Several Steps to Successful Academic Writing
Writing an academic paper is always stress for students especially for freshmen, but everything is not as bad as it may seem at first glance. Students deal with academic writing all the time, that’s why sooner or later you will get used to such rhythm of life, but you are able to make this process smoother. You will cope with this issue easily if you follow these 5 steps based on real student life experience.
Work on your background
First of all, try to look for relevant sources. The more you will choose, the higher chances you have to find exactly what you need. At this stage you shouldn’t read sources from cover to cover, it’s better to narrow down their number – look briefly through them or read just abstracts, that’s pretty enough to catch the key idea. Only after that you should read the best materials and make notes. Having made such an overview you can come back to the paper and decide how you want to promote the discussion. The next thing everybody has to do is create a title, it will return you to the essence every time you distract.
Develop the structure
In any case, you shouldn’t start writing when you haven’t created a general structure. Use a standard scheme – introduction, main body, and conclusion if you aren’t ready for something completely original and creative. In order to focus on some particular things, you may write down the keywords that cover new ideas and the most crucial characteristics to reveal and try to figure out logical connections between them. The keywords united in groups constitute the basis for future paragraphs, thereby clarifying the structure of the text.
Count your numbers
Before starting the writing process senior and former students with more experience recommend determining the number of paragraphs based on the initial structure. To clearly see what the size of your paragraphs should be you may divide the average number of words specified in the requirements by the paragraphs’ number. In this way, you know what approximate word limits per paragraph you can present your opinion. Undoubtedly, certain deviations may take place, but still, you will have a certain benchmark.
Check the paper yourself and ask the friend to do it also
As soon as you’ve finished writing your essay you shouldn’t hurry and immediately revise it. Your brain is tired, that’s why you need change type of activity for a while, after that your concentration will be back to normal. The best option is to sleep on the paper, but if you are on a deadline and do everything, as usual, at the last moment, then make a break at least on 15-30 minutes. Ask your friend for help, because he or she, as a reader, may take a fresh look at the paper and indicate errors and inaccuracies in the content.
Publish your essay
If your tutor well appreciated your efforts, what’s about sharing the essay with a wider audience? There is a plenty of possible ways to present your paper, and a student conference is one of them. You will probably have to refine and format your material before submitting it to the conference, but still, your basis is already created. You will be able to get a professional feedback and communicate with representatives of academic circles. Besides, a section on publications is a great bonus to your CV.
