for belonging—for students and families alike. In the words of Brené Brown , “Teachers are the guardians of spaces that allow students to breathe and be curious and explore the world and be who they are without suffocation.” Building classroom environments that honor student identities supports deeper empathy and understanding among students as well as higher achievement and well-being.

Teachers are not alone in creating these spaces. When practitioners partner with families to create environments that honor students’ stories and identities, students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. There are many benefits for teachers as well. Teachers who have a focus on partnerships report higher levels of satisfaction with their profession because they are spending less time on behavioral challenges and the relationships they have with caregivers are positive. When educators, schools, caregivers, and the community have established positive partnerships, everyone wins.

Three big ideas lay the foundation for the strategies we’ll explore: Two-way communication, sharing parents’ stories, and honoring multilingualism. These big ideas support trust-building with students and caregivers, which is necessary for students to share their stories and what’s important to them.

Two-Way Communication

Teachers have a lot on their plates, so it’s important to focus on some high-yield, quick strategies that will pay dividends and save time in the long run. One such strategy is to ask parents to write the teacher a letter or create an audio recording. Ask parents to share about their child, their interests, and anything that’s important for the teacher to know. This video from Colorin Colorado gives an example of one parent letter and how the teacher got to know more about the child and her identity. Tools like Google Translate and the Say Hi app are helpful with all caregivers but especially those who are multilingual.

The app, Talking Points , can be used by parents and teachers to communicate in multiple languages, and it promotes two-way communication throughout the year. It can be easily used to send positive text messages to families, which is another high-yield strategy according to the Flamboyan Foundation. Communication is fundamental to building trust and these strategies can make teachers’ lives a bit easier by opening the lines of communication in positive ways.

Share Parents’ Stories

Each year, we have an English-language development celebration for our district. Our students share their talents and accomplishments, and we honor educators who are ambassadors for our multilingual families. Each year, we invite parent speakers to share their stories. This year, a parent spoke about her family’s story of fleeing Afghanistan. Another parent shared her story about the struggles of finding belonging when she immigrated from India and how educators supported her family. By partnering with our families, we have been able to shine a light on their stories and improve our practices. What opportunities might already exist in the classroom for parents to share stories?

Honor Multilingualism

Encourage students to use their full linguistic repertoire and honor multilingualism in the classroom. Being bilingual is a gift and building intentional opportunities for students to use all the languages they know supports their identities, language development, and their academic achievement. Labeling classroom objects in multiple languages and grouping students with similar languages together during a classroom discussion or project are just a couple ways to support and honor student identities and linguistic gifts.

Encourage students—even students who are learning world languages—to discuss a topic in multiple languages. As a teacher, I’ve asked students to describe a math concept in English and another language as they felt comfortable. The classroom was a flurry of explanations in Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Spanish, English, and Mandarin. Students had a new respect for each other and their gifts. The lesson was a powerful way to honor student identities and celebrate all linguistic and mathematical talents. Honoring multilingualism in the classroom honors students’ identities.

Sharing stories and partnering with caregivers is not something extra; rather, it is foundational, intentional, and transformational. Building in these practices in small but meaningful ways lays the foundation for students and families to share their stories to transform our classrooms and our schools.

Thanks to Jessica, Kristin, and Becky for contributing to today’s post.

Guests answered this question:

What are ways to encourage students to tell their own stories; to explore, write about, share about who they are and what is important to them? And how do you develop a classroom environment to ensure that student identities are supported?

In Part One , Crystal Watson, Kwame Sarfo-Mensah, Courtney Rose, and Erica Silva contributed their responses.

In Part Two , Jacquelyn Fabian, Michele Myers, and Angela M. Ward shared their answers.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email . And if you missed any of the highlights from the first 12 years of this blog, you can see a categorized list here .

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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How to build customized Power BI dashboards with user insights data in External ID

Sharon Rutto

August 27th, 2024 0 1

The user insights feature is generally available (GA) in Microsoft Entra External ID external tenants. It is accessible via Microsoft Graph APIs, which are currently in beta, or through prebuilt dashboards in the Microsoft Entra admin center. User insights dashboards provide organizations with valuable insights into user behavior and patterns within customer-facing applications. You can query and analyze user metrics such as total user count, monthly active users (MAU), daily active users (DAU), newly added users, authentications, and multifactor authentication (MFA) usage.

Custom dashboards with Microsoft Graph API

The out-of-the box dashboards in the Microsoft Entra admin center provide easy-to-digest graphs and charts but have limited customization options. Microsoft Graph APIs enable you to build powerful, customized dashboards with data tailored to your specific needs and preferences. This has some advantages:

• Flexibility: You can integrate with other data sources to present your data in a way that aligns more with your business objectives.
• Enhanced visualization: You can have richer and more interactive visual representations of your data.
• Complex query handling: You can apply advanced filters, aggregations, and calculations to your user insights data and get more granular and accurate results.

User insights APIs are summarized into daily and monthly data, offering varied insights tailored to different needs:

• Daily APIs: Monitor daily fluctuations in user activity; perfect for recognizing immediate changes, tracking sudden spikes in requests and authentications, or evaluating the impact of daily marketing campaigns and product updates.
• Monthly APIs: Gain a broader understanding of user behavior trends and retention across extended intervals, beneficial for gauging the success of long-term strategies and initiatives.

Example dashboards you can build

• Seasonal trends: Visualizing seasonal trends can help in strategic planning and forecasting. For example, heatmaps showing user activity, sign-ups, or authentications by day of the week or month, can help identify high-traffic periods. This dashboard can help identify patterns and trends in user activity, enabling more effective resource allocation.
• Anomaly detection: This dashboard can show the number and frequency of unusual or suspicious events in your applications, such as failed sign-ins, sign-ups from unknown locations, or spikes in user activity. You can use this dashboard to monitor application security, troubleshoot issues, and respond to incidents.

Build your own user insights dashboard

Let’s explore how to build a customized Power BI dashboard using user insights Microsoft Graph APIs.

Prerequisites

• External tenant – To access user insights data, you must have an external tenant. If you already have an Azure subscription, use this quickstart to create an external tenant. If not, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial here .
• Registered app(s) – User insights collects and aggregates data from your customer-facing applications. Ensure you have at least one registered app with sign-in and/or sign-up activity.
• Power BI – For the purposes of the example in this blog post, we will use Power BI to visualize the data. You can use Power BI desktop or Power BI service . Alternatively, you can choose any other analytical tool you prefer.

Setting up External ID

• Confirm you’re in your external tenant – In Microsoft admin center , go to Identity > Overview > Manage tenants . Confirm your external tenant is the current tenant you’re in.

Register an app for authorization – To securely access Microsoft Graph APIs, you need to register an app that will be used to generate access tokens for authorization. Go to Identity > Applications > App registrations to create one as outlined here .

Configure API permissions for Microsoft Graph – Add the necessary API permission Insights-UserMetric.Read.All to the registered app from step 2. Follow the instructions provided here . Keep in mind that the access token you generate will only be valid for one hour. To manage this, you can create a function in Power Query to check for token expiration and automatically refresh it.

Creating a Power BI report

Once you have successfully set up your tenant, you can now create a Power BI report using custom connectors to fetch user insights data. Here’s how you can connect Power BI to Microsoft Graph and build your report .

Transforming and visualizing data

Power BI comes with Power Query Editor that can help you clean and shape your data. You can remove unnecessary columns, handle missing values, and apply transformations such as merging, grouping, filtering, and many more.

• Transform and model your data – Once you have pulled all the data you need from the user insights APIs, transform and model your data to suit your needs. Go to Home > Transform data to use Power Query Editor.

• Visualize your data – Build engaging reports and dashboards once your data is ready for use. Power BI offers a range of visual elements to help you represent your data effectively. The example below shows a summary of user activity with daily and monthly growth trends.

Let’s recap

In this blog post, we explored how to build customized Power BI dashboards using user insights data in Microsoft Entra External ID. We went through accessing user insights data via Microsoft Graph APIs, setting up an external tenant and registered app, and using Power BI to connect to Microsoft Graph and build a report. We covered how to transform and visualize data in Power BI, enabling you to create insightful dashboards that can improve decision-making and security monitoring in customer-facing applications.

To test out other features in the Microsoft Entra portfolio, visit our developer center . Sign up for email updates on the Identity developer blog for more insights and to keep up with the latest on all things Identity, and follow us on YouTube for video overviews, tutorials, and deep dives.

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Generating Ideas for Your Paper

• Introduction

Good writing requires good ideas—intriguing concepts and analysis that are clearly and compellingly arranged. But good ideas don’t just appear like magic. All writers struggle with figuring out what they are going to say. And while there is no set formula for generating ideas for your writing, there is a wide range of established techniques that can help you get started.

This page contains information about those techniques. Here you’ll find details about specific ways to develop thoughts and foster inspiration. While many writers employ one or two of these strategies at the beginning of their writing processes in order to come up with their overall topic or argument, these techniques can also be used any time you’re trying to figure out how to effectively achieve any of your writing goals or even just when you’re not sure what to say next.

What is Invention?

Where do ideas come from? This is a high-level question worthy of a fascinating TED Talk or a Smithsonian article , but it also represents one of the primary challenges of writing. How do we figure out WHAT to write?

Even hundreds of years ago, people knew that a text begins with an idea and that locating this idea and determining how to develop it requires work. According to classical understandings of rhetoric, the first step of building an argument is invention. As Roman thinker Cicero argued, people developing arguments “ought first to find out what [they] should say” ( On Oratory and Orators 3.31). Two hundred years before Cicero, the Greek philosopher Aristotle detailed a list of more than two dozen ideas a rhetor might consider when figuring out what to say about a given topic ( On Rhetoric , 2.23). For example, Aristotle suggested that a good place to start is to define your key concepts, to think about how your topic compares to other topics, or to identify its causes and effects. (For ideas about using Aristotle’s advice to generate ideas for your own papers, check out this recommended technique .)

More recently, composition scholar Joseph Harris has identified three values important for writers just starting a project. Writers at early stages in their writing process can benefit from being: Receptive to unexpected connections You never know when something you read or need to write will remind you of that movie you watched last weekend or that anthropology theory you just heard a lecture about or that conversation you had with a member of your lab about some unexpected data you’ve encountered. Sometimes these connections will jump out at you in the moment or you’ll suddenly remember them while you’re vacuuming the living room. Harris validates the importance of “seizing hold of those ideas that do somehow come to you” (102). While you can’t count on these kinds of serendipities, be open to them when they occur. Be ready to stop and jot them down! Patient Harris supports the value of patience and “the usefulness of boredom, of letting ideas percolate” (102). It can take time and long consideration to think of something new. When possible, give yourself plenty of time so that your development of ideas is not stifled by an immediate due date. Compelled by the unknown According to Harris, “a writer often needs to start not from a moment of inspiration ( eureka! ) but from the need to work through a conceptual problem or roadblock. Indeed, I’d suggest that most academic writing begins with such questions rather than insights, with difficulties in understanding rather than moments of mastery” (102). Sometimes a very good place to begin is with what you don’t know, with the questions and curiosities that you genuinely want resolved.

In what follows, we describe ten techniques that you can select from and experiment with to help guide your invention processes. Depending on your writing preferences, context, and audience, you might find some more productive than others. Also, it might be useful to utilize various techniques for different purposes. For example, brainstorming might be great for generating a variety of possible ideas, but looped freewriting might help you develop those ideas. Think of this list as a collection of recommended possibilities to implement at your discretion. However, we think the first technique described below—“Analyzing the Assignment or Task”—is a great starting point for all writers.

Any of these strategies can be useful for generating ideas in connection to any writing assignment. Even if the paper you’re writing has a set structure (e.g., scientific reports’ IMRAD format or some philosophy assignments’ prescribed argumentative sequence), you still have to invent and organize concepts and supporting evidence within each section. Additionally, these techniques can be used at any stage in your writing process. Your ideas change and develop as you write, and sometimes when you’re in the middle of a draft or when you’re embarking on a major revision, you find yourself rethinking key elements of your paper. At these moments, it might be useful to turn to some of these invention techniques as a way to slow down and capture the ephemeral thoughts and possibilities swirling around your writing tasks. These practices can help guide you to new ideas, questions, and connections. No matter what you’re writing or where you are in the process, we encourage you to experiment with invention strategies you may not have tried before. Mix and match. Be as creative and adventurous with how you generate ideas just as you are creative and adventurous with what ideas you generate.

Some Invention Techniques

Analyzing the assignment or task.

