Academic Writing Steps
- Step 1: Choose an essay topic
- Step 2: Dissect your essay topic
- Step 3: Rewrite the essay question
- Step 4: Begin gathering broad ideas
- Step 5: Brainstorm
- Step 6: Develop a thesis
- Step 7: Read to support your thesis
- Step 8: Draw a mind map
- Step 9: Write an essay proposal
- Step 10: Draft your introduction
- Step 11: Write the first draft of the essay
- Step 12: Check your draft for problems
- Step 13: Second draft
- Steps 14–16: Proofread and edit your essay
By now, you will have prepared:
- Your thesis (use final ‘refined’ version of thesis in Step 9)
- Your draft introduction
- Your topic sentences
- The key ideas and evidence to use in each paragraph
Note that you can start writing any of the body paragraphs first, depending upon wherever you feel most confident to begin. Your first draft will grow a bit here and a bit there.