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Generating Ideas for Your Paper

• Introduction

Good writing requires good ideas—intriguing concepts and analysis that are clearly and compellingly arranged. But good ideas don’t just appear like magic. All writers struggle with figuring out what they are going to say. And while there is no set formula for generating ideas for your writing, there is a wide range of established techniques that can help you get started.

This page contains information about those techniques. Here you’ll find details about specific ways to develop thoughts and foster inspiration. While many writers employ one or two of these strategies at the beginning of their writing processes in order to come up with their overall topic or argument, these techniques can also be used any time you’re trying to figure out how to effectively achieve any of your writing goals or even just when you’re not sure what to say next.

What is Invention?

Where do ideas come from? This is a high-level question worthy of a fascinating TED Talk or a Smithsonian article , but it also represents one of the primary challenges of writing. How do we figure out WHAT to write?

Even hundreds of years ago, people knew that a text begins with an idea and that locating this idea and determining how to develop it requires work. According to classical understandings of rhetoric, the first step of building an argument is invention. As Roman thinker Cicero argued, people developing arguments “ought first to find out what [they] should say” ( On Oratory and Orators 3.31). Two hundred years before Cicero, the Greek philosopher Aristotle detailed a list of more than two dozen ideas a rhetor might consider when figuring out what to say about a given topic ( On Rhetoric , 2.23). For example, Aristotle suggested that a good place to start is to define your key concepts, to think about how your topic compares to other topics, or to identify its causes and effects. (For ideas about using Aristotle’s advice to generate ideas for your own papers, check out this recommended technique .)

More recently, composition scholar Joseph Harris has identified three values important for writers just starting a project. Writers at early stages in their writing process can benefit from being: Receptive to unexpected connections You never know when something you read or need to write will remind you of that movie you watched last weekend or that anthropology theory you just heard a lecture about or that conversation you had with a member of your lab about some unexpected data you’ve encountered. Sometimes these connections will jump out at you in the moment or you’ll suddenly remember them while you’re vacuuming the living room. Harris validates the importance of “seizing hold of those ideas that do somehow come to you” (102). While you can’t count on these kinds of serendipities, be open to them when they occur. Be ready to stop and jot them down! Patient Harris supports the value of patience and “the usefulness of boredom, of letting ideas percolate” (102). It can take time and long consideration to think of something new. When possible, give yourself plenty of time so that your development of ideas is not stifled by an immediate due date. Compelled by the unknown According to Harris, “a writer often needs to start not from a moment of inspiration ( eureka! ) but from the need to work through a conceptual problem or roadblock. Indeed, I’d suggest that most academic writing begins with such questions rather than insights, with difficulties in understanding rather than moments of mastery” (102). Sometimes a very good place to begin is with what you don’t know, with the questions and curiosities that you genuinely want resolved.

In what follows, we describe ten techniques that you can select from and experiment with to help guide your invention processes. Depending on your writing preferences, context, and audience, you might find some more productive than others. Also, it might be useful to utilize various techniques for different purposes. For example, brainstorming might be great for generating a variety of possible ideas, but looped freewriting might help you develop those ideas. Think of this list as a collection of recommended possibilities to implement at your discretion. However, we think the first technique described below—“Analyzing the Assignment or Task”—is a great starting point for all writers.

Any of these strategies can be useful for generating ideas in connection to any writing assignment. Even if the paper you’re writing has a set structure (e.g., scientific reports’ IMRAD format or some philosophy assignments’ prescribed argumentative sequence), you still have to invent and organize concepts and supporting evidence within each section. Additionally, these techniques can be used at any stage in your writing process. Your ideas change and develop as you write, and sometimes when you’re in the middle of a draft or when you’re embarking on a major revision, you find yourself rethinking key elements of your paper. At these moments, it might be useful to turn to some of these invention techniques as a way to slow down and capture the ephemeral thoughts and possibilities swirling around your writing tasks. These practices can help guide you to new ideas, questions, and connections. No matter what you’re writing or where you are in the process, we encourage you to experiment with invention strategies you may not have tried before. Mix and match. Be as creative and adventurous with how you generate ideas just as you are creative and adventurous with what ideas you generate.

Some Invention Techniques

Analyzing the assignment or task.

What do I do? If you are writing a paper in response to a course instructor’s assignment, be sure to read the prompt carefully while paying particular attention to all of its requirements and expectations. It could be that the assignment is built around a primary question; if so, structure your initial thoughts around possible answers to that question. If it isn’t, use your close consideration of this assignment to recast the prompt as a question.

The following list of questions are ones that you can ask of the assignment in order to understand its focus and purpose as well as to begin developing ideas for how to effectively respond to its intensions. You may want to underline key terms and record your answers to these questions:

• When is this due?
• How long is supposed to be?
• Is the topic given to me?
• If I get to choose my topic, are there any stipulations about the kind of topic and I can choose?
• What am I expected to do with this topic? Analyze it? Report about it? Make an argument about it? Compare it to something else?
• Who is my audience and what does this audience know, believe, and value about my topic?
• What is the genre of this writing (i.e., a lab report, a case study, a research paper, a reflection, a scholarship essay, an analysis of a work of literature or a painting, a summary and analysis of a reading, a literature review, etc.), and what does writing in this genre usually look like, consist of, or do?

Why is this technique useful? Reading over the assignment prompt may sound like an obvious starting point, but it is very important that your invention strategies are informed by the expectations your readers have about your writing. For example, you might brainstorm a fascinating thesis about how Jules Verne served as a conceptual progenitor of the nuclear age, but if your assignment is asking you to describe the differences between fission and fusion and provide examples, this great idea won’t be very helpful. Before you let your ideas run free, make sure you fully understand the boundaries and possibilities provided by the assignment prompt.

Additionally, some assignments begin to do the work of invention for you. Instructors sometimes identify specifically what they want you to write about. Sometimes they invite you to choose from several guiding questions or a position to support or refute. Sometimes the genre of the text can help you identify how this kind of assignment should begin or the order your ideas should follow. Knowing this can help you develop your content. Before you start conjuring ideas from scratch, make sure you glean everything you can from the prompt.

Finally, just sitting with the assignment and thinking through its guidelines can sometimes provide inspiration for how to respond to its questions or approach its challenges.

Reading Again

What do I do? When your writing task is centered around analyzing a primary source, information you collected, or another kind of text, start by rereading it. Perhaps you are supposed to develop an argument about an interview you conducted, an article or short story you read, an archived letter you located, or even a painting you viewed or a particular set of data. In order to develop ideas about how to approach this object of analysis, read and analyze this text again. Read it closely. Be prepared to take notes about its interesting features or the questions this second encounter raises. You can find more information about rereading literature to write about it here and specific tips about reading poetry here .

Why is this technique useful? When you first read a text, you gain a general overview. You find out what is happening, why it’s happening, and what the argument is. But when you reread that same text, your attention is freed to attend to the details. Since you know where the text is heading, you can be alert to patterns and anomalies. You can see the broader significance of smaller elements. You can use your developing familiarity with this text to your advantage as you become something of a minor expert whose understanding of this object deepens with each re-read. This expertise and insight can help lead you towards original ideas about this text.

Brainstorming/Listing

What do I do? First, consider your prompt, assignment, or writing concern (see “Analyzing the Assignment or Task”). Then start jotting down or listing all possible ideas for what you might write in response. The goal is to get as many options listed as possible. You may wish to develop sub-lists or put some of your ideas into different categories, but don’t censor or edit yourself. And don’t worry about writing in full sentences. Write down absolutely everything that comes to mind—even preposterous solutions or unrealistic notions. If you’re working on a collaborative project, this might be a process that you conduct with others, something that involves everyone meeting at the same time to call out ideas and write them down so everyone can see them. You might give yourself a set amount of time to develop your lists, or you might stretch out the process across a couple of days so that you can add new ideas to your lists whenever they occur to you.

Why is this technique useful? The idea behind this strategy is to open yourself up to all possibilities because sometimes even the most seemingly off-the-wall idea has, at its core, some productive potential. And sometimes getting to that potential first involves recognizing the outlandish. There is time later in your writing process to think critically about the viability of your options as well as which possibilities effectively respond to the prompt and connect to your audience. But brainstorming or listing sets those considerations aside for a moment and invites you to open your imagination up to all options.