What do I do? If you are writing a paper in response to a course instructor’s assignment, be sure to read the prompt carefully while paying particular attention to all of its requirements and expectations. It could be that the assignment is built around a primary question; if so, structure your initial thoughts around possible answers to that question. If it isn’t, use your close consideration of this assignment to recast the prompt as a question.

The following list of questions are ones that you can ask of the assignment in order to understand its focus and purpose as well as to begin developing ideas for how to effectively respond to its intensions. You may want to underline key terms and record your answers to these questions:

• When is this due?
• How long is supposed to be?
• Is the topic given to me?
• If I get to choose my topic, are there any stipulations about the kind of topic and I can choose?
• What am I expected to do with this topic? Analyze it? Report about it? Make an argument about it? Compare it to something else?
• Who is my audience and what does this audience know, believe, and value about my topic?
• What is the genre of this writing (i.e., a lab report, a case study, a research paper, a reflection, a scholarship essay, an analysis of a work of literature or a painting, a summary and analysis of a reading, a literature review, etc.), and what does writing in this genre usually look like, consist of, or do?

Why is this technique useful? Reading over the assignment prompt may sound like an obvious starting point, but it is very important that your invention strategies are informed by the expectations your readers have about your writing. For example, you might brainstorm a fascinating thesis about how Jules Verne served as a conceptual progenitor of the nuclear age, but if your assignment is asking you to describe the differences between fission and fusion and provide examples, this great idea won’t be very helpful. Before you let your ideas run free, make sure you fully understand the boundaries and possibilities provided by the assignment prompt.

Additionally, some assignments begin to do the work of invention for you. Instructors sometimes identify specifically what they want you to write about. Sometimes they invite you to choose from several guiding questions or a position to support or refute. Sometimes the genre of the text can help you identify how this kind of assignment should begin or the order your ideas should follow. Knowing this can help you develop your content. Before you start conjuring ideas from scratch, make sure you glean everything you can from the prompt.

Finally, just sitting with the assignment and thinking through its guidelines can sometimes provide inspiration for how to respond to its questions or approach its challenges.

Reading Again

What do I do? When your writing task is centered around analyzing a primary source, information you collected, or another kind of text, start by rereading it. Perhaps you are supposed to develop an argument about an interview you conducted, an article or short story you read, an archived letter you located, or even a painting you viewed or a particular set of data. In order to develop ideas about how to approach this object of analysis, read and analyze this text again. Read it closely. Be prepared to take notes about its interesting features or the questions this second encounter raises. You can find more information about rereading literature to write about it here and specific tips about reading poetry here .

Why is this technique useful? When you first read a text, you gain a general overview. You find out what is happening, why it’s happening, and what the argument is. But when you reread that same text, your attention is freed to attend to the details. Since you know where the text is heading, you can be alert to patterns and anomalies. You can see the broader significance of smaller elements. You can use your developing familiarity with this text to your advantage as you become something of a minor expert whose understanding of this object deepens with each re-read. This expertise and insight can help lead you towards original ideas about this text.

Brainstorming/Listing

What do I do? First, consider your prompt, assignment, or writing concern (see “Analyzing the Assignment or Task”). Then start jotting down or listing all possible ideas for what you might write in response. The goal is to get as many options listed as possible. You may wish to develop sub-lists or put some of your ideas into different categories, but don’t censor or edit yourself. And don’t worry about writing in full sentences. Write down absolutely everything that comes to mind—even preposterous solutions or unrealistic notions. If you’re working on a collaborative project, this might be a process that you conduct with others, something that involves everyone meeting at the same time to call out ideas and write them down so everyone can see them. You might give yourself a set amount of time to develop your lists, or you might stretch out the process across a couple of days so that you can add new ideas to your lists whenever they occur to you.

Why is this technique useful? The idea behind this strategy is to open yourself up to all possibilities because sometimes even the most seemingly off-the-wall idea has, at its core, some productive potential. And sometimes getting to that potential first involves recognizing the outlandish. There is time later in your writing process to think critically about the viability of your options as well as which possibilities effectively respond to the prompt and connect to your audience. But brainstorming or listing sets those considerations aside for a moment and invites you to open your imagination up to all options.

Freewriting

What do I do? Sit down and write about your topic without stopping for a set amount of time (i.e., 5-10 minutes). The goal is to generate a continuous, forward-moving flow of text, to track down all of your thoughts about this topic, as if you are thinking on the page. Even if all you can think is, “I don’t know what to write,” or, “Is this important?” write that down and keep on writing. Repeat the same word or phrase over again if you need to. If you’re writing about an unfamiliar topic, maybe start by writing down everything you know about it and then begin listing questions you have. Write in full sentences or in phrases, whatever helps keep your thoughts flowing. Through this process, don’t worry about errors of any kind or gaps in logic. Don’t stop to reread or revise what you wrote. Let your words follow your thought process wherever it takes you.

Why is this technique useful? The purpose of this technique is to open yourself up to the possibilities of your ideas while establishing a record of what those ideas are. Through the unhindered nature of this open process, you are freed to stumble into interesting options you might not have previously considered.

Invisible Writing

What do I do? In this variation of freewriting, you dim your computer screen so that you can’t see what you’ve written as you type out your thoughts.

Why is this technique useful? This is a particularly useful technique if while you are freewriting you just can’t keep yourself from reviewing, adjusting, or correcting your writing. This technique removes that temptation to revise by eliminating the visual element. By temporarily limiting your ability to see what you’ve written, this forward-focused method can help you keep pursuing thoughts wherever they might go.

Looped Freewriting

What do I do? This is another variation of freewriting. After an initial round of freewriting or invisible writing, go back through what you’ve written and locate one idea, phrase, or sentence that you think is really compelling. Make that the starting point for another round of timed freewriting and see where an uninterrupted stretch of writing starting from that point takes you. After this second round of freewriting, identify a particular part of this new text that stands out to you and make that the opening line for your third round of freewriting. Keep repeating this process as many times as you find productive.

Why is this technique useful? Sometimes this technique is called “mining” because through it writers are able to drill into the productive bedrock of ideas as well as unearth and discover latent possibilities. By identifying and expanding on concepts that you find particularly intriguing, this technique lets you focus your attention on what feels most generative within your freewritten text, allowing you to first narrow in and then elaborate upon those ideas.

Talking with Someone

What do I do? Find a generous and welcoming listener and talk through what you need to write and how you might go about writing it. Start by reading your assignment prompt aloud or just informally explaining what you are thinking about saying or arguing in your paper. Then be open to your listener’s reactions, curiosities, suggestions, and questions. Invite your listener to repeat in his or her own words what you’ve been saying so that you can hear how someone else is understanding your ideas. While a friend or classmate might be able to serve in this role, writing center tutors are also excellent interlocutors. If you are a currently enrolled UW-Madison student, you are welcome to make an appointment at our main writing center, stop by one of our satellite locations , or even set up a Virtual Meeting to talk with a tutor about your assignment, ideas, and possible options for further exploration.

Why is this technique useful? Sometimes it’s just useful to hear yourself talk through your ideas. Other times you can gain new insight by listening to someone else’s understanding of or interest in your assignment or topic. A genuinely curious listener can motivate you to think more deeply and to write more effectively.

Reading More

Sometimes course instructors specifically ask that you do your analysis on your own without consulting outside sources. When that is the case, skip this technique and consider implementing one of the others instead.

What do I do? Who else has written about your topic, run the kind of experiments you’ve developed, or made an argument like the one you’re interested in? What did they say about this issue? Do some internet searches for well-cited articles on this concept. Locate a book in the library stacks about this topic and then look at the books that are shelved nearby. Read where your interests lead you. Take notes about things other authors say that you find intriguing, that you have questions about, or that you disagree with. You might be able to use any of these responses to guide your developing paper. (Make sure you also record bibliographic information for any texts you want to incorporate in your paper so that you can correctly cite those authors.)

Why is this technique useful? Exploring what others have written about your topic can be a great way to help you understand this issue more fully. Through reading you can locate support for your ideas and discover arguments you want to refute. Reading about your topic can also be a way of figuring out what motivates you about this issue. Which texts do you want to read more of? Why? Capitalize on and expand upon these interests.

Visualizing Ideas

Mindmapping, clustering, or webbing.

What do I do? This technique is a form of brainstorming or listing that lets you visualize how your ideas function and relate. To make this work, you might want to locate a large space you can write on (like a whiteboard) or download software that lets you easily manipulate and group text, images, and shapes (like Coggle , FreeMind , or MindMapple ). Write down a central idea then identify associated concepts, features, or questions around that idea. If some of those thoughts need expanding, continue this map, cluster, or web in whatever direction is productive. Make lines attaching various ideas. Add and rearrange individual elements or whole subsets as necessary. Use different shapes, sizes, or colors to indicate commonalities, sequences, or relative importance.

Why is this technique useful? This technique allows you to generate ideas while thinking visually about how they function together. As you follow lines of thought, you can see which ideas can be connected, where certain pathways lead, and what the scope of your project might look like. Additionally, by drawing out a map of you may be able to see what elements of your possible paper are underdeveloped and may benefit from more focused brainstorming.

The following sample mindmap illustrates how this invention technique might be used to generate ideas for an environmental science paper about Lake Mendota, the Wisconsin lake just north of UW-Madison. The different branches and connections show how your mind might travel from one idea to the next. It’s important to note, that not all of these ideas would appear in the final draft of this eventual paper. No one is likely to write a paper about all the different nodes and possibilities represented in a mindmap. The best papers focus on a tightly defined question. But this does provide many potential places to begin and refine a paper on this topic. This mindmap was created using shapes and formatting options available through PowerPoint.

Notecarding

What do I do? This technique can be especially useful after you’ve identified a range of possibilities but aren’t sure how they might work together. On individual index cards, post-its, or scraps of paper, write out the ideas, questions, examples, and/or sources you’re interested in utilizing. Find somewhere that you can spread these out and begin organizing them in whatever way might make sense. Maybe group some of them together by subtopic or put them in a sequential order. Set some across from each other as conflicting opposites. Make the easiest organization decisions first so that the more difficult cards can be placed within an established framework. Take a picture or otherwise capture the resulting schemata. Of course, you can also do this same kind of work on a computer through software like Prezi or even on a PowerPoint slide.

Why is this technique useful? This technique furthers the mindmapping/clustering/webbing practice of grouping and visualizing your thoughts. Once ideas have been generated, notecarding invites you to think and rethink about how these ideas relate. This invention strategy allows you to see the big picture of your writing. It also invites you to consider how the details of sections and subsections might connect to each other and the surrounding ideas while giving you a sense of possible sequencing options.

The following example shows what notecarding might look like for a paper being written on the Clean Lakes Alliance—a not-for-profit organization that promotes the improvement of water quality in the bodies of water around Madison, Wisconsin. Key topics, subtopics, and possible articles were brainstormed and written on pieces of paper. These elements were then arranged to identify possible relationships and general organizational structures.

What do I do? Take the ideas, possibilities, sources, and/or examples you’ve generated and write them out in the order of what you might address first, second, third, etc. Use subpoints to subordinate certain ideas under main points. Maybe you want to identify details about what examples or supporting evidence you might use. Maybe you just want to keep your outline elements general. Do whatever is most useful to help you think through the sequence of your ideas. Remember that outlines can and should be revised as you continue to develop and refine your paper’s argument.

Why is this technique useful? This practice functions as a more linear form of notecarding. Additionally, outlines emphasize the sequence and hierarchy of ideas—your main points and subpoints. If you have settled on several key ideas, outlining can help you consider how to best guide your readers through these ideas and their supporting evidence. What do your readers need to understand first? Where might certain examples fit most naturally? These are the kinds of questions that an outline can clarify.

Asking Questions

Topoi questions.

In the introduction, we referenced the list that Aristotle developed of the more than two dozen ideas a person making an argument might use to locate the persuasive possibilities of that argument. Aristotle called these locations for argumentative potential “topoi.” Hundreds of years later, Cicero provided additional advice about the kinds of questions that provide useful fodder for developing arguments. The following list of questions is based on the topoi categories that Aristotle and Cicero recommended.

What do I do? Ask yourself any of these questions regarding your topic and write out your answers as a way of identifying and considering possible venues for exploration. Questions of definition: What is ____? How do we understand what ____ is? What is ____ comprised of?

Questions of comparison: What are other things that ____ is like? What are things that are nothing like ____?

Questions of relationship: What causes ____? What effects does ____ have? What are the consequences of ____?

