A step-by-step guide to the Essay writing process

Excellent academic writing demands effective planning, composition, and review. Although the writing process differs from person to person, five elementary procedures will assist you in planning your time when producing any content.

Type 1: Prewriting

At first, it is essential to decide the context to write on and conduct the necessary study before beginning the writing process.

Sharing a topic
If you have to choose through your subject for a project, consider what knowledge you have acquired from your class—is there anything that you are confused about or curious to learn? Subjects or areas of study that you are curious about or find interesting are ideal since they can be discovered in your writing.

Scope of the chosen topic is determined by the type of content you choose to write, such as an essay, a research project, or a thesis. Therefore, one should avoid choosing something that is too lengthy and will fail to fit within the number of words or too restricted and lacks discussion elements.

Working on the research
Once the topic is chosen, it is essential to find suitable sources and accumulate the information that can be used in writing. The process varies from one study area to another based on topic scope. It could entail:

• Two main sources are being sought.
• Closely examine the relevant passages (e.g., for literary analysis).
• Using suitable research methods to collect data (e.g., experiments, interviews or surveys)

The most important thing to remember when researching a paper is taking many notes. Keep track of your source names, authors, publication dates, significant quotations, and the data you acquired and your initial assessment or analysis of the issues you’re researching.

Type 2: Outlining and planning

Forming a logical structure to present information effectively while pursuing an academic writing process. Thus, it is better to plan than to manage time after you’ve started writing.

Further, it is beneficial to lay out the structure and outline of the study before beginning to write. Outlining and planning help finalize the key points you want to highlight and how they should be organized in the writing piece. However, it is not essential to stick to the plan during the writing process, as it can be modified depending on the information gathered.

Make your structure presentable using bullet points or numbers. Even if you’re writing a short text without headings, giving a summary below each section is essential.

Type 3: Creating a rough draft

It is essential to create the first draft once the structure or outline is ready in the writing process. It is a non-linear process; for example, one can start with the body of the text while writing and save the outline and write once the content of the writing piece is ready.

Use your idea as a platform to shape your writing. Ensure that each section has a clear focal emphasis related to your main argument.

Start a new paragraph each time you switch topics. For example, to explain how your thoughts are connected.

During this point, the aim is to finish a draft and make improvements where needed. Further, finalize a first-draft time limit that enables a person to modify and proofread your work before the final deadline. Finally, you and your supervisor may decide deadlines for different chapters separately for a larger paper such as a dissertation.

Type 4: Revising and rewriting

Finally, it is essential to examine your first draft critically and identify areas for improvement in the writing process. Redrafting requires adding or eliminating evidence, whereas revising involves making basic changes and reformulating concepts.

Taking a look at the first draft
In writing, it is difficult to check your work rationally. Your lookout may be twisted to the good or bad, especially if you try to analyze the write-up soon after the work is completed. Later completing the first draft, it is desirable to review and revise the work after a day or two to understand your study better.

When evaluating the script at this stage, you’re mostly looking for complex problems like alterations to the ideas or structure. Commencing with complex problems saves time—as it helps in perfecting the grammar of the write-up and omits unnecessary information.

You’re looking for the following right now:

1. Arguments that are irrational or confusing
2. Information that would be better provided in a different sequence in certain areas
3. Passages that require more information or explanation
4. Passages that are unrelated to your main point

For instance, in our Mansfield Park paper, we might understand that a more direct examination of the heroine Fanny Price would strengthen the argument; therefore, we might attempt to find room for this in paragraph IV.

A supervisor or peer will provide feedback on your first draft for some assignments. Hence, please pay close attention to what they say, as their suggestions will typically help you figure out which areas of your content need to be improved.

Revising and rewriting
Once the alterations are decided, start making larger changes, as these changes will make a larger impact on the entire write-up. The stage may include:

• Making deviations to your main argument.
• Rearranging the text.
• Parts of the text were cut out.
• New text is being added.

You can make changes and redraft until the final draft is satisfactory. Consider what alterations you can make convincingly in the timeframe you possess. You don’t want to abandon your write-up in a messy state halfway and make throughout rewriting, again and again, so do the most crucial changes first.

Type 5: Proofreading and editing

General points such as simplicity and sentence formation are correct during editing. However, proofreading involves prudently probing the write-up for mistakes and formal consistency.

Grammar and clarity editing
Finally, make sure that the text is clear, concise, and grammatically correct while revising. You’re on the lookout for:

1. Grammatical errors
2. Phrases are unclear.
3. Repetition and redundancy.

It is common to end up writing poorly constructed sentences in your first draft in a writing process. Thus, study where your write-up content could be communicated more successfully or with fewer words and keep a check on sentence formation errors like run-on sentences and sentence fragments.

Proofreading for grammatical errors and typos
Look for mistakes in your text first when proofreading:

1. Errors in spelling.
2. Words are missing.
3. Word choices are perplexing.
4. Punctuation errors.
5. Spaces that are either missing or excessive.

Use the built-in spell check on your word processor; however, don’t expect it to catch all errors. Instead, read your text thoroughly, looking for all issues that the software has highlighted or have overlooked.

Proofreading for uniformity in style
In the academic writing process, there are various issues where you can choose from various standards. Consider the following scenario:

1. Whether or not the serial comma is used.
2. Should you use British or American grammar and syntax?
3. When it comes to numbers, you should employ numerals rather than words.
4. The way you capitalize your headings and titles.

Unless there are precise directions, it’s up to you to choose which writing standard to follow. The most vital thing is to follow a single standard for each issue. However, avoid blending American and European spellings in your article.

In most cases, instructions are given for a writing process, including structure (how your material is presented on the page) and references (how you state the sources). Always consider the directions.