Freewriting

What do I do? Sit down and write about your topic without stopping for a set amount of time (i.e., 5-10 minutes). The goal is to generate a continuous, forward-moving flow of text, to track down all of your thoughts about this topic, as if you are thinking on the page. Even if all you can think is, “I don’t know what to write,” or, “Is this important?” write that down and keep on writing. Repeat the same word or phrase over again if you need to. If you’re writing about an unfamiliar topic, maybe start by writing down everything you know about it and then begin listing questions you have. Write in full sentences or in phrases, whatever helps keep your thoughts flowing. Through this process, don’t worry about errors of any kind or gaps in logic. Don’t stop to reread or revise what you wrote. Let your words follow your thought process wherever it takes you.

Why is this technique useful? The purpose of this technique is to open yourself up to the possibilities of your ideas while establishing a record of what those ideas are. Through the unhindered nature of this open process, you are freed to stumble into interesting options you might not have previously considered.

Invisible Writing

What do I do? In this variation of freewriting, you dim your computer screen so that you can’t see what you’ve written as you type out your thoughts.

Why is this technique useful? This is a particularly useful technique if while you are freewriting you just can’t keep yourself from reviewing, adjusting, or correcting your writing. This technique removes that temptation to revise by eliminating the visual element. By temporarily limiting your ability to see what you’ve written, this forward-focused method can help you keep pursuing thoughts wherever they might go.

Looped Freewriting

What do I do? This is another variation of freewriting. After an initial round of freewriting or invisible writing, go back through what you’ve written and locate one idea, phrase, or sentence that you think is really compelling. Make that the starting point for another round of timed freewriting and see where an uninterrupted stretch of writing starting from that point takes you. After this second round of freewriting, identify a particular part of this new text that stands out to you and make that the opening line for your third round of freewriting. Keep repeating this process as many times as you find productive.

Why is this technique useful? Sometimes this technique is called “mining” because through it writers are able to drill into the productive bedrock of ideas as well as unearth and discover latent possibilities. By identifying and expanding on concepts that you find particularly intriguing, this technique lets you focus your attention on what feels most generative within your freewritten text, allowing you to first narrow in and then elaborate upon those ideas.

Talking with Someone

What do I do? Find a generous and welcoming listener and talk through what you need to write and how you might go about writing it. Start by reading your assignment prompt aloud or just informally explaining what you are thinking about saying or arguing in your paper. Then be open to your listener’s reactions, curiosities, suggestions, and questions. Invite your listener to repeat in his or her own words what you’ve been saying so that you can hear how someone else is understanding your ideas. While a friend or classmate might be able to serve in this role, writing center tutors are also excellent interlocutors. If you are a currently enrolled UW-Madison student, you are welcome to make an appointment at our main writing center, stop by one of our satellite locations , or even set up a Virtual Meeting to talk with a tutor about your assignment, ideas, and possible options for further exploration.

Why is this technique useful? Sometimes it’s just useful to hear yourself talk through your ideas. Other times you can gain new insight by listening to someone else’s understanding of or interest in your assignment or topic. A genuinely curious listener can motivate you to think more deeply and to write more effectively.

Reading More

Sometimes course instructors specifically ask that you do your analysis on your own without consulting outside sources. When that is the case, skip this technique and consider implementing one of the others instead.

What do I do? Who else has written about your topic, run the kind of experiments you’ve developed, or made an argument like the one you’re interested in? What did they say about this issue? Do some internet searches for well-cited articles on this concept. Locate a book in the library stacks about this topic and then look at the books that are shelved nearby. Read where your interests lead you. Take notes about things other authors say that you find intriguing, that you have questions about, or that you disagree with. You might be able to use any of these responses to guide your developing paper. (Make sure you also record bibliographic information for any texts you want to incorporate in your paper so that you can correctly cite those authors.)

Why is this technique useful? Exploring what others have written about your topic can be a great way to help you understand this issue more fully. Through reading you can locate support for your ideas and discover arguments you want to refute. Reading about your topic can also be a way of figuring out what motivates you about this issue. Which texts do you want to read more of? Why? Capitalize on and expand upon these interests.

Visualizing Ideas

Mindmapping, clustering, or webbing.

What do I do? This technique is a form of brainstorming or listing that lets you visualize how your ideas function and relate. To make this work, you might want to locate a large space you can write on (like a whiteboard) or download software that lets you easily manipulate and group text, images, and shapes (like Coggle , FreeMind , or MindMapple ). Write down a central idea then identify associated concepts, features, or questions around that idea. If some of those thoughts need expanding, continue this map, cluster, or web in whatever direction is productive. Make lines attaching various ideas. Add and rearrange individual elements or whole subsets as necessary. Use different shapes, sizes, or colors to indicate commonalities, sequences, or relative importance.

Why is this technique useful? This technique allows you to generate ideas while thinking visually about how they function together. As you follow lines of thought, you can see which ideas can be connected, where certain pathways lead, and what the scope of your project might look like. Additionally, by drawing out a map of you may be able to see what elements of your possible paper are underdeveloped and may benefit from more focused brainstorming.

The following sample mindmap illustrates how this invention technique might be used to generate ideas for an environmental science paper about Lake Mendota, the Wisconsin lake just north of UW-Madison. The different branches and connections show how your mind might travel from one idea to the next. It’s important to note, that not all of these ideas would appear in the final draft of this eventual paper. No one is likely to write a paper about all the different nodes and possibilities represented in a mindmap. The best papers focus on a tightly defined question. But this does provide many potential places to begin and refine a paper on this topic. This mindmap was created using shapes and formatting options available through PowerPoint.

Notecarding

What do I do? This technique can be especially useful after you’ve identified a range of possibilities but aren’t sure how they might work together. On individual index cards, post-its, or scraps of paper, write out the ideas, questions, examples, and/or sources you’re interested in utilizing. Find somewhere that you can spread these out and begin organizing them in whatever way might make sense. Maybe group some of them together by subtopic or put them in a sequential order. Set some across from each other as conflicting opposites. Make the easiest organization decisions first so that the more difficult cards can be placed within an established framework. Take a picture or otherwise capture the resulting schemata. Of course, you can also do this same kind of work on a computer through software like Prezi or even on a PowerPoint slide.

Why is this technique useful? This technique furthers the mindmapping/clustering/webbing practice of grouping and visualizing your thoughts. Once ideas have been generated, notecarding invites you to think and rethink about how these ideas relate. This invention strategy allows you to see the big picture of your writing. It also invites you to consider how the details of sections and subsections might connect to each other and the surrounding ideas while giving you a sense of possible sequencing options.

The following example shows what notecarding might look like for a paper being written on the Clean Lakes Alliance—a not-for-profit organization that promotes the improvement of water quality in the bodies of water around Madison, Wisconsin. Key topics, subtopics, and possible articles were brainstormed and written on pieces of paper. These elements were then arranged to identify possible relationships and general organizational structures.

What do I do? Take the ideas, possibilities, sources, and/or examples you’ve generated and write them out in the order of what you might address first, second, third, etc. Use subpoints to subordinate certain ideas under main points. Maybe you want to identify details about what examples or supporting evidence you might use. Maybe you just want to keep your outline elements general. Do whatever is most useful to help you think through the sequence of your ideas. Remember that outlines can and should be revised as you continue to develop and refine your paper’s argument.

Why is this technique useful? This practice functions as a more linear form of notecarding. Additionally, outlines emphasize the sequence and hierarchy of ideas—your main points and subpoints. If you have settled on several key ideas, outlining can help you consider how to best guide your readers through these ideas and their supporting evidence. What do your readers need to understand first? Where might certain examples fit most naturally? These are the kinds of questions that an outline can clarify.

Asking Questions

Topoi questions.

In the introduction, we referenced the list that Aristotle developed of the more than two dozen ideas a person making an argument might use to locate the persuasive possibilities of that argument. Aristotle called these locations for argumentative potential “topoi.” Hundreds of years later, Cicero provided additional advice about the kinds of questions that provide useful fodder for developing arguments. The following list of questions is based on the topoi categories that Aristotle and Cicero recommended.