Questions of circumstances: What has happened with ____ in the past? What has not happened with ____ in the past? What might possibly happen with ____ in the future? What is unlikely to happen with ____ in the future?

Questions of testimony: Who are the experts on ____ and what do they say about it? Who are people who have personal experience with ____ and what do they think about it?

If any of these questions initiates some interesting ideas, ask follow-up questions like, “Why is this the case? How do I know this? How might someone else answer this question differently?”

Why is this technique useful? The questions listed above draw from what both Aristotle and Cicero said about ways to go about inventing ideas. Questions such as these are tried-and-true methods that have guided speakers and writers towards possible arguments for thousands of years.

Journalistic Questions

What do I do? Identify your topic, then write out your answers in response to these questions:      Who are the main stakeholders or figures connected to ____?      What is ____?      Where can we find ____?  Where does this happen?      When or under what circumstances does ____ occur?      Why is ____ an issue?  Why does it occur? Why is it important?      How does ____ happen?

Why is this technique useful? This line of questioning is designed to make sure that you understand all the basic information about your topic. Traditionally, these are the kinds of questions that journalists ask about an issue that they are preparing to report about. These questions also directly relate to the Dramatistic Pentad developed by literary and rhetorical scholar Kenneth Burke. According to Burke, we can analyze anyone’s motives by considering these five parts of a situation: Act ( what ), Scene ( when and where ), Agent ( who ), Agency ( how ), and Purpose ( why ). By using these questions to identify the key elements of a topic, you may recognize what you find to be most compelling about it, what attracts your interest, and what you want to know more about.

Particle, Wave, Field Questions

One way to start generating ideas is to ask questions about what you’re studying from a variety of perspectives. This particular strategy uses particles, waves, and fields as metaphorical categories through which to develop various questions by thinking of your topic as a static entity (particle), a dynamic process (wave), and an interrelated system (field).

What do I do?

Ask yourself these questions about your issue or topic and write down your responses:

• In what ways can this issue be considered a particle, that is, a discrete thing or a static entity?
• How is this issue a wave, that is, a moving process?
• How is this issue a field, that is, a system of relationships related to other systems?

Why is this technique useful?

This way of looking at an issue was promoted by Young, Becker, and Pike in their classic text Rhetoric: Discovery and Change . The idea behind this heuristic is that anything can be considered a particle, a wave, and a field, and that by thinking of an issue in connection to each of these categories you’ll able to develop the kind of in-depth questions that experts ask about a topic. By identifying the way your topic is a thing in and of itself, an activity, and an interrelated network, you’ll be able to see what aspects of it are the most intriguing, uncertain, or conceptually rich.

The following example takes the previously considered topic—environmental concerns and Lake Mendota—and shows how this could be conceptualized as a particle, a wave, and a field as a way of generating possible writing ideas.

Particle: Consider Lake Mendota and its environmental concerns as they appear in a given moment. What are those concerns right now? What do they look like? Maybe it’s late spring and an unseasonably warm snap has caused a bunch of dead fish to wash up next to the Tenney Lock. Maybe it’s a summer weekend and no one can go swimming off the Terrace because phosphorous-boosted blue-green algae is too prevalent. Pick one, discrete environmental concern and describe it. Wave: Consider environmental concerns related to Lake Mendota as processes that have changed and will change over time. When were the invasive spiny water fleas first discovered in Lake Mendota? Where did they come from? What has been done to respond to the damage they have caused? What else could be proposed to resolve this problem. How is this (or any other environmental concern) a dynamic process? Field: Consider Lake Mendota’s environmental concerns as they relate to a range of disciplines, populations, and priorities. What recent limnology findings would be of interest to ice fishing anglers? How could the work being done on agricultural sustainability connect to the discoveries being made by chemists about the various compounds present in the water? What light could members of the Ho-Chunk nation shed on Lake Mendota’s significance? Think about how environmental and conservation concerns associated with this lake are interconnected across different community members and academic disciplines.

Moving Around

Get away from your desk and your computer screen and do whatever form of movement feels comfortable and natural for you. Get some fresh air, take a walk, go jogging, get on your bike, go for a swim, or do some yoga. There is no correct degree or intensity of movement in this process; just do what you can and what you’re most likely to enjoy. While you’re moving, you may want to zone out and give yourself a strategic break from your writing task. Or you might choose to mull your tentative ideas for your paper over in your mind. But whether you’re hoping to think of something other than your paper or you need to generate a specific idea or resolve a particular writing problem, be prepared to record quickly any ideas that come up. If bringing along paper or a small notebook and a pen is inconvenient, just texting yourself your new idea will do the trick. The objective with this technique is both to distance yourself from your writing concerns and to encourage your mind to build new connections through engaging in physical activity.

Numerous medical studies have found that aerobic exercise increases your body’s concentration of the proteins that help nerves grow in the parts of your brain where learning and higher thinking happens (Huang et al.). Similarly, from their review of the literature about how yoga benefits the brain, Desei et al. conclude that yoga boosts overall brain activity. Which is to say that moving physiologically helps you think.

Dr. Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, an associate professor of English at Belmont University and an alum of UW-Madison’s graduate program in Composition and Rhetoric Program and a former assistant director of Writing Across the Curriculum at UW-Madison, investigates the writerly benefits of walking. She provides a full treatment of how this particular form of movement can productively support writing in her book Afoot and Lighthearted: A Mindful Walking Log . In the following passage, she argues for a connection between creative processes and walking, but much of what she suggests is equally applicable to the beneficial value of other forms of movement.

A walk stimulates creativity after a ramble has concluded, when you find yourself back at your desk, before your easel, or in your studio. In 2014, Stanford University researchers Marily Opprezzo and Daniel L. Schwarz confirmed that walking increases creative ideation in real time (while the walker walkers) and shortly after (when the walker stops and sits down to create). Specifically, they found that walking led to an increase in “analogical creativity” or using analogies to develop creative relationships between things that may not immediately look connected. So when ancient Greek physician Hippocrates famously declared that walking is “the best medicine,” he seems to have had it right. When we walk, blood and oxygen circulate throughout the body’s organs and stimulate the brain. Walking’s magic is in fact threefold: it increases physical activity, boosts creativity, and brings you into the present moment.

Similarly, in her post about writing and jogging for the UW-Madison Writing Center’s blog, Literary Studies PhD student Jessie Gurd has explained:

What running allows me to do is clear my head and empty it of a grad student’s daily anxieties. Listening to music or cicadas or traffic, I can consider one thing at a time and turn it over in my mind. It’s a groove I hit after a couple of miles; I engage with the problem, question, or task I choose and roll with it until my run is over. In this physical-mental space, I sometimes feel like my own writing instructor as I tackle some stage of the writing process: brainstorming, outlining, drafting.

While Bonnie Smith Whitehouse walks as an important part of her writing process and Jessie Gurd runs to write, what intentional movement looks like for you can be adapted according to your interests, preferences, and abilities. Whether it’s strolling, jogging, doing yoga, or participating in some other form of movement, these physical activities allow you to take a purposeful break that can help you concentrate your mind and even generate new conceptual connections.

All aspects of writing require hard work. It takes work to develop organizational strategies, to sequence sentences, and to revise paragraphs. And it takes work to come up with the ideas that will fill these sentences and paragraphs in the first place. But if you feel burdened by the necessity to develop new concepts, the good news is that you’re not the first writer who’s had to begin responding to an assignment from scratch. You are backed by a vast history of other writers’ experiences, a history that has shaped a collective understanding of how to get started. So, use the experience of others to your advantage. Try a couple of these techniques and maybe even develop some other methods of your own and see what new ideas these old strategies can help you generate!

Works Cited

Aristotle. On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse . Edited and translated by George Kennedy, Oxford University Press, 1991.

Burke, Kenneth. A Grammar of Motives . University of California Press, 1969.

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. On Oratory and Orators . Edited and translated by J.S. Watson, Southern Illinois University Press, 1986.

Desai, Radhika, et al. “Effects of Yoga on Brain Waves an Structural activation: A review.” Complementary Therapies in clinical Practice ,vol, 21, no, 2, 2015, pp. 112-118.

Gurd, Jessie. “Writing Offstage.” Another Word , The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 7 October 2013, https://writing.wisc.edu/blog/writing-offstage/ . Accessed 5 July 2018.

Harris, Joseph. Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts . Utah State University Press, 2006.

Huang, T. et al. “The Effects of Physical Activity and Exercise on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Healthy Humans: A Review.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports , vol. 24, no. 1, 2013. Wiley Online Library , https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12069 .

Oppezzo, Marily, and Daniel L. Schwartz. “Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition , vol. 40, no. 4, 2014, pp. 1142-52.

Smith Whitehouse, Bonnie, email message to author, 19 June 2018.

Young, Richard E., Alton L. Becker, and Kenneth L. Pike. Rhetoric: Discovery and Change . Harcourt College Publishing, 1970.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Developing a Thesis Statement

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

Developing Your Ideas

Updated Fall 2022

Details bring our ideas to life. A conversation without details is like a blank canvas, plain and lacking color until the painter arrives. When we talk with others, the details we provide help our listeners better understand our ideas. Providing details and support for our ideas is called development. Writers who develop their ideas usually do a better job of keeping their readers' attention and gaining their trust. To develop your ideas, you'll need to know what types of development you should use with your particular audience and focus. With this information, you can then present convincing details to your readers.

A Definition of Development

Development is how writers choose to elaborate their main ideas. Typically, we associate development with details because specifics help make generalizations (the main idea, claim or thesis) more concrete.

Reasons for Developing Your Writing

Kate Kiefer, English Department Students need to be concerned with development for two main reasons:

• Details tend to be more persuasive, memorable, and engaging.
• Details show what we know. Providing details proves to your reader that you have a strong understanding of the topic you are writing about.

Things to Consider Before Developing

All readers have expectations. They assume certain details should be included within certain texts. For instance, readers would be shocked to read NFL statistics in a fashion magazine. Biology students wouldn't expect a paragraph on the artistic value of a pond in a research article about pond algae.

How you develop your ideas depends on your audience and focus. While it may seem obvious to include certain details, some forms of development work better with particular audiences. Ultimately, your details should work together to support the overall idea of your writing.

Development and Audience

Michael Palmquist, English Department

Your audience is who will read what you write. Different audiences expect certain details from texts. For instance, suppose you are writing about the representation of women in a particular novel. You will need to provide background details about the characters if your audience has not read the work. Or suppose you are writing to an organization to propose a new facility. Your audience might expect financial details, design details, or a mixture of both. Knowing who your audience is will help you determine what details to provide.

Donna Lecourt, English Department

What counts as evidence depends on the content area you are writing about. A quote from a novel is evidence. So is data from research. However, you probably wouldn’t include both types of evidence within the same piece because a literary argument has different goals than a scientific one. Whether you are sharing your personal experience or interviewing multiple people, you should always consider how your readers will receive your ideas.

Development and Focus

Kate Kiefer, English Department

The focus of your writing is the main idea you convey. Focus is what guides how you develop your ideas. For instance, perhaps your focus is proving a scientific concept incorrect through an experiment you conducted. You would then develop your report by describing what you did, your results, and how your experiment disproves the concept. Or perhaps you're writing to disagree with a philosophical concept. You would then develop your essay by presenting the concept and the reasons why you disagree with it. These reasons might be your opinions, criticisms from another philosopher, or perhaps even interviews with instructors.

Strategies for Development

You can often make a claim based on the similarity of one thing to another. You might argue, for instance, that buying a home computer is like buying a new car: before you buy it, you want to take it out for a test drive. The purchase is likely to be a major one -- you may want to get a loan. Once you take it home, it will take a little while to get used to it.

Analogies are convincing because they can make something unfamiliar or complex easier to understand. If the reader can see how something complex is like something they are familiar with, then the claim will be more effective.

In your paper, you can present an analysis of your supporting information, like quotes or statistics, in order to strengthen your writing. If your supporting information is the “what,” then your analysis is the “why.” For example, if a quote from a novel is your support, your analysis would explain (in your own words) why that quote supports your argument.

Association

Association is an effective strategy. Many companies use this strategy through celebrity endorsements. Sports drink companies hire famous athletes to be the “face” of their product so buyers will associate the drink with athletic excellence. Makeup companies will hire models to promote their products so users will associate the makeup line with incredible beauty.

