Planning a Draft
Once you’ve generated some ideas to write about, refine your thoughts by Selecting a Topic. This process will help you determine if the ideas you’re attracted to are workable in an academic setting. Next, make sure you have a thorough understanding of the assignment. At least half the battle of succeeding in college is following instructions and showing up for class! So even if you think you know what to do from the classroom instructions, working through our handout Understanding a Writing Assignment is a good idea. If you’re confused or unclear about the assignment, it’s a must.
The Arguments handout provides helpful hints if you’re in a class that requires persuasive writing, and Techniques and Terms Used in Argument lists and defines terms you may hear in an argument class like English 104 here at A&M. Have you decided who your audience is for this assignment? If any case, doing an Audience Analysis will help you. And then we also have handouts on writing specific types of documents (abstracts, book reviews, comparison/contrast essays and more) in the How To Write page.