What do I do? Ask yourself any of these questions regarding your topic and write out your answers as a way of identifying and considering possible venues for exploration. Questions of definition: What is ____? How do we understand what ____ is? What is ____ comprised of?

Questions of comparison: What are other things that ____ is like? What are things that are nothing like ____?

Questions of relationship: What causes ____? What effects does ____ have? What are the consequences of ____?

Questions of circumstances: What has happened with ____ in the past? What has not happened with ____ in the past? What might possibly happen with ____ in the future? What is unlikely to happen with ____ in the future?

Questions of testimony: Who are the experts on ____ and what do they say about it? Who are people who have personal experience with ____ and what do they think about it?

If any of these questions initiates some interesting ideas, ask follow-up questions like, “Why is this the case? How do I know this? How might someone else answer this question differently?”

Why is this technique useful? The questions listed above draw from what both Aristotle and Cicero said about ways to go about inventing ideas. Questions such as these are tried-and-true methods that have guided speakers and writers towards possible arguments for thousands of years.

Journalistic Questions

What do I do? Identify your topic, then write out your answers in response to these questions:      Who are the main stakeholders or figures connected to ____?      What is ____?      Where can we find ____?  Where does this happen?      When or under what circumstances does ____ occur?      Why is ____ an issue?  Why does it occur? Why is it important?      How does ____ happen?

Why is this technique useful? This line of questioning is designed to make sure that you understand all the basic information about your topic. Traditionally, these are the kinds of questions that journalists ask about an issue that they are preparing to report about. These questions also directly relate to the Dramatistic Pentad developed by literary and rhetorical scholar Kenneth Burke. According to Burke, we can analyze anyone’s motives by considering these five parts of a situation: Act ( what ), Scene ( when and where ), Agent ( who ), Agency ( how ), and Purpose ( why ). By using these questions to identify the key elements of a topic, you may recognize what you find to be most compelling about it, what attracts your interest, and what you want to know more about.

Particle, Wave, Field Questions

One way to start generating ideas is to ask questions about what you’re studying from a variety of perspectives. This particular strategy uses particles, waves, and fields as metaphorical categories through which to develop various questions by thinking of your topic as a static entity (particle), a dynamic process (wave), and an interrelated system (field).

What do I do?

Ask yourself these questions about your issue or topic and write down your responses:

• In what ways can this issue be considered a particle, that is, a discrete thing or a static entity?
• How is this issue a wave, that is, a moving process?
• How is this issue a field, that is, a system of relationships related to other systems?

Why is this technique useful?

This way of looking at an issue was promoted by Young, Becker, and Pike in their classic text Rhetoric: Discovery and Change . The idea behind this heuristic is that anything can be considered a particle, a wave, and a field, and that by thinking of an issue in connection to each of these categories you’ll able to develop the kind of in-depth questions that experts ask about a topic. By identifying the way your topic is a thing in and of itself, an activity, and an interrelated network, you’ll be able to see what aspects of it are the most intriguing, uncertain, or conceptually rich.

The following example takes the previously considered topic—environmental concerns and Lake Mendota—and shows how this could be conceptualized as a particle, a wave, and a field as a way of generating possible writing ideas.

Particle: Consider Lake Mendota and its environmental concerns as they appear in a given moment. What are those concerns right now? What do they look like? Maybe it’s late spring and an unseasonably warm snap has caused a bunch of dead fish to wash up next to the Tenney Lock. Maybe it’s a summer weekend and no one can go swimming off the Terrace because phosphorous-boosted blue-green algae is too prevalent. Pick one, discrete environmental concern and describe it. Wave: Consider environmental concerns related to Lake Mendota as processes that have changed and will change over time. When were the invasive spiny water fleas first discovered in Lake Mendota? Where did they come from? What has been done to respond to the damage they have caused? What else could be proposed to resolve this problem. How is this (or any other environmental concern) a dynamic process? Field: Consider Lake Mendota’s environmental concerns as they relate to a range of disciplines, populations, and priorities. What recent limnology findings would be of interest to ice fishing anglers? How could the work being done on agricultural sustainability connect to the discoveries being made by chemists about the various compounds present in the water? What light could members of the Ho-Chunk nation shed on Lake Mendota’s significance? Think about how environmental and conservation concerns associated with this lake are interconnected across different community members and academic disciplines.

Moving Around

Get away from your desk and your computer screen and do whatever form of movement feels comfortable and natural for you. Get some fresh air, take a walk, go jogging, get on your bike, go for a swim, or do some yoga. There is no correct degree or intensity of movement in this process; just do what you can and what you’re most likely to enjoy. While you’re moving, you may want to zone out and give yourself a strategic break from your writing task. Or you might choose to mull your tentative ideas for your paper over in your mind. But whether you’re hoping to think of something other than your paper or you need to generate a specific idea or resolve a particular writing problem, be prepared to record quickly any ideas that come up. If bringing along paper or a small notebook and a pen is inconvenient, just texting yourself your new idea will do the trick. The objective with this technique is both to distance yourself from your writing concerns and to encourage your mind to build new connections through engaging in physical activity.

Numerous medical studies have found that aerobic exercise increases your body’s concentration of the proteins that help nerves grow in the parts of your brain where learning and higher thinking happens (Huang et al.). Similarly, from their review of the literature about how yoga benefits the brain, Desei et al. conclude that yoga boosts overall brain activity. Which is to say that moving physiologically helps you think.

Dr. Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, an associate professor of English at Belmont University and an alum of UW-Madison’s graduate program in Composition and Rhetoric Program and a former assistant director of Writing Across the Curriculum at UW-Madison, investigates the writerly benefits of walking. She provides a full treatment of how this particular form of movement can productively support writing in her book Afoot and Lighthearted: A Mindful Walking Log . In the following passage, she argues for a connection between creative processes and walking, but much of what she suggests is equally applicable to the beneficial value of other forms of movement.

A walk stimulates creativity after a ramble has concluded, when you find yourself back at your desk, before your easel, or in your studio. In 2014, Stanford University researchers Marily Opprezzo and Daniel L. Schwarz confirmed that walking increases creative ideation in real time (while the walker walkers) and shortly after (when the walker stops and sits down to create). Specifically, they found that walking led to an increase in “analogical creativity” or using analogies to develop creative relationships between things that may not immediately look connected. So when ancient Greek physician Hippocrates famously declared that walking is “the best medicine,” he seems to have had it right. When we walk, blood and oxygen circulate throughout the body’s organs and stimulate the brain. Walking’s magic is in fact threefold: it increases physical activity, boosts creativity, and brings you into the present moment.

Similarly, in her post about writing and jogging for the UW-Madison Writing Center’s blog, Literary Studies PhD student Jessie Gurd has explained:

What running allows me to do is clear my head and empty it of a grad student’s daily anxieties. Listening to music or cicadas or traffic, I can consider one thing at a time and turn it over in my mind. It’s a groove I hit after a couple of miles; I engage with the problem, question, or task I choose and roll with it until my run is over. In this physical-mental space, I sometimes feel like my own writing instructor as I tackle some stage of the writing process: brainstorming, outlining, drafting.

While Bonnie Smith Whitehouse walks as an important part of her writing process and Jessie Gurd runs to write, what intentional movement looks like for you can be adapted according to your interests, preferences, and abilities. Whether it’s strolling, jogging, doing yoga, or participating in some other form of movement, these physical activities allow you to take a purposeful break that can help you concentrate your mind and even generate new conceptual connections.

All aspects of writing require hard work. It takes work to develop organizational strategies, to sequence sentences, and to revise paragraphs. And it takes work to come up with the ideas that will fill these sentences and paragraphs in the first place. But if you feel burdened by the necessity to develop new concepts, the good news is that you’re not the first writer who’s had to begin responding to an assignment from scratch. You are backed by a vast history of other writers’ experiences, a history that has shaped a collective understanding of how to get started. So, use the experience of others to your advantage. Try a couple of these techniques and maybe even develop some other methods of your own and see what new ideas these old strategies can help you generate!