Using association doesn’t necessarily mean that what you’re saying is true; for example, Drinking Powerade probably won’t turn you into an elite athlete. However, it is an effective strategy for getting people to agree that your product is the best. The same thing is true for writing: association can help you convince readers that your claim is the strongest. Just be sure your audience would respond positively to the person or people you’re associating your ideas with!

Cause/Effect

Consider this strategy if you need to show your readers why something happened or the consequences of a decision or event. For example, company executives decide to use electronic mail because employees are not communicating job tasks with one another (cause). As a result, employees not only increase work production, but they also use the mail system to advertise social events (effects).

Depending on your focus, you may need to present only the causes or only the effects of your topic.

Compare/Contrast

If you are writing about a complex topic, you might consider using a comparison or a contrast. This will help your readers understand your topic by reminding them of something they already know. For instance, email is like hand-delivered mail in that both require an address to deliver a message. However, they are different because one is delivered more quickly than the other, one may seem more personal than the other, etc. This type of strategy is similar to analogy.

Citing Authority

Trying to persuade someone using only your opinion can be challenging and ineffective. Your audience is more likely to listen to and agree with you if you use reliable, credible sources to back your claims up. This is called citing an authority. An authority figure is knowledgeable about the topic you are writing about; often, this is an expert in the field or someone who has personal experience with the topic. Two ways to cite an authority are conducting interviews and finding sources through the library.

Interviews allow you to quote information from a respected person in the field in which you are writing about. This makes your ideas more believable since someone else – someone relevant -- also agrees with what you have to say. Direct quotes can be powerful pieces of evidence in an argument, but they can take longer or be more difficult to get.

A popular way to find an authority figure to cite is using the library (online or in person) to locate books and articles on your topic. Using outside resources in your writing conveys to readers you have researched your topic. This makes your ideas more believable. If you are a student, you should have access to your university’s database. Additionally, public libraries and academic search engines, such as Google Scholar, can help you conduct research. Still stuck? Try talking to a librarian – they are extremely knowledgeable and helpful!

Make sure that the source you’re citing is relevant to what you’re writing about. Consider who wrote it, when their writing was published, where the writing was published, and how your audience might react to hearing from the source.

Finally, it is important that you give credit to those whose work you are using to improve your writing. There are several different citation styles, and one may be more appropriate than the other based on the type of writing you are doing. There are many resources that can help you understand how to implement each style, including Purdue OWL, university websites, and writing center websites. Several of these resources will be linked at the end of this document. Below is a brief overview of the three most common citation styles.

MLA stands for Modern Language Association. This citation style is typically used in the Humanities, especially Literature. This style incorporates in-text citations and a Works Cited page.

APA stands for American Psychological Association. This style is typically used in fields like psychology, education, and the sciences. This style incorporates in-text citations and a References page.

CMS stands for Chicago Manual of Style. This style is typically used in publications, as well as in cases where footnotes might be helpful. This style incorporates footnotes and a Bibliography page.

Provide your readers with a definition if they may not know what a certain term means or is referring to. This may look like explaining what a scientific term means, what a concept is, or even clarifying the specific definition of a word that may have more than one meaning.

Rhetorical Appeals

Pathos (appeal to emotions)

An appeal to emotions can make your claim(s) more effective. If your words make readers feel something, whether that be anger, joy, excitement, or concern, they will be more likely to agree with your stance.

When making an appeal to emotions, consider which emotion(s) would be most helpful for a reader to feel if you want them to agree with you. Are they more likely to be on your side if they feel excited, sad, or scared? Also, think about how you can make readers feel these emotions. Depending on the type of writing you are doing, you may want to use descriptive language, include shocking statistics, or ask thought-provoking questions.

Ethos (appeal to credibility)

Showing your readers that you are a trustworthy writer is important. Three popular ways of proving credibility are providing credentials, sharing personal experience, and citing authority. Credentials show you are qualified in a certain area. They are typically related to school (ex: degrees earned) or work (jobs you’ve held). Personal experience shows that you have a real connection to the topic you are writing about. Citing authority shows that you have done the research needed to make a strong argument.

Logos (appeal to logic)

Supporting your claims with facts will help you convince your readers that you are right. Unlike an opinion, a fact can’t be argued with! Make sure that you cite your sources when including factual evidence in your work, and make sure to include your own analysis of why those facts back up your argument.

Visual Representations

Charts, graphs, figures, and drawings help readers envision your ideas and, in some cases, better understand your data. For example, if you are trying to show that there has been a dramatic increase or decrease of something, it might be more effective to include a bar graph that shows the difference in bar sizes than if you just listed the numbers by themselves.

Be careful not to rely too heavily on visual representations; this can be overwhelming for the reader and may make it seem like you are relying more on the images than your own analysis.

Your Experiences

Using your personal experience shows your readers you have first-hand experience with your topic. In a way, you become an authority figure on the topic, too. For example, if you are writing to argue that more research should be done on a certain disease, your credibility would increase if you were able to share your own personal experience with the disease.

Consider what type of writing you are doing. Be sure that using personal experience is appropriate for your audience and subject matter. Ask yourself whether your readers will accept personal experience as evidence.

Hopkins, Haley, Stephen Reid, & Dawn Kowalski. (2022). Developing Your Ideas. Writing@CSU . Colorado State University. https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guides.cfm?guideid=27

Developing Ideas

Is your essay too short? Has the instructor asked you to "develop" or expand on points in your paper? Are you not sure what else you can say about your topic? It's possible you need to do some more research so you'll have more material to include—you can visit a research librarian to help you find more sources. More than likely, though, you need to say more about the points you're already making. But don't simply repeat or add fluffy language to reach your page count. Your instructors want to see you provide depth and analysis about your topic. This handout provides various strategies for developing your thoughts, giving you more rich material to write about.

Types of Development

• Details: Ask yourself the Five W's and How: Who? Where? What? When? Why? and How? Be specific and thorough.

Peter, an overly anxious person, sat trembling in the old decrepit gymnasium on the coldest of fall mornings, awaiting the ACT—a test he know he needed to do well on to enter college.

• Amplification: Expand a previous idea by sticking with it in subsequent sentences:

College is frustrating. It takes a lot of time and energy. However, students continue to apply.

• Appealing to Emotion: What images, ideas, events, and memories do you want to trigger in your readers' mind?

The fact remains—a student drops out of high school every 26 seconds in the U.S. ("11 Facts About High School Dropout Rates").

• Analysis: To develop your argument, reflect on the significance of quotes, facts, ideas, and broader claims you are making. Ask yourself, "What does this quote or idea or statistic really mean? Why did I include it or think it important to my point?"

The Reds' baseball home opener drew in countless spectators—a sea of red. Yet why Cincinnati? Historically, professional baseball players were quite invested in their communities, much like Cincinnati is known by its neighborhoods today.

• Citing Authority: What major authority figures (e.g. scholars, book editors, politicians, scientists) will support your argument?

The surgeon general claims...

• Analogy: Make an argument based on the similarity of one thing to another.

Applying for graduate school is like searching for a partner: it's a courtship. You need to work at it, remaining patient. Research the school online; schedule a visit, meet with a professor or student in person. You will find your match eventually.

• Qualification: Cover all your bases. Especially if you are making a new or bold argument that goes against the trend, you want to qualify what you are saying to limit your reader's interpretations (that is, so they don't take your ideas out of context).

I by no means want to suggest that all teachers lack organizational skills.

• Application: Readers often like to imagine or consider what you are saying in practice.

If an athlete were to apply Dr. X's theory to athletic training practices, she would find it quite difficult to actually perform Dr. X's theoretical ideas in a real-world context.

• Talking It Out. Sometimes you just need to "bounce ideas back and forth" with someone. Consider asking a classmate or friend if you can "talk out" your argument. You will be surprised just how helpful it can be to articulate your ideas out loud. Howe Writing Center consultants are specially trained to help with this "back and forth" of ideas—consider making an appointment to practice this strategy.
• Diagramming. Especially if you are trying to add more detail to your writing, make a list of as many descriptions, ideas, or sources (even if only books or articles you want to read at a later point). Who/What are the key figures in a debate? What are the most essential elements of your story?
• Free Writing. Without worrying about grammar or organization, "free write" about a topic for 10-15 minutes. Just write down whatever comes to mind, even if your sentences feel fragmented. Reread your writing. Pick out a sentence or idea and write about that for another 10-15 minutes. Continue reading and writing to see how far your free-flowing ideas can take you.
• Looking to Models. Look up an academic article or another piece of writing typical of your field of study or current type of project (many articles found through the library databases work well). How are other scholars/writers developing their ideas? How do they back their claims?
• Interviewing. There are of course multiple types of "sources" (e.g. books, articles, digital media, as well as people). To develop your ideas on a specific topic—especially if your research is new and cutting edge—interviewing to gain insight can glean quite productive results. Remember to get permission from anyone you interview to use their words (also remember to follow university protocol for ethical research practices).
• Researching (Internet and Library Resources). While a "Google search" is often an appropriate starting point, the library databases contain countless articles and research data you can access to give your paper authority and depth. Don't hesitate to contact a librarian or make an appointment with the Howe Writing Center for help with this strategy.

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Developing Your Ideas

Details bring our ideas to life. A conversation without details is like a blank canvas, plain and lacking color until the painter arrives. When we talk with others, the details we provide help our listeners better understand our ideas. Providing details and support for our ideas is called development.Writers who develop their ideas usually do a better job of keeping their readers' attention and gaining their readers' trust. To develop your ideas, you'll need to know what types of development you should use with your particular audience and focus. With this information, you can then present convincing details to your readers.

A Definition of Development

Development is how writers choose to elaborate their main ideas. Typically, we associate development with details because specifics help make generalizations (the main idea, claim or thesis) more concrete.

Reasons for Developing Your Writing

Kate Kiefer, English Department Students need to be concerned with development for two main reasons:

• Details tend to be more persuasive and engaging than generalities. Most readers tend to get tired of reading texts that require them to fill in the gaps. (Obviously, those texts leave more room for readers to fill in what they want to and not necessarily what the writer intended, and so general texts also tend to be less successful in communicating ideas.) Details are more memorable than generalities and keep readers' attention more fully engaged on the text.
• Details tend to show what we know. In an academic setting in our culture, grasp of details sets apart the "C" student from the "A" student. Academic survival often depends on being able to prove control of a subject matter, and that control gets communicated through effective use of detail.

Types of Development

Steve Reid, English Department We think about development as being a variety of different things. It can be a specific example from the writer's experience. It could be statistics that the writers have. It could be quotations from authorities that the writers have found. It could be first hand observations. It could be an interview.

All writing uses various devices to develop ideas. Some are more appropriate than others, depending on the writing task. As a writer, you need to know what counts as development in the discipline you are writing for. Writing about the same topic for different assignments often requires you to adjust what details you use. For example, one essay on OJ Simpson might require your personal reaction to the verdict, while another essay might require researched statistics. Often, you will combine different types of evidence to develop your writing.

Amplification

Amplifications expand previous ideas. Writers use this form of development to clarify and further explain the points they make. This helps readers gain a complete understanding of the topic being discussed. The previous three sentences are good examples of amplification. Each sentence elaborates the first idea, "Amplifications expand previous ideas."

Appeal to Emotions

An appeal to emotions can make your claim more effective in some situations. It is often used, for example, by anti-abortion groups. They use emotionally charged words to support their position on the issue. This is often quite effective and is used more and more on both sides of the abortion issue. Appeals to emotions can be used in various arguments. You can use one in an article about computers, in which you suggest that computers are the soulless creations of a godless world. You can use them in an article about kitchen utensils, in which you say the type of pots and pans you recommend would harken back the good old days of homemade soups slowly simmering on the stove, of bacon and eggs prepared with the care and concern of those who cook for the ones they love. The important thing to consider in an appeal to emotion is the type of emotion you want to arouse in your reader, the effect you want this emotion to have, and the way that you can instill the emotion into your main idea.

Cite Authority

To cite authority means to quote or use information from a respected person in the field in which you are writing. If you are writing an article on the space program, it might be useful to quote Werner Von Braun. If you are writing an article on religion, you could quote one or more theologians. If you are writing on psychology, you might want to look at books or articles written by people who are doing important work in that field.

Cite Common Assumptions

People find it easy to agree with things that "everybody knows." If you can cite commonly held assumptions to back up your claims, your reader will often be more receptive to your claims. To use a common assumption, you need to understand the background of your readers. What are their prejudices? What are their concerns? How do they differ from other groups of people? This strategy is similar to citing authority. It has limitations, and it runs the risk of backfiring if you later discover the assumption you've cited is not one your readers share. But it can be effective and, if done subtlety, can strengthen your argument considerably.

