Drafts
Now you have your plan, along with notes on the sources you are going to refer to, page numbers etc., so you can start your first draft. Students differ on the number of drafts they make before the final one, and of course if you are writing it longhand, this can be a laborious task. I usually write my first draft longhand, and a useful tip is to know roughly how many words on average you take to fill an A4 sheet, in order to keep to the word limit.
Life
is a lot easier if you have access to a wordprocessor or PC, particularly
because you can use the word count and spell checker. Fortunately, reviewing
your first draft is often sufficient to move on to the final one if you
have planned well. Here are some general tips, rules and conventions relating
to presentation.
Style
In academic writing it is usual to avoid the use of ‘I’ or ‘I think’ etc., in favour of:
Use simple and straightforward language and avoid slang and abbreviations, and keep sentences precise and to the point.
Paragraphs
These are a set of sentences which should cover one theme or topic, and they should be linked by words or phrases to carry the meaning from one paragraph to the next, for example:
- however - as we have seen
- nevertheless - having dealt with …we move on to…
- conversely - whereas
- on the other hand - moving on from…
- to summarize - in short
- furthermore - for example
These words or short phrases can also be used as signposts to indicate to the reader where you have got to or where you are going, whether you are indicating a contrast, reaching a conclusion, giving an illustration etc., and all this aids the flow of the writing.
Grammar and punctuation
If you do not have the luxury of a computer with a spelling and grammar check, try to be brave and let a friend or colleague read through your work. Remember to be consistent with tenses, reading your work out loud can help to see if it makes sense and flows well.
Remember to use quotation marks if you are quoting an author’s exact words, but they are not necessary if you are putting the point in your own words. If you alter anything or leave something out, single this with brackets or dots. Referencing is covered more fully in a separate section.
Finally
You will reach that happy moment when your labours are ready to be printed, handed over, posted etc., and you can feel justifiably pleased with yourself! Remember, there are no hard and fast rules to writing, but gradually you will develop your own style until one day you realise that you can write an essay without having to consciously think about all the points we have covered.