Works Cited

Aristotle. On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse . Edited and translated by George Kennedy, Oxford University Press, 1991.

Burke, Kenneth. A Grammar of Motives . University of California Press, 1969.

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. On Oratory and Orators . Edited and translated by J.S. Watson, Southern Illinois University Press, 1986.

Desai, Radhika, et al. “Effects of Yoga on Brain Waves an Structural activation: A review.” Complementary Therapies in clinical Practice ,vol, 21, no, 2, 2015, pp. 112-118.

Gurd, Jessie. “Writing Offstage.” Another Word , The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 7 October 2013, https://writing.wisc.edu/blog/writing-offstage/ . Accessed 5 July 2018.

Harris, Joseph. Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts . Utah State University Press, 2006.

Huang, T. et al. “The Effects of Physical Activity and Exercise on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Healthy Humans: A Review.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports , vol. 24, no. 1, 2013. Wiley Online Library , https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12069 .

Oppezzo, Marily, and Daniel L. Schwartz. “Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition , vol. 40, no. 4, 2014, pp. 1142-52.

Smith Whitehouse, Bonnie, email message to author, 19 June 2018.

Young, Richard E., Alton L. Becker, and Kenneth L. Pike. Rhetoric: Discovery and Change . Harcourt College Publishing, 1970.

Writing Process and Structure

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Getting Started with Your Paper

Interpreting Writing Assignments from Your Courses

Creating an Argument

Thesis vs. Purpose Statements

Developing a Thesis Statement

Architecture of Arguments

Working with Sources

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Using Literary Quotations

Citing Sources in Your Paper

Drafting Your Paper

Introductions

Paragraphing

Developing Strategic Transitions

Conclusions

Revising Your Paper

Peer Reviews

Reverse Outlines

Revising an Argumentative Paper

Revision Strategies for Longer Projects

Finishing Your Paper

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

How to Proofread your Paper

Writing Collaboratively

Collaborative and Group Writing

Developing Your Ideas

Updated Fall 2022

Details bring our ideas to life. A conversation without details is like a blank canvas, plain and lacking color until the painter arrives. When we talk with others, the details we provide help our listeners better understand our ideas. Providing details and support for our ideas is called development. Writers who develop their ideas usually do a better job of keeping their readers' attention and gaining their trust. To develop your ideas, you'll need to know what types of development you should use with your particular audience and focus. With this information, you can then present convincing details to your readers.

A Definition of Development

Development is how writers choose to elaborate their main ideas. Typically, we associate development with details because specifics help make generalizations (the main idea, claim or thesis) more concrete.

Reasons for Developing Your Writing

Kate Kiefer, English Department Students need to be concerned with development for two main reasons:

• Details tend to be more persuasive, memorable, and engaging.
• Details show what we know. Providing details proves to your reader that you have a strong understanding of the topic you are writing about.

Things to Consider Before Developing

All readers have expectations. They assume certain details should be included within certain texts. For instance, readers would be shocked to read NFL statistics in a fashion magazine. Biology students wouldn't expect a paragraph on the artistic value of a pond in a research article about pond algae.

How you develop your ideas depends on your audience and focus. While it may seem obvious to include certain details, some forms of development work better with particular audiences. Ultimately, your details should work together to support the overall idea of your writing.

Development and Audience

Michael Palmquist, English Department

Your audience is who will read what you write. Different audiences expect certain details from texts. For instance, suppose you are writing about the representation of women in a particular novel. You will need to provide background details about the characters if your audience has not read the work. Or suppose you are writing to an organization to propose a new facility. Your audience might expect financial details, design details, or a mixture of both. Knowing who your audience is will help you determine what details to provide.

Donna Lecourt, English Department

What counts as evidence depends on the content area you are writing about. A quote from a novel is evidence. So is data from research. However, you probably wouldn’t include both types of evidence within the same piece because a literary argument has different goals than a scientific one. Whether you are sharing your personal experience or interviewing multiple people, you should always consider how your readers will receive your ideas.

Development and Focus

Kate Kiefer, English Department

The focus of your writing is the main idea you convey. Focus is what guides how you develop your ideas. For instance, perhaps your focus is proving a scientific concept incorrect through an experiment you conducted. You would then develop your report by describing what you did, your results, and how your experiment disproves the concept. Or perhaps you're writing to disagree with a philosophical concept. You would then develop your essay by presenting the concept and the reasons why you disagree with it. These reasons might be your opinions, criticisms from another philosopher, or perhaps even interviews with instructors.

Strategies for Development

You can often make a claim based on the similarity of one thing to another. You might argue, for instance, that buying a home computer is like buying a new car: before you buy it, you want to take it out for a test drive. The purchase is likely to be a major one -- you may want to get a loan. Once you take it home, it will take a little while to get used to it.

Analogies are convincing because they can make something unfamiliar or complex easier to understand. If the reader can see how something complex is like something they are familiar with, then the claim will be more effective.

In your paper, you can present an analysis of your supporting information, like quotes or statistics, in order to strengthen your writing. If your supporting information is the “what,” then your analysis is the “why.” For example, if a quote from a novel is your support, your analysis would explain (in your own words) why that quote supports your argument.

Association

Association is an effective strategy. Many companies use this strategy through celebrity endorsements. Sports drink companies hire famous athletes to be the “face” of their product so buyers will associate the drink with athletic excellence. Makeup companies will hire models to promote their products so users will associate the makeup line with incredible beauty.

Using association doesn’t necessarily mean that what you’re saying is true; for example, Drinking Powerade probably won’t turn you into an elite athlete. However, it is an effective strategy for getting people to agree that your product is the best. The same thing is true for writing: association can help you convince readers that your claim is the strongest. Just be sure your audience would respond positively to the person or people you’re associating your ideas with!

Cause/Effect

Consider this strategy if you need to show your readers why something happened or the consequences of a decision or event. For example, company executives decide to use electronic mail because employees are not communicating job tasks with one another (cause). As a result, employees not only increase work production, but they also use the mail system to advertise social events (effects).

Depending on your focus, you may need to present only the causes or only the effects of your topic.

Compare/Contrast

If you are writing about a complex topic, you might consider using a comparison or a contrast. This will help your readers understand your topic by reminding them of something they already know. For instance, email is like hand-delivered mail in that both require an address to deliver a message. However, they are different because one is delivered more quickly than the other, one may seem more personal than the other, etc. This type of strategy is similar to analogy.

Citing Authority

Trying to persuade someone using only your opinion can be challenging and ineffective. Your audience is more likely to listen to and agree with you if you use reliable, credible sources to back your claims up. This is called citing an authority. An authority figure is knowledgeable about the topic you are writing about; often, this is an expert in the field or someone who has personal experience with the topic. Two ways to cite an authority are conducting interviews and finding sources through the library.

Interviews allow you to quote information from a respected person in the field in which you are writing about. This makes your ideas more believable since someone else – someone relevant -- also agrees with what you have to say. Direct quotes can be powerful pieces of evidence in an argument, but they can take longer or be more difficult to get.

A popular way to find an authority figure to cite is using the library (online or in person) to locate books and articles on your topic. Using outside resources in your writing conveys to readers you have researched your topic. This makes your ideas more believable. If you are a student, you should have access to your university’s database. Additionally, public libraries and academic search engines, such as Google Scholar, can help you conduct research. Still stuck? Try talking to a librarian – they are extremely knowledgeable and helpful!

Make sure that the source you’re citing is relevant to what you’re writing about. Consider who wrote it, when their writing was published, where the writing was published, and how your audience might react to hearing from the source.

Finally, it is important that you give credit to those whose work you are using to improve your writing. There are several different citation styles, and one may be more appropriate than the other based on the type of writing you are doing. There are many resources that can help you understand how to implement each style, including Purdue OWL, university websites, and writing center websites. Several of these resources will be linked at the end of this document. Below is a brief overview of the three most common citation styles.

MLA stands for Modern Language Association. This citation style is typically used in the Humanities, especially Literature. This style incorporates in-text citations and a Works Cited page.

APA stands for American Psychological Association. This style is typically used in fields like psychology, education, and the sciences. This style incorporates in-text citations and a References page.