Provide your readers with a definition if you need to specify exactly what you intend by your topic. Giving a definition of your topic does not mean looking it up in a dictionary. Different words hold different meanings depending on the context in which they are used. For instance, the word "drug" to a pharmacist means prescription medicine while to law enforcement officers visiting school children, the word "drug" refers to illegal narcotics.

Qualification

If you have taken an unusual position on your topic, you might qualify your ideas. This means you will limit the number of interpretations readers may have by stating exactly what your stance includes. For example, just because I support filterware for the Internet does not mean I support government censorship.

Use Analogy

You can often make a claim based on the similarity of one thing to another. You might argue, for instance, that buying a home computer is like buying a new car: Before you buy it, you want to take it out for a test drive. The purchase is likely to be a major one -- you may want to get a loan. Once you take it home, it will take a little while to get used to it. Analogies are convincing because they can make something unfamiliar or complex easier to understand. If the reader can see how something is like something they are familiar with, then the claim is likely to be more effective.

Use Analysis

In your paper, you can present an analysis of the data you've assembled to support your claims. The analysis itself becomes an important claim in your paper -- in a sense, you put yourself in the position of being an expert. If your analysis is sound, it is likely to be convincing.

Use Association

Association is an effective strategy. General Mills uses it all the time for Wheaties cereal. By placing a famous athlete on the box, they associate Wheaties with excellence. The message is, if you want to be like the famous athlete on our cereal box, you should eat our cereal. You can use association in a number of ways. If you are arguing that one type of aspirin is better than another, you can say that four out of five doctors recommend the type you like. If you are arguing that one type of literary analysis is better than another, you can say that an authority in the field uses your method. You have to understand that association doesn't necessarily mean what you say is true, simply that someone else endorses or uses it. Association can also be a dangerous strategy. If you are associating your main idea with a controversial figure, you may find that you convince some people, while you turn others off. Picking the people you associate your main idea with is extremely important.

How Audience and Focus Affect Development

All readers have expectations. They assume certain details should be included within certain texts. For instance, readers would be shocked to read NFL statistics in Vogue magazine. Biology students wouldn't expect a paragraph on the artistic value of a pond in an article discussing pond algae.

How you develop your ideas depends on your audience and focus. While it may seem obvious to include certain details, some forms of development work better with particular audiences. Further, your details should work together to support the overall idea of your writing.

Development and Audience

Michael Palmquist, English Department Most writers want their readers to understand what they write. Unfortunately, many writers present their ideas so poorly that readers sometimes feel as if they had walked in on the middle of a conversation. In a sense, the writer has abandoned readers--leaving them to figure out what the writer intends through hints and inferences.

Your audience is who will read what you write. Different audiences expect particular details from texts. For instance, suppose you are writing about the representation of women in a particular novel. You will need to provide background details about the characters if your audience has not read the work. Or, suppose you are writing to an organization to propose a new facility. Your audience might expect financial details, design details, or a mixture of both. Knowing who your audience is will help you determine what details to provide.

Development and Focus

Kate Kiefer, English Department Development and focus go hand in hand. Writers find it extremely difficult to include lots of specific detail if they haven't focused narrowly, mainly because it's hard to move a reader quickly from a very wide view to a very detailed support. Having established a narrow focus, however, writers need to provide detailed support for that focus, and so these are the skills most college writing assignments stress.

The focus of your writing is the main idea you convey. Focus is what guides how you develop your ideas. For instance, perhaps your focus is proving a scientific concept incorrect through an experiment you conducted. You would then develop your report by describing what you did, your results, and how your experiment disproves the concept. Or, perhaps you're writing to disagree with a philosophical concept. You would then develop your essay by presenting the concept and the reasons why you disagree with it. These reasons might be your opinions, criticisms from another philosopher, or perhaps even interviews with instructors.

Strategies for Developing Your Ideas

Donna Lecourt, English Department What counts as evidence is disciplinary specific. A quote from a novel is evidence, is development. A research study is evidence. Observational research is evidence. So, yes, we always develop our arguments, but the ways in which we develop in various disciplines are going to be radically different.

Developing your ideas requires fine tuning. Whether you are reciting your personal experience or interviewing multiple people, you should always consider how your readers will receive your ideas.

Cause/Effect

Consider this strategy if you need to show your readers why something happened or the consequences of a decision or event. For example, company executives decide to use electronic mail because employees are not communicating job tasks with one another (cause). As a result, employees not only increase work production, but they also use the mail system to advertise social events (effects). Depending on your focus, you may need to present only the causes or only the effects of your topic.

Compare/Contrast

If you are writing about a complex topic, you might consider using a comparison or a contrast. This will help your readers understand your topic by reminding them of something they already know. For instance, electronic mail is similar to hand delivered mail in that both require an address to deliver a message. However, they are different because one is delivered more quickly than the other, one may seem more personal than the other, etc. This type of strategy is also known as an analogy.

Interviews allow you to quote information from a respected person in the field in which you are writing. This makes your ideas more believable since someone else also agrees with what you have to say. This strategy is also known as citing an authority.

Use the library to locate books and articles on your topic. Using outside resources in your writing conveys to readers you have researched your topic. This makes your ideas more believable. This strategy is also known as citing authority.

Visual Representations

Consider using visual representations if you need to depict data to your readers. Charts, graphs, figures, and drawings help readers envision your ideas. For example, with readers who have never used electronic mail, you might draw a picture of what the screen actually looks like. This type of strategy is also known as analysis. You become an expert on your topic. Be careful not to bombard your readers with too many visual representations.

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web offers many resources about every topic. By surfing the Web, you can find organizations, archives, and many other types of documentation. Be critical of the sources you locate on the Web. Since anyone, anywhere can create their own Web pages, make sure you quote from reliable sources.

Your Experiences

Using your personal experience shows your readers you have first hand experience with your topic. For instance, recipients often misread emotions in electronic mail. One time, I sent a sarcastic message to a friend who took me seriously and then refused to talk to me for two months. Consider the circumstances in which you are writing. Be sure that using personal experience is appropriate for your audience and subject matter. Ask yourself whether or not your readers will accept personal experiences as evidence.

Citation Information

Stephen Reid and Dawn Kowalski. (1994-2024). Developing Your Ideas. The WAC Clearinghouse. Colorado State University. Available at https://wac.colostate.edu/repository/writing/guides/.

Copyright Information

Copyright © 1994-2024 Colorado State University and/or this site's authors, developers, and contributors . Some material displayed on this site is used with permission.

The Writing Process

Making expository writing less stressful, more efficient, and more enlightening, search form, step 1: generate ideas.

“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” —Albert Einstein

In expository writing, though, even for a research paper, you will want to "generate ideas" first. Why? First, you will want to see what you already know and think about a subject. Second, you will want to see what ideas you can come up with yourself. And third, the methods below will help you define what questions you want to start your research with.

Moreover, freewriting is often useful to non-native speakers of English who still struggle with fluency (i.e., writing quickly or relatively easily, in contrast to accuracy, which an overriding concern for at this stage of the writing process can inhibit the flow of words and ideas).

There are four primary methods of generating ideas:

• Brainstorming
• Freewriting
• Idea Map/Web
• "Moodling "

Photo "Büro im Wasser" from Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-08112 / CC-BY-SA. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 de via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo "Ideas" ©2014 Rafal Knop

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• How to write an essay outline | Guidelines & examples

How to Write an Essay Outline | Guidelines & Examples

Published on August 14, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An essay outline is a way of planning the structure of your essay before you start writing. It involves writing quick summary sentences or phrases for every point you will cover in each paragraph , giving you a picture of how your argument will unfold.

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Table of contents

Organizing your material, presentation of the outline, examples of essay outlines, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay outlines.

At the stage where you’re writing an essay outline, your ideas are probably still not fully formed. You should know your topic  and have already done some preliminary research to find relevant sources , but now you need to shape your ideas into a structured argument.

Creating categories

Look over any information, quotes and ideas you’ve noted down from your research and consider the central point you want to make in the essay—this will be the basis of your thesis statement . Once you have an idea of your overall argument, you can begin to organize your material in a way that serves that argument.

Try to arrange your material into categories related to different aspects of your argument. If you’re writing about a literary text, you might group your ideas into themes; in a history essay, it might be several key trends or turning points from the period you’re discussing.

Three main themes or subjects is a common structure for essays. Depending on the length of the essay, you could split the themes into three body paragraphs, or three longer sections with several paragraphs covering each theme.

As you create the outline, look critically at your categories and points: Are any of them irrelevant or redundant? Make sure every topic you cover is clearly related to your thesis statement.

Order of information

When you have your material organized into several categories, consider what order they should appear in.

Your essay will always begin and end with an introduction and conclusion , but the organization of the body is up to you.

Consider these questions to order your material:

• Is there an obvious starting point for your argument?
• Is there one subject that provides an easy transition into another?
• Do some points need to be set up by discussing other points first?

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Within each paragraph, you’ll discuss a single idea related to your overall topic or argument, using several points of evidence or analysis to do so.

In your outline, you present these points as a few short numbered sentences or phrases.They can be split into sub-points when more detail is needed.

The template below shows how you might structure an outline for a five-paragraph essay.

• Thesis statement
• First piece of evidence
• Second piece of evidence
• Summary/synthesis
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement

You can choose whether to write your outline in full sentences or short phrases. Be consistent in your choice; don’t randomly write some points as full sentences and others as short phrases.

Examples of outlines for different types of essays are presented below: an argumentative, expository, and literary analysis essay.

Argumentative essay outline

This outline is for a short argumentative essay evaluating the internet’s impact on education. It uses short phrases to summarize each point.

Its body is split into three paragraphs, each presenting arguments about a different aspect of the internet’s effects on education.

• Importance of the internet
• Concerns about internet use
• Thesis statement: Internet use a net positive
• Data exploring this effect
• Analysis indicating it is overstated
• Students’ reading levels over time
• Why this data is questionable
• Video media
• Interactive media
• Speed and simplicity of online research
• Questions about reliability (transitioning into next topic)
• Evidence indicating its ubiquity
• Claims that it discourages engagement with academic writing
• Evidence that Wikipedia warns students not to cite it
• Argument that it introduces students to citation
• Summary of key points
• Value of digital education for students
• Need for optimism to embrace advantages of the internet

Expository essay outline

This is the outline for an expository essay describing how the invention of the printing press affected life and politics in Europe.

The paragraphs are still summarized in short phrases here, but individual points are described with full sentences.

• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages.
• Provide background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press.
• Present the thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation.
• Discuss the very high levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe.
• Describe how literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites.
• Indicate how this discouraged political and religious change.
• Describe the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg.
• Show the implications of the new technology for book production.
• Describe the rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible.
• Link to the Reformation.
• Discuss the trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention.
• Describe Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation.
• Sketch out the large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics.
• Summarize the history described.
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period.

Literary analysis essay outline

The literary analysis essay outlined below discusses the role of theater in Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park .

The body of the essay is divided into three different themes, each of which is explored through examples from the book.

• Describe the theatricality of Austen’s works
• Outline the role theater plays in Mansfield Park
• Introduce the research question : How does Austen use theater to express the characters’ morality in Mansfield Park ?
• Discuss Austen’s depiction of the performance at the end of the first volume
• Discuss how Sir Bertram reacts to the acting scheme
• Introduce Austen’s use of stage direction–like details during dialogue
• Explore how these are deployed to show the characters’ self-absorption
• Discuss Austen’s description of Maria and Julia’s relationship as polite but affectionless
• Compare Mrs. Norris’s self-conceit as charitable despite her idleness
• Summarize the three themes: The acting scheme, stage directions, and the performance of morals
• Answer the research question
• Indicate areas for further study

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

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• Choosing Essay Topic
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• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

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You will sometimes be asked to hand in an essay outline before you start writing your essay . Your supervisor wants to see that you have a clear idea of your structure so that writing will go smoothly.

Even when you do not have to hand it in, writing an essay outline is an important part of the writing process . It’s a good idea to write one (as informally as you like) to clarify your structure for yourself whenever you are working on an essay.

If you have to hand in your essay outline , you may be given specific guidelines stating whether you have to use full sentences. If you’re not sure, ask your supervisor.

When writing an essay outline for yourself, the choice is yours. Some students find it helpful to write out their ideas in full sentences, while others prefer to summarize them in short phrases.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

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A (Very) Simple Way to Improve Your Writing

• Mark Rennella

It’s called the “one-idea rule” — and any level of writer can use it.

