Hello! My name is Caroline, I'm a student and tutor. My biggest passion is writing an essays, despite almost everyone hate them. Probably, it's because of lack of preparation.
Taking the time to explore one or more of these brainstorming strategies will not only make this next stage of the writing process considerably more efficient, but could also lead your essay in a far more promising direction.
Take the post-it note approach.
The post-it note approach is used in the private sector when a training manual or some form of documentation needs to be produced quickly.
A subject matter expert and a writer are put in a room and told to capture every task associated with producing the document. Once they have done so, they list all the tasks that they want their readers to be able to perform once they have read the document.
Each task is written on a post-it note and stuck to a wall. Thereafter, the writer and the expert look at the tasks and try to find commonalities among them. They move the notes around, group related items, and then put them in order of importance.
Break it down.
We can all benefit from performing this exercise before we start an essay, entirely because it takes what is otherwise the daunting task of writing a long paper and breaks it down into small, manageable pieces. No matter, what kind of assignment do you have, this tips suit for
chemical papers and your history essay also.
Students who take the time to brainstorm before they begin an assignment often end up writing infinitely more thoughtful, original essays.
For example, if you were to write about the history of a local building, some of your tasks as a researcher may be to:
• Find out when the London Courthouse was built.
• Describe the exterior of the building in detail.
• Research gothic architecture in nineteenth-century Canada.
• Determine who the architect was.
• Compare the Courthouse to other buildings that were built at the time.
• Visit the archives to learn more about the building’s original purpose.
• Tour the Courthouse to get a first-hand look at the building.
• Search for a compelling historical anecdote that underlines its importance.
• Ask the librarian for help finding sources on strategies for preserving old buildings.
Having read your essay, you may hope that your reader is able to do the following:
• Appreciate the historical significance of the building.
• Be able to describe the exterior of the building.
• Describe the various ways in which it resembles other buildings from the same period.
• Understand the best strategy for preserving this particular building, and why it is essential that we do so.
These “learning objectives” double as your goals as a writer.
You’ll notice that each of these sentences begins with a verb; the idea is that you’re giving yourself manageable tasks to perform well before you settle in write a first draft of your essay.
