Queen's Learning Commons

Step 1: Revisit your work plan

See Stage 7 to build in significant time for writing and manageable deadlines (for example, a certain number of pages per day).

 

Step 2: Write regularly (daily, if possible), to help you strengthen the connection between your thinking and writing process, especially if you are in a field that does not involve much writing.

• Theses and Dissertations [for Engineering and Science Students]

Step 3: Use brainstorming, inventing, and other pre-writing activities to discover your ideas about your subject and to prevent writer's block.

• Starting a Writing Project
• Pre-Writing Strategies
• Planning (Invention)
• Thought Starters

Step 4: Use outlining and mapping to organize your ideas logically and to write efficient drafts.

• Integrating Writing: Drafting the Essay

Step 5: Remember that drafting is rarely a linear process.

• Tips for writing
         - Try writing the middle of chapters and sections first, since introductions are
           often difficult to write when you are not yet sure what the chapter will contain
         - If you reach a block, keep moving forward by tackling another section
• Resist the temptation to revise during the drafting process, which interrupts your ability to get your ideas down on paper quickly and efficiently (See Stage 13)
• When you end a writing session, decide where you will start writing in the next session to eliminate the temptation to procrastinate
• When you've produced text, reward yourself for doing the hard work of putting words to paper

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