The “one idea” rule is a simple concept that can help you sharpen your writing, persuade others by presenting your argument in a clear, concise, and engaging way. What exactly does the rule say?

• Every component of a successful piece of writing should express only one idea.
• In persuasive writing, your “one idea” is often the argument or belief you are presenting to the reader. Once you identify what that argument is, the “one-idea rule” can help you develop, revise, and connect the various components of your writing.
• For instance, let’s say you’re writing an essay. There are three components you will be working with throughout your piece: the title, the paragraphs, and the sentences.
• Each of these parts should be dedicated to just one idea. The ideas are not identical, of course, but they’re all related. If done correctly, the smaller ideas (in sentences) all build (in paragraphs) to support the main point (suggested in the title).

Most advice about writing looks like a long laundry list of “do’s and don’ts.” These lists can be helpful from time to time, but they’re hard to remember … and, therefore, hard to depend on when you’re having trouble putting your thoughts to paper. During my time in academia, teaching composition at the undergraduate and graduate levels, I saw many people struggle with this.

• MR Mark Rennella is Associate Editor at HBP and has published two books, Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders and The Boston Cosmopolitans .  

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A clear, arguable thesis will tell your readers where you are going to end up, but it can also help you figure out how to get them there. Put your thesis at the top of a blank page and then make a list of the points you will need to make to argue that thesis effectively.

For example, consider this example from the thesis handout : While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake”(54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well”(51) is less convincing.

To argue this thesis, the author needs to do the following:

• Show what is persuasive about Sandel’s claims about the problems with striving for perfection.
• Show what is not convincing about Sandel’s claim that we can clearly distinguish between medically necessary enhancements and other enhancements.

Once you have broken down your thesis into main claims, you can then think about what sub-claims you will need to make in order to support each of those main claims. That step might look like this:

• Evidence that Sandel provides to support this claim
• Discussion of why this evidence is convincing even in light of potential counterarguments
• Discussion of cases when medically necessary enhancement and non-medical enhancement cannot be easily distinguished
• Analysis of what those cases mean for Sandel’s argument
• Consideration of counterarguments (what Sandel might say in response to this section of your argument)

Each argument you will make in an essay will be different, but this strategy will often be a useful first step in figuring out the path of your argument.  

Strategy #2: Use subheadings, even if you remove them later  

Scientific papers generally include standard subheadings to delineate different sections of the paper, including “introduction,” “methods,” and “discussion.” Even when you are not required to use subheadings, it can be helpful to put them into an early draft to help you see what you’ve written and to begin to think about how your ideas fit together. You can do this by typing subheadings above the sections of your draft.

If you’re having trouble figuring out how your ideas fit together, try beginning with informal subheadings like these:

• Introduction  
• Explain the author’s main point  
• Show why this main point doesn’t hold up when we consider this other example  
• Explain the implications of what I’ve shown for our understanding of the author  
• Show how that changes our understanding of the topic

For longer papers, you may decide to include subheadings to guide your reader through your argument. In those cases, you would need to revise your informal subheadings to be more useful for your readers. For example, if you have initially written in something like “explain the author’s main point,” your final subheading might be something like “Sandel’s main argument” or “Sandel’s opposition to genetic enhancement.” In other cases, once you have the key pieces of your argument in place, you will be able to remove the subheadings.  

Strategy #3: Create a reverse outline from your draft  

While you may have learned to outline a paper before writing a draft, this step is often difficult because our ideas develop as we write. In some cases, it can be more helpful to write a draft in which you get all of your ideas out and then do a “reverse outline” of what you’ve already written. This doesn’t have to be formal; you can just make a list of the point in each paragraph of your draft and then ask these questions:

• Are those points in an order that makes sense to you?  
• Are there gaps in your argument?  
• Do the topic sentences of the paragraphs clearly state these main points?  
• Do you have more than one paragraph that focuses on the same point? If so, do you need both paragraphs?  
• Do you have some paragraphs that include too many points? If so, would it make more sense to split them up?  
• Do you make points near the end of the draft that would be more effective earlier in your paper?  
• Are there points missing from this draft?  
• picture_as_pdf Tips for Organizing Your Essay

13 Ways to Quickly Improve Your Academic Essay Writing Skills

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Written by  Scribendi

Anyone can learn to produce an academic essay if they begin with a few basic essay-writing rules. 

An academic essay must be based upon a solid but debatable thesis, supported by relevant and credible evidence, and closed with a succinct and thorough conclusion.

By adhering to the best way to write an essay, you can create valuable, persuasive papers even when you're under a time crunch!

What Makes a Good Essay?

As previously noted, the foundation of any good academic essay is its thesis statement. 

Do not confuse your thesis with your opening sentence. There are many good ways to start an essay , but few essays immediately present their main ideas.

After you draft your thesis, you can begin to develop your essay around it. This development will include the main supporting points of your essay, which will scaffold its main body. 

Essays also typically include a relevant and compelling introduction and conclusion.

Learn How to Write a Great Thesis Statement .

Understanding How to Write a Good Essay

When writing an academic essay, you must take a number of qualities and characteristics into careful consideration. Focus, development, unity, coherence, and correctness all play critical roles when it comes to distinguishing an exceptional essay from one that is less than perfect.

The following essay-writing tips can help writers organize, format, and support their essays in ways that fit their intended purpose and optimize their overall persuasiveness. Here are 13 essay tips for developing and writing your next academic paper.

1. Know What You Are Going to Write About Before You Start Writing

While untrained writers might just sit down and start typing, educated and experienced writers know that there are many steps to writing an essay.

In short, you should know what you want to say before you type a single word. The easiest way to narrow down a thesis and create a proper argument is to make a basic outline before you begin composing your essay.

Your outline should consist of rough notes that sketch out your introduction (including your thesis), the body of your essay (which should include separate paragraphs that present your main supporting points with plenty of evidence and examples), and your conclusion (which ties everything together and connects the argument back to your thesis).

2. Acquire a Solid Understanding of Basic Grammar, Punctuation, and Style

Before getting into more refined essay-writing techniques, you must have a solid grasp of grammar, punctuation, and style. Without these writing fundamentals, it will be difficult to communicate your ideas effectively and ensure that they are taken seriously.

Grammar basics include subject and verb agreement, correct article and pronoun use, and well-formed sentence structures. Make sure you know the proper uses for the most common forms of punctuation. Be mindful of your comma usage and know when a period is needed.

Finally, voice is tremendously important in academic essay writing. Employ language that is as concise as possible. Avoid transition words that don't add anything to the sentence and unnecessary wordiness that detracts from your argument.

Furthermore, use the active voice instead of the passive whenever possible (e.g., "this study found" instead of "it was found by this study"). This will make your essay's tone clear and direct.

3. Use the Right Vocabulary and Know What the Words You Are Using Actually Mean

How you use language is important, especially in academic essay writing. When writing an academic essay, remember that you are persuading others that you are an expert who argues intelligently about your topic.

Using big words just to sound smart often results in the opposite effect—it is easy to detect when someone is overcompensating in their writing.

If you aren't sure of the exact meaning of a word, you risk using it incorrectly. There's no shame in checking, and it might save you from an embarrassing word misuse later!

Using obscure language can also detract from the clarity of your argument—you should consider this before pulling out a thesaurus to change a perfectly appropriate word to something completely different.

4. Understand the Argument and Critically Analyze the Evidence

While writing a good essay, your main argument should always be at the front of your mind. While it's tempting to go off on a tangent about an interesting side note, doing so makes your writing less concise.

Always question the evidence you include in your essay; ask yourself, "Does this directly support my thesis?" If the answer is "no," then that evidence should probably be excluded. 

When you are evaluating evidence, be critical and thorough. You want to use the strongest research to back up your thesis. It is not enough to simply present evidence in support of an argument. A good writer must also explain why the evidence is relevant and supportive.

Everything you include should clearly connect to your topic and argument.   

5. Know How to Write a Conclusion That Supports Your Research

One of the most overlooked steps to writing an essay is the conclusion. Your conclusion ties all your research together and proves your thesis. It should not be a restatement of your introduction or a copy-and-paste of your thesis.

A strong conclusion briefly outlines the key evidence discussed in the body of an essay and directly ties it to the thesis to show how the evidence proves or disproves the main argument of your research.

Countless great essays have been written only to be derailed by vague, weakly worded conclusions. Don't let your next essay become one of those.     

6. Build a Solid Thesis to Support Your Arguments

A thesis is the main pillar of an essay. By selecting a specific thesis, you'll be able to develop arguments to support your central opinion. Consider writing about a unique experience or your own particular view of a topic .

Your thesis should be clear and logical, but it should also be debatable. Otherwise, it might be difficult to support it with compelling arguments.

7. Develop an Interesting Opening Paragraph to Hook In Readers from the Get-Go

No matter how you begin your essay, you must strive to capture the reader's interest immediately. If your opening paragraph doesn't catch the eye and engage the brain, any attempt at persuasion may end before the essay even starts. 

The beginning of your essay is crucial for setting the stage for your thesis.

8. Always Remember to Edit and Proofread Your Essay

Any decent writer will tell you that writing is really rewriting. A good academic essay will inevitably go through multiple drafts as it slowly takes shape. When you arrive at a final draft, you must make sure that it is as close to perfect as possible.

This means subjecting your essay to close and comprehensive editing and proofreading processes. In other words, you must read your paper as many times as necessary to eliminate all grammar/punctuation mistakes and typos.

It is helpful to have a third party review your work. Consider consulting a peer or professional editing service. Keep in mind that professional editors are able to help you identify underdeveloped arguments and unnecessarily wordy language, and provide other feedback.

Get Critical Feedback on Your Writing

Hire an expert academic editor , or get a free sample, 9. when developing your essay's main body, build strong and relevant arguments.

Every sentence in the main body of your paper should explain and support your thesis. When deciding how much evidence to include in an academic essay, a good guideline is to include at least three main supporting arguments.

Those main supporting arguments, in turn, require support in the form of relevant facts, figures, examples, analogies, and observations. 

You will need to engage in appropriate research to accomplish this. To organize your research efforts, you may want to develop a list of good research questions . 

10. Choose the Format of Your Essay before Writing It

The final shape that your essay takes depends a great deal on what kind of format you use. Popular college essay format types include the Modern Language Association of America ( MLA ), American Psychological Association ( APA ), and Chicago Manual of Style ( Chicago style).

These formats govern everything from capitalization rules to source citation. Often, professors dictate a specific format for your essay. If they do not, you should choose the format that best suits your field.

11. Create Clear Transitions between Your Ideas

Although unnecessary transition words are the enemy of clarity and concision, they can be invaluable tools when it comes to separating and connecting the different sections of your essay. 

Not only do they help you express your ideas but they also bring a cohesive structure to your sentences and a pleasant flow to your writing. Just be sure that you are using the right transition words for the right purpose and to the proper effect.

12. Always Include an Organized Reference Page at the End of Your Essay

As a key component of MLA, APA, and Chicago Style formatting, the reference or Works Cited page is an essential part of any academic essay.

Regardless of the format used, the reference page must be well organized and easy to read so that your audience can see exactly where your outside information came from. 

To produce a properly formatted reference page, you may have to familiarize yourself with specialized phrases and abbreviations, such as " et al ." 

13. Use Inclusive Language

Incorporating inclusive language in your academic writing ensures that your work is respectful and accessible to all readers. Use gender-neutral pronouns like "they/them" and replace gender-specific terms with inclusive alternatives, such as "firefighter" instead of "fireman." 

You can also respect cultural diversity by avoiding stereotypes and generalizations, specifying details like "Japanese, Thai, and Indian cuisine" rather than "Asian cuisine." Engaging with diverse audiences for feedback and staying updated on inclusive language practices will help you continuously improve your writing.

How to Write a Good Hook for an Essay

The key to a good hook is to introduce an unexplored or absorbing line of inquiry in your introduction that addresses the main point of your thesis. 

By carefully choosing your language and slowly revealing details, you can build reader anticipation for what follows. 

Much like an actual worm-baited fishing hook, a successful hook will lure and capture readers, allowing the writer to "reel them in."

How to Get Better at Writing Essays

You can get better at writing essays the same way that you improve at anything else: practice, practice, practice! However, there are a few ways that you can improve your writing quickly so you can turn in a quality academic essay on time.

In addition to following the 13 essay tips and guidelines above, you can familiarize yourself with a few common practices and structures for essay development. 