CMS stands for Chicago Manual of Style. This style is typically used in publications, as well as in cases where footnotes might be helpful. This style incorporates footnotes and a Bibliography page.

Provide your readers with a definition if they may not know what a certain term means or is referring to. This may look like explaining what a scientific term means, what a concept is, or even clarifying the specific definition of a word that may have more than one meaning.

Rhetorical Appeals

Pathos (appeal to emotions)

An appeal to emotions can make your claim(s) more effective. If your words make readers feel something, whether that be anger, joy, excitement, or concern, they will be more likely to agree with your stance.

When making an appeal to emotions, consider which emotion(s) would be most helpful for a reader to feel if you want them to agree with you. Are they more likely to be on your side if they feel excited, sad, or scared? Also, think about how you can make readers feel these emotions. Depending on the type of writing you are doing, you may want to use descriptive language, include shocking statistics, or ask thought-provoking questions.

Ethos (appeal to credibility)

Showing your readers that you are a trustworthy writer is important. Three popular ways of proving credibility are providing credentials, sharing personal experience, and citing authority. Credentials show you are qualified in a certain area. They are typically related to school (ex: degrees earned) or work (jobs you’ve held). Personal experience shows that you have a real connection to the topic you are writing about. Citing authority shows that you have done the research needed to make a strong argument.

Logos (appeal to logic)

Supporting your claims with facts will help you convince your readers that you are right. Unlike an opinion, a fact can’t be argued with! Make sure that you cite your sources when including factual evidence in your work, and make sure to include your own analysis of why those facts back up your argument.

Visual Representations

Charts, graphs, figures, and drawings help readers envision your ideas and, in some cases, better understand your data. For example, if you are trying to show that there has been a dramatic increase or decrease of something, it might be more effective to include a bar graph that shows the difference in bar sizes than if you just listed the numbers by themselves.

Be careful not to rely too heavily on visual representations; this can be overwhelming for the reader and may make it seem like you are relying more on the images than your own analysis.

Your Experiences

Using your personal experience shows your readers you have first-hand experience with your topic. In a way, you become an authority figure on the topic, too. For example, if you are writing to argue that more research should be done on a certain disease, your credibility would increase if you were able to share your own personal experience with the disease.

Consider what type of writing you are doing. Be sure that using personal experience is appropriate for your audience and subject matter. Ask yourself whether your readers will accept personal experience as evidence.

Hopkins, Haley, Stephen Reid, & Dawn Kowalski. (2022). Developing Your Ideas. Writing@CSU . Colorado State University. https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guides.cfm?guideid=27

Developing Your Ideas

Details bring our ideas to life. A conversation without details is like a blank canvas, plain and lacking color until the painter arrives. When we talk with others, the details we provide help our listeners better understand our ideas. Providing details and support for our ideas is called development.Writers who develop their ideas usually do a better job of keeping their readers' attention and gaining their readers' trust. To develop your ideas, you'll need to know what types of development you should use with your particular audience and focus. With this information, you can then present convincing details to your readers.

A Definition of Development

Development is how writers choose to elaborate their main ideas. Typically, we associate development with details because specifics help make generalizations (the main idea, claim or thesis) more concrete.

Reasons for Developing Your Writing

Kate Kiefer, English Department Students need to be concerned with development for two main reasons:

• Details tend to be more persuasive and engaging than generalities. Most readers tend to get tired of reading texts that require them to fill in the gaps. (Obviously, those texts leave more room for readers to fill in what they want to and not necessarily what the writer intended, and so general texts also tend to be less successful in communicating ideas.) Details are more memorable than generalities and keep readers' attention more fully engaged on the text.
• Details tend to show what we know. In an academic setting in our culture, grasp of details sets apart the "C" student from the "A" student. Academic survival often depends on being able to prove control of a subject matter, and that control gets communicated through effective use of detail.

Types of Development

Steve Reid, English Department We think about development as being a variety of different things. It can be a specific example from the writer's experience. It could be statistics that the writers have. It could be quotations from authorities that the writers have found. It could be first hand observations. It could be an interview.

All writing uses various devices to develop ideas. Some are more appropriate than others, depending on the writing task. As a writer, you need to know what counts as development in the discipline you are writing for. Writing about the same topic for different assignments often requires you to adjust what details you use. For example, one essay on OJ Simpson might require your personal reaction to the verdict, while another essay might require researched statistics. Often, you will combine different types of evidence to develop your writing.

Amplification

Amplifications expand previous ideas. Writers use this form of development to clarify and further explain the points they make. This helps readers gain a complete understanding of the topic being discussed. The previous three sentences are good examples of amplification. Each sentence elaborates the first idea, "Amplifications expand previous ideas."

Appeal to Emotions

An appeal to emotions can make your claim more effective in some situations. It is often used, for example, by anti-abortion groups. They use emotionally charged words to support their position on the issue. This is often quite effective and is used more and more on both sides of the abortion issue. Appeals to emotions can be used in various arguments. You can use one in an article about computers, in which you suggest that computers are the soulless creations of a godless world. You can use them in an article about kitchen utensils, in which you say the type of pots and pans you recommend would harken back the good old days of homemade soups slowly simmering on the stove, of bacon and eggs prepared with the care and concern of those who cook for the ones they love. The important thing to consider in an appeal to emotion is the type of emotion you want to arouse in your reader, the effect you want this emotion to have, and the way that you can instill the emotion into your main idea.

Cite Authority

To cite authority means to quote or use information from a respected person in the field in which you are writing. If you are writing an article on the space program, it might be useful to quote Werner Von Braun. If you are writing an article on religion, you could quote one or more theologians. If you are writing on psychology, you might want to look at books or articles written by people who are doing important work in that field.

Cite Common Assumptions

People find it easy to agree with things that "everybody knows." If you can cite commonly held assumptions to back up your claims, your reader will often be more receptive to your claims. To use a common assumption, you need to understand the background of your readers. What are their prejudices? What are their concerns? How do they differ from other groups of people? This strategy is similar to citing authority. It has limitations, and it runs the risk of backfiring if you later discover the assumption you've cited is not one your readers share. But it can be effective and, if done subtlety, can strengthen your argument considerably.

Provide your readers with a definition if you need to specify exactly what you intend by your topic. Giving a definition of your topic does not mean looking it up in a dictionary. Different words hold different meanings depending on the context in which they are used. For instance, the word "drug" to a pharmacist means prescription medicine while to law enforcement officers visiting school children, the word "drug" refers to illegal narcotics.

Qualification

If you have taken an unusual position on your topic, you might qualify your ideas. This means you will limit the number of interpretations readers may have by stating exactly what your stance includes. For example, just because I support filterware for the Internet does not mean I support government censorship.

Use Analogy

You can often make a claim based on the similarity of one thing to another. You might argue, for instance, that buying a home computer is like buying a new car: Before you buy it, you want to take it out for a test drive. The purchase is likely to be a major one -- you may want to get a loan. Once you take it home, it will take a little while to get used to it. Analogies are convincing because they can make something unfamiliar or complex easier to understand. If the reader can see how something is like something they are familiar with, then the claim is likely to be more effective.

Use Analysis

In your paper, you can present an analysis of the data you've assembled to support your claims. The analysis itself becomes an important claim in your paper -- in a sense, you put yourself in the position of being an expert. If your analysis is sound, it is likely to be convincing.

Use Association

Association is an effective strategy. General Mills uses it all the time for Wheaties cereal. By placing a famous athlete on the box, they associate Wheaties with excellence. The message is, if you want to be like the famous athlete on our cereal box, you should eat our cereal. You can use association in a number of ways. If you are arguing that one type of aspirin is better than another, you can say that four out of five doctors recommend the type you like. If you are arguing that one type of literary analysis is better than another, you can say that an authority in the field uses your method. You have to understand that association doesn't necessarily mean what you say is true, simply that someone else endorses or uses it. Association can also be a dangerous strategy. If you are associating your main idea with a controversial figure, you may find that you convince some people, while you turn others off. Picking the people you associate your main idea with is extremely important.

How Audience and Focus Affect Development

All readers have expectations. They assume certain details should be included within certain texts. For instance, readers would be shocked to read NFL statistics in Vogue magazine. Biology students wouldn't expect a paragraph on the artistic value of a pond in an article discussing pond algae.

How you develop your ideas depends on your audience and focus. While it may seem obvious to include certain details, some forms of development work better with particular audiences. Further, your details should work together to support the overall idea of your writing.

Development and Audience

Michael Palmquist, English Department Most writers want their readers to understand what they write. Unfortunately, many writers present their ideas so poorly that readers sometimes feel as if they had walked in on the middle of a conversation. In a sense, the writer has abandoned readers--leaving them to figure out what the writer intends through hints and inferences.

Your audience is who will read what you write. Different audiences expect particular details from texts. For instance, suppose you are writing about the representation of women in a particular novel. You will need to provide background details about the characters if your audience has not read the work. Or, suppose you are writing to an organization to propose a new facility. Your audience might expect financial details, design details, or a mixture of both. Knowing who your audience is will help you determine what details to provide.

Development and Focus

Kate Kiefer, English Department Development and focus go hand in hand. Writers find it extremely difficult to include lots of specific detail if they haven't focused narrowly, mainly because it's hard to move a reader quickly from a very wide view to a very detailed support. Having established a narrow focus, however, writers need to provide detailed support for that focus, and so these are the skills most college writing assignments stress.

The focus of your writing is the main idea you convey. Focus is what guides how you develop your ideas. For instance, perhaps your focus is proving a scientific concept incorrect through an experiment you conducted. You would then develop your report by describing what you did, your results, and how your experiment disproves the concept. Or, perhaps you're writing to disagree with a philosophical concept. You would then develop your essay by presenting the concept and the reasons why you disagree with it. These reasons might be your opinions, criticisms from another philosopher, or perhaps even interviews with instructors.

Strategies for Developing Your Ideas

Donna Lecourt, English Department What counts as evidence is disciplinary specific. A quote from a novel is evidence, is development. A research study is evidence. Observational research is evidence. So, yes, we always develop our arguments, but the ways in which we develop in various disciplines are going to be radically different.

Developing your ideas requires fine tuning. Whether you are reciting your personal experience or interviewing multiple people, you should always consider how your readers will receive your ideas.

Cause/Effect

Consider this strategy if you need to show your readers why something happened or the consequences of a decision or event. For example, company executives decide to use electronic mail because employees are not communicating job tasks with one another (cause). As a result, employees not only increase work production, but they also use the mail system to advertise social events (effects). Depending on your focus, you may need to present only the causes or only the effects of your topic.

Compare/Contrast

If you are writing about a complex topic, you might consider using a comparison or a contrast. This will help your readers understand your topic by reminding them of something they already know. For instance, electronic mail is similar to hand delivered mail in that both require an address to deliver a message. However, they are different because one is delivered more quickly than the other, one may seem more personal than the other, etc. This type of strategy is also known as an analogy.

Interviews allow you to quote information from a respected person in the field in which you are writing. This makes your ideas more believable since someone else also agrees with what you have to say. This strategy is also known as citing an authority.

Use the library to locate books and articles on your topic. Using outside resources in your writing conveys to readers you have researched your topic. This makes your ideas more believable. This strategy is also known as citing authority.

Visual Representations

Consider using visual representations if you need to depict data to your readers. Charts, graphs, figures, and drawings help readers envision your ideas. For example, with readers who have never used electronic mail, you might draw a picture of what the screen actually looks like. This type of strategy is also known as analysis. You become an expert on your topic. Be careful not to bombard your readers with too many visual representations.

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web offers many resources about every topic. By surfing the Web, you can find organizations, archives, and many other types of documentation. Be critical of the sources you locate on the Web. Since anyone, anywhere can create their own Web pages, make sure you quote from reliable sources.

Your Experiences

Using your personal experience shows your readers you have first hand experience with your topic. For instance, recipients often misread emotions in electronic mail. One time, I sent a sarcastic message to a friend who took me seriously and then refused to talk to me for two months. Consider the circumstances in which you are writing. Be sure that using personal experience is appropriate for your audience and subject matter. Ask yourself whether or not your readers will accept personal experiences as evidence.

Citation Information

Stephen Reid and Dawn Kowalski. (1994-2024). Developing Your Ideas. The WAC Clearinghouse. Colorado State University. Available at https://wac.colostate.edu/repository/writing/guides/.

Copyright Information

Copyright © 1994-2024 Colorado State University and/or this site's authors, developers, and contributors . Some material displayed on this site is used with permission.

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Essay Writing

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The Modes of Discourse—Exposition, Description, Narration, Argumentation (EDNA)—are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these approaches and students’ need to understand and produce them.

This resource begins with a general description of essay writing and moves to a discussion of common essay genres students may encounter across the curriculum. The four genres of essays (description, narration, exposition, and argumentation) are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres, also known as the modes of discourse, have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these genres and students’ need to understand and produce these types of essays. We hope these resources will help.

The essay is a commonly assigned form of writing that every student will encounter while in academia. Therefore, it is wise for the student to become capable and comfortable with this type of writing early on in her training.

Essays can be a rewarding and challenging type of writing and are often assigned either to be done in class, which requires previous planning and practice (and a bit of creativity) on the part of the student, or as homework, which likewise demands a certain amount of preparation. Many poorly crafted essays have been produced on account of a lack of preparation and confidence. However, students can avoid the discomfort often associated with essay writing by understanding some common genres.

Before delving into its various genres, let’s begin with a basic definition of the essay.

What is an essay?

Though the word essay has come to be understood as a type of writing in Modern English, its origins provide us with some useful insights. The word comes into the English language through the French influence on Middle English; tracing it back further, we find that the French form of the word comes from the Latin verb exigere , which means "to examine, test, or (literally) to drive out." Through the excavation of this ancient word, we are able to unearth the essence of the academic essay: to encourage students to test or examine their ideas concerning a particular topic.

Essays are shorter pieces of writing that often require the student to hone a number of skills such as close reading, analysis, comparison and contrast, persuasion, conciseness, clarity, and exposition. As is evidenced by this list of attributes, there is much to be gained by the student who strives to succeed at essay writing.

The purpose of an essay is to encourage students to develop ideas and concepts in their writing with the direction of little more than their own thoughts (it may be helpful to view the essay as the converse of a research paper). Therefore, essays are (by nature) concise and require clarity in purpose and direction. This means that there is no room for the student’s thoughts to wander or stray from his or her purpose; the writing must be deliberate and interesting.

This handout should help students become familiar and comfortable with the process of essay composition through the introduction of some common essay genres.

This handout includes a brief introduction to the following genres of essay writing:

• Expository essays
• Descriptive essays
• Narrative essays
• Argumentative (Persuasive) essays

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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.

The essay writing process consists of three main stages:

• Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
• Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
• Revision:  Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

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Table of contents

Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

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Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

• Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
• Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
• Do your research: Read  primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
• Come up with a thesis:  The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
• Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

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The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a  topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

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The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

• Returns to your thesis
• Ties together your main points
• Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

• Including new arguments or evidence
• Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
• Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

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Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

• An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
• Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
• A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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Developing Ideas for Writing

Prewriting definition.

Prewriting means just what it says—it’s the writing that occurs before you actually write a draft. Richard Nordquist writes that

“In composition, the term prewriting refers to any activity that helps a writer think about a topic, determine a purpose, analyze an audience, and prepare to write.  Prewriting is closely related to the art of invention in classical rhetoric.

‘The objective of prewriting,’ according to Roger Caswell and Brenda Mahler, ‘is to prepare students for writing by allowing them to discover what they know and what else they need to know. Prewriting invites exploration and promotes the motivation to write’ ( Strategies for Teaching Writing , 2004).” [1]

In order to explore and identify what might be fruitful ideas for writing, I tend to jot concepts, phrases, and notes to myself.  Sometimes I draw linkages to connect related ideas. Other writers tend to just write in order to explore and identify patterns of thought. Still other writers list out all of the concepts and information they can think of around a certain topic, and then narrow and refine their lists. Others start writing a really “drafty draft” of an essay, and then circle back into prewriting strategies to develop ideas. Any prewriting strategy is fine, depending on “how your mind thinks” and how you like to discover and explore ideas.