Great writing techniques for essays include brainstorming and tree diagrams, especially when coming up with a topic for your thesis statement. Becoming familiar with different structures for organizing your essay (order of importance, chronological, etc.) is also extremely helpful.

How to Write a Good Introduction for an Essay

To learn how to write a good essay, you must also learn how to write a good introduction. 

Most effective essay introductions begin with relatively broad and general subject matter and then gradually narrow in focus and scope until they arrive at something extremely specific: the thesis. This is why writers tend to place their thesis statements at the very end of their introductory paragraph(s).

Because they are generally broad and often relate only tangentially to an essay's main point, there is virtually no limit on what the beginning of a good introduction can look like. However, writers still tend to rely on somewhat cliché opening sentences, such as quotations and rhetorical questions.

How to Write a Good Conclusion for an Essay

Briefly put, a good conclusion does two things. It wraps up any loose ends and drives home the main point of your essay. 

To learn how to write a good conclusion, you will want to ensure that no unanswered questions remain in the reader's mind. A good conclusion will restate the thesis and reinforce the essay's main supporting points.

Take Your Essay from Good to Great

About the author.

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing turn into a great one after the editing process. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained nearly 20 degrees collectively. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

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"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

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Essay writing

• Planning and structuring your essay
• Writing your essay
• Introduction

Good style for academic writing

Integrating evidence and your own ideas, critical analysis, editing and proofreading, useful links for writing essays.

• Study Advice Helping students to achieve study success with guides, video tutorials, seminars and appointments.
• Academic writing LibGuide Expert guidance on punctuation, grammar, writing style and proof-reading.
• Guide to citing references Includes guidance on why, when and how to use references correctly in your academic writing.
• Reading and notemaking LibGuide Expert guidance on managing your reading and making effective notes.
• Academic Phrasebank Use this site for examples of linking phrases and ways to refer to sources.
• Ten stages of assignment success (Prezi) Based upon Burns and Sinfield, Essential Study Skills.
• Critical Thinking A short video on Critical Thinking that the BBC have prepared in partnership with The Open University

If you want your essay to get the best marks, you need to make sure everything is right: the way it's written, the use of evidence, and the critical analysis. You will also need to redraft and edit your work, and to make sure there are no minor errors that might make it look as though you have been careless. This page will help you to make sure that your essay gets the mark it deserves.

• clichés ("the flaws in this argument stand out like a sore thumb")
• contractions ("don't", "aren't", "it's")
• phrases that sound like speech ("well, this bit is really fascinating")
• subjective descriptions ("this beautiful sculpture")

Be cautious about using the first person "I". It should be used where the alternative would be inappropriate (e.g. when writing up your own experience or professional case study). In other cases, you might choose to use the third person, for example "It can be argued" instead of "I would argue". It's worth checking with your marker how they feel about you using the first person - for instance, it may be more appropriate in a humanities essay than a science one.

Use plain language - you don't have to search for a more "academic-sounding" word when a simple one will do. Markers are looking for clear and accurate expression of ideas, not jargon or confusing language. Shorter sentences are usually clearer than long complex ones, but make sure it is a whole sentence and not just a clause or phrase.

• Clear communication and proof reading (video) Watch this brief video tutorial for more on the topic.
• Clear communication and proof reading (transcript) Read the transcript.
• Academic Phrasebank Example phrases for academic writing.

Important: every time you use an idea which you got from your reading, you MUST include a reference to where you found the material. This is the case whether you quote directly, or write it in your own words.

For each point that you make in your essay, you need to support it with evidence. There are many different kinds of evidence, and the type you use will depend on what is suitable for your subject and what the essay question is asking you to do.

For example, you might back up a point using a theory (one kind of evidence) then show how this theory applies to a specific example in real life (another kind of evidence).

As you get more experienced with essay writing, you will want to adapt this model to suit the structure and shape of your ideas.

• Targeted reading and use of evidence (video) Watch this brief video tutorial for more on the topic.
• Targeted reading and use of evidence (transcript) Read the transcript.

It is not a mysterious skill that is only available to advanced students; it is something we do everyday when assessing the information around us and making reasoned decisions: for example, whether to believe claims made in TV adverts or by politicians. Nor does it always mean disagreeing with something; you also need to be able to explain why you agree with arguments.

Critical analysis involves:

• Carefully considering an idea and weighing up the evidence supporting it to see if it is convincing.
• Then being able to explain why you find the evidence convincing or unconvincing.

It helps if you ask yourself a series of questions about the material you are reading. Try using these questions to help you think critically:

• Who is the author and what is their viewpoint or bias?
• Who is the audience and how does that influence the way information is presented?
• What is the main message of the text?
• What evidence has been used to support this main message?
• Is the evidence convincing; are there any counter-arguments?
• Do I agree with the text and why do I agree or disagree?

Some ways to get more critical analysis into your essays include:

Avoid unnecessary description – only include general background details and history when they add to your argument, e.g. to show a crucial cause and effect. Practice distinguishing between description (telling what happened) and analysis (judging why something happened). It can help to highlight each in a different colour to see what the balance looks like.

Interpret your evidence – explain how and why your evidence supports your point. Interpretation is an important part of critical analysis, and you should not just rely on the evidence 'speaking for itself'.

Be specific - avoid making sweeping generalisations or points that are difficult to support with specific evidence. It is better to be more measured and tie your argument to precise examples or case studies.

Use counter-arguments to your advantage – if you find viewpoints that go against your own argument, don't ignore them. It strengthens an argument to include an opposing viewpoint and explain why it is not as convincing as your own line of reasoning.

• Critical Analysis: Thinking, Reading, and Writing This guide is designed to provide a conceptual overview of critical analysis, along with related concepts like evaluation, and then to give more practical guidance on how to introduce more critical thinking into your studies.

Editing includes checking whether all your points are in the right order and that they are all relevant to the question.

Be ruthless at this stage – if the information isn't directly answering the question, cut it out! You will get many more marks for showing you can answer the question in a controlled and focused way than you will for an unordered list of everything you know about a topic.

Put yourself in the reader's position – can they follow the points you are making clearly? You know what you are trying to say, but will your reader? Are there gaps in your reasoning to be explained or filled? Have you provided signposts to show where your argument is going next, and where it's been?

Proofreading

Identifying your own mistakes and correcting them is an important part of academic writing: this is what you do when you proofread.

Ideally leave a day between finishing your essay and proofreading it. You won't be so close to your work, so you will see your errors more easily.

Try reading your essay aloud, as this will slow you down, make you focus on each word, and show you when your sentences are too long.

If you often get comments on your sentences, try working on one paragraph at a time, and putting each sentence on a new line. This will make it much easier to spot common errors, for instance, sentences which depend on another sentence for their meaning, or are missing parts. Once you've checked it, you can join all the sentences back up in the paragraph again and move on to the next.

While you're proof-reading, also check that all your references are complete, accurate and consistently formatted.

• << Previous: Writing your essay
• Last Updated: Jul 23, 2024 2:41 PM
• URL: https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/essays

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

36 Writing the Essay Body: Supporting Your Ideas

Whether the drafting of a paragraph begins with a main idea or whether that idea surfaces in the revision process, once you have that main idea, you’ll want to make sure that the idea has enough support. The job of the paragraph body is to develop and support the topic. Here’s one way that you might think about it:

• Topic sentence : what is the main claim of your paragraph; what is the most important idea that you want your readers to take away from this paragraph?
• Support in the form of evidence : how can you prove that your claim or idea is true (or important, or noteworthy, or relevant)?
• Support in the form of analysis or evaluation : what discussion can you provide that helps your readers see the connection between the evidence and your claim?
• Transition : how can you help your readers move from the idea you’re currently discussing to the next idea presented? For more specific discussion about transitions, see the following section on “ Transitions .”

For more on methods of development that can help you to develop and organize your ideas within paragraphs, see “ Patterns of Organization and Methods of Development ” later in this text.

Types of support might include

Now that we have a good idea what it means to develop support for the main ideas of your paragraphs, let’s talk about how to make sure that those supporting details are solid and convincing.

Strong vs. Weak Support

What questions will your readers have? What will they need to know? What makes for good supporting details? Why might readers consider some evidence to be weak?

If you’re already developing paragraphs, it’s likely that you already have a plan for your essay, at least at the most basic level. You know what your topic is, you might have a working thesis, and you probably have at least a couple of supporting ideas in mind that will further develop and support your thesis.

So imagine you’re developing a paragraph on one of these supporting ideas and you need to make sure that the support that you develop for this idea is solid. Considering some of the points about understanding and appealing to your audience (from the Audience and Purpose and the Prewriting sections of this text) can also be helpful in determining what your readers will consider good support and what they’ll consider to be weak. Here are some tips on what to strive for and what to avoid when it comes to supporting details.

Breaking, Combining, or Beginning New Paragraphs

Like sentence length, paragraph length varies. There is no single ideal length for “the perfect paragraph.”  There are some general guidelines, however.

Some writing handbooks or resources suggest that a paragraph should be at least three or four sentences; others suggest that 100 to 200 words is a good target to shoot for.

In academic writing, paragraphs tend to be longer, while in less formal or less complex writing, such as in a newspaper, paragraphs tend to be much shorter. Two-thirds to three-fourths of a page—or seven to twelve sentences—is usually a good target length for paragraphs at your current level of academic writing.

The amount of space needed to develop one idea will likely be different than the amount of space needed to develop another. So when is a paragraph complete? The answer is: when it’s fully developed. The guidelines above for providing good support should help.

Signs to end a paragraph and start a new one:

• You’re ready to begin developing a new idea.
• You want to emphasize a point by setting it apart.
• You’re getting ready to continue discussing the same idea but in a different way (e.g., shifting from comparison to contrast).
• You notice that your current paragraph is getting too long (more than three-fourths of a page or so), and you think your writers will need a visual break.

Signs to combine paragraphs include:

• You notice that some of your paragraphs appear to be short and choppy.
• You have multiple paragraphs on the same topic.
• You have undeveloped material that needs to be united under a clear topic.

Finally, paragraph number is a lot like paragraph length. You may have been asked in the past to write a five-paragraph essay. There’s nothing inherently wrong with a five-paragraph essay, but just like sentence length and paragraph length, the number of paragraphs in an essay depends upon what’s needed to get the job done. There’s really no way to know that until you start writing. So try not to worry too much about the proper length and number of things unless those are specified in your assignment. Just start writing and see where the essay and the paragraphs take you. There will be plenty of time to sort out the organization in the revision process. You’re not trying to fit pegs into holes here. You’re letting your ideas unfold. Give yourself—and them—the space to let that happen.

Text Attributions

• This chapter was adapted from “ The Paragraph Body: Supporting Your Ideas ” in The Word on College Reading and Writing by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear, which is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 Licence . Adapted by Allison Kilgannon.

Advanced English Copyright © 2021 by Allison Kilgannon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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5 Proven Methods for Developing Ideas in Writing

• September 4, 2022

Developing ideas in writing does not come naturally to middle school students, but it is a skill that can be taught. I know this because of the books I’ve read and the fifty million essays I’ve graded during my teaching career. At the beginning of the school year, idea development is a common weakness I see, so I teach students how to develop their ideas, and I’m proud of the results.

Here are five strategies I use. The first two come from Joyce Armstrong Carroll’s Dr. JAC’s Guide to Writing with Depth ; the final three are from Barry Lane’s After THE END . (I’ve read several books by these teacher writers, and they both offer fabulous resources.)

Developing Ideas in Writing with Prove Its

This activity is fun, easy to implement, and can be completed in one forty-five-minute period, so give it a try!

For this lesson, the students and I write together, with me projecting my writing onto the screen while students tell me what to write and copy our example in their writers’ notebooks . Sounds boring, but it isn’t!

What makes it engaging for students is the sentence we use: The witch is ugly. (It’s one of five Dr. JAC notes in her book, and students do have fun with it.) Our goal is to prove the witch is ugly by developing that idea, by showing instead of telling. 

We begin by writing “The witch is ugly.” Students then offer sentences to prove the witch is ugly, working on transitioning from one sentence to the next by connecting their sentences to the ones that came before. This continues until we have a well-developed idea, until we prove it. When we have time, I follow this by having students draw what we wrote.