Prewriting Processes

(text from here to end of page © Empire State College)

How do writers develop ideas for writing? Writers use many techniques, and it’s a bet that most of the techniques involve writing itself. Think of a composer creating ideas for a song by playing notes on a piano keyboard. Think of a sculptor creating ideas for a statue by shaping and reshaping pieces of clay. Think of a quilter creating ideas for a quilt pattern by arranging and rearranging different snippets of fabric. All creative endeavors go through preliminary stages in which creators generate ideas, discard some, and play with others that capture their imaginations or that seem to “fit the bill.” Each creator develops ideas by getting immersed and “doodling” in the particular medium. And writing is no different. In writer’s terms, that preliminary stage of idea development is called “prewriting.”

Prewriting usually is messy in terms of having ideas scattered all over the place–think of the quilter with pieces of fabric all over the living room floor. For a lot of people, it’s liberating to be messy and not worry about logic, pattern, or final form. That’s the purpose of prewriting, to be as free-ranging as possible in generating ideas. If you’re aggravated by mess, then prewriting can be thought of as pre-planning, as a means of generating the ideas and data that will help you create the essay draft. Either way, prewriting is a stage of idea incubation, a way to generate ideas and capture your thoughts through writing.

Ideas for writing develop in many ways, and prewriting techniques reflect the different ways in which ideas can develop. Some forms of prewriting are intended to help you bring subconscious ideas and interests into consciousness (some forms help if you tend to draw a blank when you’re asked to “write about what interests you”):

• Freewriting
• Brainstorming
• Clustering/mapping
• Maintaining a personal journal

Other forms of prewriting are intended to help you generate your own ideas in response to others’ ideas:

• Responding to a text
• Maintaining a response journal

Still other forms of prewriting are intended to help you both generate and focus ideas about a subject that you’ve already chosen:

• Asking questions about a subject
• Making a list
• Idea Matrix for College Writing
• Working with Prewriting

The following videos explain different strategies for prewriting. Although you’ll read about these strategies and more in the upcoming pages, these videos provide a good introduction to some basic approaches to prewriting.

[1] Nordquist, Richard. “Prewriting (Composition).” Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms , ThoughtCo., 6 Mar. 2017, www.thoughtco.com/prewriting-composition-1691676.

• Developing Ideas for Writing. Text under Prewriting Definition. Authored by : Susan Oaks. Provided by : Empire State College, SUNY OER Services. Project : College Writing. License : CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial
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• video Prewriting Strategies. Authored by : Leslie Cox. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQJSrQT9loI . License : Other . License Terms : YouTube video
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• Text under Prewriting Processes. Authored by : Susan Oaks, Elaine Handley. Provided by : Empire State College. Located at : https://www.esc.edu/online-writing-center/resources/academic-writing/process/prewriting-developing-ideas/ . Project : Writing Resources. License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Copyright, Empire State College. Used with permission.

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Howe Center for Writing Excellence

Developing your ideas.

Is your essay too short? Has the instructor asked you to "develop" or expand on points in your paper? Are you not sure what else you can say about your topic? It's possible you need to do some more research so you'll have more material to include—you can visit a research librarian to help you find more sources. More than likely, though, you need to say more about the points you're already making. But don't simply repeat or add fluffy language to reach your page count. Your instructors want to see you provide depth and analysis about your topic. This handout provides various strategies for developing your thoughts, giving you more rich material to write about.

Types of Development

• Details:  Ask yourself the Five W’s and How: Who? Where? What? When? Why? and How? Be specific and thorough.

Peter, an overly anxious person, sat trembling in the old decrepit gymnasium on the coldest of fall mornings, awaiting the ACT—a test he know he needed to do well on to enter college.

• Amplification:  Expand a previous idea by sticking with it in subsequent sentences:

College is frustrating. It takes a lot of time and energy. However, students continue to apply.

• Appealing to Emotion:  What images, ideas, events, and memories do you want to trigger in your readers’ mind?

The fact remains—a student drops out of high school every 26 seconds in the U.S. (“11 Facts About High School Dropout Rates”).

• Analysis:  To develop your argument, reflect on the significance of quotes, facts, ideas, and broader claims you are making. Ask yourself, “What does this quote or idea or statistic really mean? Why did I include it or think it important to my point?"

The Reds' baseball home opener drew in countless spectators—a sea of red. Yet why Cincinnati? Historically, professional baseball players were quite invested in their communities, much like Cincinnati is known by its neighborhoods today.

• Citing Authority:  What major authority figures (e.g. scholars, book editors, politicians, scientists) will support your argument?

The surgeon general claims…

• Analogy:  Make an argument based on the similarity of one thing to another.

Applying for graduate school is like searching for a partner: it’s a courtship. You need to work at it, remaining patient. Research the school online; schedule a visit, meet with a professor or student in person. You will find your match eventually.

• Qualification:  Cover all your bases. Especially if you are making a new or bold argument that goes against the trend, you want to qualify what you are saying to limit your reader’s interpretations (that is, so they don’t take your ideas out of context).

I by no means want to suggest that all teachers lack organizational skills.

• Application:  Readers often like to imagine or consider what you are saying in practice.

If an athlete were to apply Dr. X’s theory to athletic training practices, she would find it quite difficult to actually perform Dr. X's theoretical ideas in a real-world context.

• Talking It Out.  Sometimes you just need to “bounce ideas back and forth” with someone. Consider asking a classmate or friend if you can “talk out” your argument. You will be surprised just how helpful it can be to articulate your ideas out loud. Howe Writing Center consultants are specially trained to help with this "back and forth" of ideas—consider making an appointment to practice this strategy.
• Diagramming.  Especially if you are trying to add more detail to your writing, make a list of as many descriptions, ideas, or sources (even if only books or articles you want to read at a later point). Who/What are the key figures in a debate? What are the most essential elements of your story?
• Free Writing.  Without worrying about grammar or organization, “free write” about a topic for 10-15 minutes. Just write down whatever comes to mind, even if your sentences feel fragmented. Reread your writing. Pick out a sentence or idea and write about that for another 10-15 minutes. Continue reading and writing to see how far your free-flowing ideas can take you.
• Looking to Models.  Look up an academic article or another piece of writing typical of your field of study or current type of project (many articles found through the library databases work well). How are other scholars/writers developing their ideas? How do they back their claims?
• Interviewing.  There are of course multiple types of “sources” (e.g. books, articles, digital media, as well as people). To develop your ideas on a specific topic—especially if your research is new and cutting edge—interviewing to gain insight can glean quite productive results. Remember to get permission from anyone you interview to use their words (also remember to follow university protocol for ethical research practices).
• Researching (Internet and Library Resources).  While a “Google search” is often an appropriate starting point, the library databases contain countless articles and research data you can access to give your paper authority and depth. Don't hesitate to contact a librarian or make an appointment with the Howe Writing Center for help with this strategy.

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Developing a Paper Using Strategies

Each writing strategy we have covered is an essay writing strategy. A synthesis essay, an evaluative essay, a comparative essay, a cause-and-effect essay-- each requires an introduction, a thesis, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, some parts of an essay will look different depending on which strategy you employ. The most obvious differences will appear in your thesis statement. However, these differences also filter into your body paragraphs. 

Comparative Analysis (with Evaluation)

• Assignment Prompt
• Thesis Statement Options
• Body Paragraph Organization

Imagine you receive an assignment requiring you to compare the benefits of one cost-analysis system with another and show how system A is superior to system B.

What will your thesis statement need to contain in order to satisfy this prompt?

Your thesis might look like this:

Systems A and B are both efficient; however, System A involves less computational time and is easier to understand, and these qualities make training, in particular, more efficient.

First, notice how the comparative analysis in the statement starts immediately. Also, notice how the statement both compares and contrasts. It finds a quality that the two systems have in common and proceeds to sort out the differences within that common quality.

Evaluation is also taking place. The thesis statement sets up a criterion - training efficiency - and assigns value to both systems based on the established criterion.

The statement employs two persuasive strategies. It appeals to logos by implying that the paper will evaluate between parts and a whole, and the statement appeals to pathos by assuming the reader’s preference for understandability and ease of use. 