Student Examples of Developing Ideas in Writing with Prove Its

Here’s an example from a seventh-grade Pre-AP group:

The witch was ugly. She had a long, hollow face filled with warts. Her eyes were as big as baseballs but consisted only of pupils. However, one eye was missing, and a putrid green liquid was leaking through the hole where it had once been. She had long, black tangled hair, and in that mess were small bones from little children. She had a feeble body and all of her bones were sticking out, piercing through her yellowed skin. Even though she seemed menacing, there was no mistaking that she was only two foot four. But size didn’t matter, for she could eat a person alive in five seconds as seen by the bits of human flesh stuck in her teeth.

And here’s one from a regular-ed class: 

The witch is ugly. She walks into the room with her big nose and smelly toes. Her green nose is as big as an elephant, and her toes smell like sour milk. Her face is old and saggy like a grandma’s stomach. She speaks, and her voice sounds like a cat choking on a dying bird. She looks like a deformed T-Rex with short, stubby arms. Also, she has a tail like a human centipede. Luckily, she doesn’t spot me hiding, and she turns, flaps her bat wings, and flies into the dark, stormy night. 

Pretty good, huh? Of course, these are first drafts and still need a little revising, but you’ll notice the strong voices seen in both examples. This is what idea development can do to a piece of writing: move it from telling to showing, from humdrum to intriguing.

After completing this activity, students will understand prove-its and be ready to write one of their own.

Apply to Writing

Next, we’ll review declarative sentences (sentences that make statements). Students scan their drafts for these and highlight or underline ones similar to our witch-is-ugly example, ones that need proving. We then have a quick share to check their sentences and to give examples to those who may be having difficulties finding them.

Here are some from one of my classes:

• I was nervous.–Andrew 
• It felt like forever.–Taylor
• The room had lots of decorations.–Courtney
• Paintball is dangerous.–Brian
• I saw a hermit crab.–Leah
• The water is cold.–German
• I was so excited.–Kaelani
• My grandma makes good food.–Ariel

They’ll then select one of those sentences to prove. They should choose one that is important to the story, one that would benefit from idea development. I like to have students write on large sticky notes (love the lined ones) so that they can attach these to their drafts at the spot they’ll add them. 

I always allow students a few minutes to read their writings to elbow partners, small groups, and/or the entire class, depending on how much time we have. This builds community, and most students like to share what they write.

If students don’t have a draft to work with yet, then they can practice writing Prove Its with a declarative sentence that tells (e.g., my friend is rude). 

Developing Ideas in Writing with CAFE SQuIDD

When I first started teaching, I came up with feed the cat , an acronym to help students remember various ways to develop their ideas. But Dr. JAC has a better one, CAFE SQuIDD, so I switched. 

CAFE SQuIDD provides students with several ways to develop ideas (e.g., comparisons, anecdotes, facts, etc.). Plus, Carroll uses an excellent analogy, one that kids understand, that compares using these strategies to choosing items from a menu. When perusing a menu at a restaurant, we choose foods we like; we don’t order everything on the menu. CAFEE SQuIDD works the same. Students will use the strategies they prefer; they won’t use all of them in their writing.

I introduce this by creating menus. 

We fold a piece of colored paper in half hamburger style. (I use 8 ½ x 11” sheets so that they’ll fit into our writers’ notebooks.) On the front cover, we write “CAFEE SQuIDD: Idea Development Strategies by (student name) .” (When our state added informational essays to our tests, I added an E for explaining .) They then illustrate the cover. 

Next, we write C-A-F-E-E in large letters vertically next to the left side of the page and S-Qu-I-D-D vertically on the right side of the fold. 

In smaller letters, we note what each letter stands for: 

• C for comparison (comparison made with similes or metaphors, for example), 
• A for anecdote (brief story that supports idea), 
• F for fact (statement that can be verified), 
• E for example (can begin with for example or for instance ), 
• E for explanation (when a topic is explained), 
• S for Statistic (fact with numbers), 
• Qu for quotation (quote from someone knowledgeable), 
• I for imagery (language that appeals to the senses), 
• D for detail (specifics), and 
• D for description (general characteristic) or definition (a topic is defined). (I changed this to definition because the Common Core Standards specifically mention this.)

We then work together to find examples of these in fiction or nonfiction texts we’re studying. (When particular strategies are not used, we’ll write an X under that strategy.)

Here are a couple of examples from “Fish Cheeks” and “SuperCroc.” 

If I need to reteach, we use chocolate and write original examples for each strategy.

After students have a good understanding of the idea development strategies from CAFEE SQuIDD, students reenter their writings, looking for places they need to develop their ideas and using some of these strategies to develop them. (I model this for them with my writing, moving through the acronym to see which strategy will work best.)

As usual, I allow a few minutes for sharing what they wrote.

Developing Ideas in Writing with Snapshots

A snapshot is Lane’s word for visual imagery, a common literary device used in writing that students will benefit from learning. When teaching this concept, I use the words snapshot and imagery , snapshot because it’s like a photo (easy to remember) and imagery because I want students to know the academic word.

To introduce snapshots, I begin by asking students to draw a passage while I read it, and we use the example from James and the Giant Peach that Barry Lane provides in his book. Students then compare their drawings, noticing similarities, and we discuss how writers use visual imagery to create pictures with words.

I follow this by showing a few examples of snapshots from literature we read in class, like this one from “Dirk the Protector” by Gary Paulsen : 

But when I rolled over I saw the dog.

It was the one that had been beneath the stairs. Brindled, patches of hair gone, one ear folded over and the other standing straight and      notched from fighting. He didn’t seem to be any particular breed. Just big and rangy, right on the edge of ugly, though I would come to think of him as beautiful. He was Airedale crossed with hound crossed with alligator.

(I love the “hound crossed with alligator.” What a great combination!)

Next, I have students find places in their writing where they can describe someone or something important and help readers see what they see. They’ll write their snapshots on bright sticky notes and attach them to the part of their writing that they will add it to later. They can also appeal to other senses as they write. 

Sometimes, for a little writing practice, I’ll project a piece of art (or another interesting image onto the screen) and ask students to write a snapshot for it. 

I then allow students to read their writings to their peers or the class.

Developing Ideas in Writing with Thoughtshots

Another technique writers use is telling readers what their characters are thinking. Lane calls these thoughtshots, and they pair excellently with snapshots.

To teach thoughtshots, I begin with a gallery walk or a game of scoot where students look at historical pictures and write what the person may be thinking. (This can be done with snapshots too.)

For a gallery walk, I take students on a field trip into the hallway where I’ve taped the pictures a few feet apart. Working in small groups, students move through the stations and write what the character may have been thinking at the time. 

I do the same thing with scoot, but for this activity, the pictures are taped to student desks and they work individually, moving every few minutes when I say, “Scoot.”

I also provide them with examples of thoughtshots from literature, like this one from Lois Lowry’s The Giver : 

It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. No. Wrong, word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen. . .

But there was a shudder of nervousness when he thought about it, about what might happen.

Apprehensive , Jonas decided. That’s what I am.

Again, with students writing on sticky notes or printed thought bubbles, I have them revisit their drafts and decide what the person or character was thinking at a particular moment in the story. They stick or tape these to that part of their composition and we read our thoughtshots to class members. (I found the pictured thought-bubble at Walmart.) 

Developing Ideas with Explode a Moment

For this activity, I want students to find an important moment in the story and develop that idea fully, and one way to get that idea across is to show them a clip from a movie that is in slow motion. 

I used to use a clip from Last of the Mohicans , but I recently noticed one that will grab students’ attention even more when I was watching the final battle in Season 4 of Stranger Things . We watch and discuss the clip, noting why slow motion was used for this particular scene. (Both clips are violent, so I do not use these with sixth graders.) I’ve also used these clips from Spiderman and Zootopia and had Barry Lane explain with his video .

Just as producers found a perfect time to use slow motion, students need to find a part of their writing where they need to slow down and explode the moment. 

To help them find that moment, students can conference in small groups. After reading their drafts, group members can tell readers what they’d like to know more about. That will be a moment to explode. 

Again, these can be written on sticky notes and stuck to the part of the story they developed. 

Related Links

As always is my plan, I write so that you can implement these lessons without buying anything, but if you’d like my handouts, visit my TPT store for these developing ideas in writing activities .

For lesson ideas on revising for word choice, visit Blog #7: “Fun Activities for Synonyms to Inspire Students.”

“Developing Your Ideas” (college level)

Share Your Students’ Developed Ideas

Introduce your students to all of these revision strategies, so they can choose the one that works best for them. 

I know you and your students will like Lane and Carroll’s strategies, but I still want to hear from you. Let me know which developing-ideas-in-writing activities you used and post a couple of student examples!

Start teaching students how to use the comma with my free lessons, including anchor charts, warm-ups, and a slideshow with a corresponding booklet.

Enter your first name and email address, and I’ll send them to your inbox!

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The Paragraph Body: Supporting Your Ideas

Whether the drafting of a paragraph begins with a main idea or whether that idea surfaces in the revision process, once you have that main idea, you’ll want to make sure that the idea has enough support. The job of the paragraph body is to develop and support the topic. Here’s one way that you might think about it:

• Topic sentence : what is the main claim of your paragraph; what is the most important idea that you want your readers to take away from this paragraph?
• Support in the form of evidence : how can you prove that your claim or idea is true (or important, or noteworthy, or relevant)?
• Support in the form of analysis or evaluation : what discussion can you provide that helps your readers see the connection between the evidence and your claim?
• Transition : how can you help your readers move from the idea you’re currently discussing to the next idea presented? (For more specific discussion about transitions, see the following section on “ Developing Relationships between Ideas ”).

For more on methods of development  that can help you to develop and organize your ideas within paragraphs, see “Patterns of Organization and Methods of Development” later in this section of this text.

Types of support might include

• Statistics.
• Quotations.

Now that we have a good idea what it means to develop support for the main ideas of your paragraphs, let’s talk about how to make sure that those supporting details are solid and convincing.

Good vs. Weak Support

What questions will your readers have? What will they need to know? What makes for good supporting details? Why might readers consider some evidence to be weak?

If you’re already developing paragraphs, it’s likely that you already have a plan for your essay, at least at the most basic level. You know what your topic is, you might have a working thesis, and you probably have at least a couple of supporting ideas in mind that will further develop and support your thesis.

So imagine you’re developing a paragraph on one of these supporting ideas and you need to make sure that the support that you develop for this idea is solid. Considering some of the points about understanding and appealing to your audience (from the Audience and Purpose and the Prewriting sections of this text) can also be helpful in determining what your readers will consider good support and what they’ll consider to be weak. Here are some tips on what to strive for and what to avoid when it comes to supporting details.

Breaking, Combining, or Beginning New Paragraphs

Like sentence length, paragraph length varies. There is no single ideal length for “the perfect paragraph.”  There are some general guidelines, however. Some writing handbooks or resources suggest that a paragraph should be at least three or four sentences; others suggest that 100 to 200 words is a good target to shoot for. In academic writing, paragraphs tend to be longer, while in less formal or less complex writing, such as in a newspaper, paragraphs tend to be much shorter. Two-thirds to three-fourths of a page is usually a good target length for paragraphs at your current level of college writing. If your readers can’t see a paragraph break on the page, they might wonder if the paragraph is ever going to end or they might lose interest.

The most important thing to keep in mind here is that the amount of space needed to develop one idea will likely be different than the amount of space needed to develop another. So when is a paragraph complete? The answer is, when it’s fully developed. The guidelines above for providing good support should help.

Some signals that it’s time to end a paragraph and start a new one include that

• You’re ready to begin developing a new idea.
• You want to emphasize a point by setting it apart.
• You’re getting ready to continue discussing the same idea but in a different way (e.g. shifting from comparison to contrast).
• You notice that your current paragraph is getting too long (more than three-fourths of a page or so), and you think your writers will need a visual break.

Some signals that you may want to combine paragraphs include that

• You notice that some of your paragraphs appear to be short and choppy.
• You have multiple paragraphs on the same topic.
• You have undeveloped material that needs to be united under a clear topic.

Finally, paragraph number is a lot like paragraph length. You may have been asked in the past to write a five-paragraph essay. There’s nothing inherently wrong with a five-paragraph essay, but just like sentence length and paragraph length, the number of paragraphs in an essay depends upon what’s needed to get the job done. There’s really no way to know that until you start writing. So try not to worry too much about the proper length and number of things. Just start writing and see where the essay and the paragraphs take you. There will be plenty of time to sort out the organization in the revision process. You’re not trying to fit pegs into holes here. You’re letting your ideas unfold. Give yourself—and them—the space to let that happen.

The Word on College Reading and Writing Copyright © by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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