For your body paragraphs, you have two main options for developing and supporting your thesis.

Address systems A and B separately. For each system, you would address each aspect of your established criteria. Additionally, in this case, because system A is the superior system, you would address system B first and system A last. 

Organize based on your established criteria. Provide sections on efficiency in general, computational time, and understanding. Then compare and contrast systems A and B within each section.

Cause and Effect Analysis (with Synthesis)

Imagine you receive an assignment requiring you to discuss the conditions associated with repeat offenses among criminal offenders.

What will your thesis statement need to contain in order to satisfy the prompt?

Your thesis could be something like the following:

Policymakers tend to focus their attention on one cause or another for why criminal offenders repeat offenses, but as scholarship has shown, institutional, legal, familial, and behavioral conditions all contribute, suggesting that a multipronged approach to the issue may be most effective.

Notice how the thesis signals the question of causation right away, followed by the application of scholarship to the issue. This mention of scholarship signals to the reader that a synthesis will follow. Then, an inference from the synthesized scholarship provides the claim made within the thesis.

The statement also employs two persuasive strategies: logos, by associating causes with an effect and drawing an inference from scholarly sources. The statement appeals to ethos by demonstrating knowledge of scholarly authority and the implication that scholarship will be used to support the central claim of the paper.

The thesis of your cause-and-effect analysis has outlined the body paragraphs for you. You should discuss each of the causes in the order listed. Using the sources to which your thesis alludes, you should define the causes, show their effects, and support the paper’s thesis with statistics and examples.

Key Takeaways

• Every writing assignment you write will have specific strategies to employ depending on the type of assignment and details in the prompt.
• It's important to highlight keywords in your assignment prompt in order to know how to approach your thesis and organize your body paragraphs.

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Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing?

What Is College Writing?

Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Doing Exploratory Research

Getting from Notes to Your Draft

Introduction

Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition

Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience

Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started

Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment

Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic

Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy

Rewriting: Getting Feedback

Rewriting: The Final Draft

Techniques to Get Started - Outlining

Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques

Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas

Writing: Outlining What You Will Write

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction

Critical Strategies and Writing

Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis

Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation

Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion

Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis

Kinds of Assignments You Will Write

Patterns for Presenting Information

Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques

Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data

Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts

Supporting with Research and Examples

Writing Essay Examinations

Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete

Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing

Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources

Research Resources: What Are Research Resources?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources

Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure

Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure

The Nature of Research

The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated?

The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed?

The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?

Chapter 5: Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Giving Credit to Sources

Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws

Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation

Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides

Integrating Sources

Practicing Academic Integrity

Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources

Types of Documentation

Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists

Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style

Types of Documentation: Note Citations

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Finding Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

How Is Writing Graded?

How Is Writing Graded?: A General Assessment Tool

The Draft Stage

The Draft Stage: The First Draft

The Draft Stage: The Revision Process and the Final Draft

The Draft Stage: Using Feedback

The Research Stage

Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers

Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure

Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument

Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion

Writing Arguments: Types of Argument

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Dictionaries

General Style Manuals

Researching on the Internet

Special Style Manuals

Writing Handbooks

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project

Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report

Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve

Collaborative Writing: Methodology

Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation

Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members

Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan

General Introduction

Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Working with Your Instructor’s Comments and Grades

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

Devising a Writing Project Plan and Schedule

Reviewing Your Plan with Others

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115 Career Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best career development topic ideas & essay examples, 💡 interesting topics to write about career development, 📌 simple & easy career development essay titles, 👍 good essay topics on career development, ❓ career development questions.

• Personal, Professional, and Career Development In this case, the mother had a misconceived perception that the chances of succeeding in an attempt to renovate and improve the school were minimal.
• Sales Manager’s Career Development Plan As a Sales Manager, a career development plan is important to help one achieve the set goals and objectives. The short-term goals and objectives include the following; To increase the sales revenue of the company […] We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Career Path Analysis and Professional Development In making this plan then one has to consider the current lifestyle and the current job so that in making the plan then you will be sure of what you are to change so that […]
• Electrical and Electronics Engineering Career Development Electronics engineering is the branch of electrical engineering, which deals with the uses of “the electromagnetic spectrum and with the application of such electronic devices as integrated circuits, transistors, and vacuum tubes”.
• Personal Brand and Career Development The “I” brand concept suggests that the potential job candidate and career builders approach themselves as marketed goods and attempt to turn their own sets of skills and personalities into goods, wanted and attractive to […]
• Mobile App Development Career Speech On the other hand, mobile app development might be a tedious task, which requires superior analytical skills and mastery of programming languages. In conclusion, mobile app development is a fascinating and rewarding career.
• Bandura’s and Holland’s Career Development Theories I believe that self-efficacy is a concept that can be used by anyone to change the way they view themselves and gain more confidence.
• Career Development: From Accountant to Branch Manager My five-year career development plan is in the business field, where I am currently working as an accountant in a bank and am planning that in the next five years I will have been promoted […]
• Career Planning and Development The components discussed in the paper include matching my skills and abilities with the preferred occupation of SGM, matching my work styles and values with the position of SGM, establishing the viability of remuneration package […]
• Plan for Trucking Career Development According to Mazareanu, it accounts for the majority of land freight transportation in the United States, with a market valued at US$732.
• Career Development Program for 30-Year-Old Population At the age of thirty, it might be a challenging task for the individual to decide to change one’s career and face particular risks and concerns regarding a new occupation.
• Healthcare Managers’ Career Development Healthcare managers are expected to develop a detailed action plan to facilitate the achievement of the goals, provision of quality services to patients, and the accomplishment of the ultimate organizational goals.
• Healthcare Administrators and Managers’ Career Development Healthcare managers and administrators are in increasing demand as the organizations become more cumbersome and complex. It refers to the processes of recording, interpreting, classifying, and reporting financial transactions and economic data of the company.
• Career Development in Healthcare Administration The institution provides regular training to the members and updates the current trends that are witnessed in the healthcare sector. Second, The American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration is a website that helps in […]
• Career Development for Healthcare Administrators This, in turn, means that the government should allocate a more significant part of the budget to public healthcare, and the patients should pay more for medical services.
• HFMA: Learning, and Career Development The Healthcare Financial Management Association is an organization that offers membership and professional development opportunities to businesses in the healthcare field and reviews complex issues affecting the industry to provide guidance and education.
• Self-Efficacy and Career Development On the path to achieving the set goal, it is important that an individual realizes the fact that success or failure are possibilities, and that what will make one achieve either of the two is […]
• Paralegal Career Development in Law Firms The company has a total of seven attorneys specializing in different fields of law. The company does the hiring of various employees as and when the opportunity arises.
• Electrical Engineering Career Development However, this will be a possibility due to the size of equipment and machines that reduce with the increase in technology.
• Medical Specialties and Career Development This specialty is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases afflicting infants, children, and the adolescent. Pediatric cardiology deals with the treatment of heart and circulatory illnesses of children.
• Studying Abroad and Improving the Outcomes of Students’ Career Development Because of the opportunities for knowledge sharing and active cross-cultural communication, one can expect studying abroad to have a significantly positive effect on the career development of students in the public health sector.
• Teacher Career: Professional Development Plan The short plan examines the current status and needs of the particular user, while at the same time looking at the different ways in which the needs can be met and recording the goals and […]
• Communication Skills for Career Development in Nursing At last, the nursing professionals must decide, the employees must be in control, and the staff must be the hero and get the credit.
• Career Development Effect on Employees’ Commitment Project Proposal Introduction Background information Aim of the study Objectives of the study Methodology Research design Sampling techniques Data collection, measures, and data analysis
• Career Development Plan Summary The main task of the manager of the company is the exposure of hidden resources in the organization, right arrangement of the staff according to the tasks they are provided with.
• Career Development Plan – Compensation Planning I am pleased to forward my recommended compensation plan for the Employment and Hiring team of ten staffers and one Supervisor.
• Career Development: Definition and Stages It is career development that forms the core of the kind of job a person actually desires to have. For a country to realize the most outcomes of effective learning, it is without question to […]
• Key Elements in a Successful Career Development in a School The essay tries to analyze the concepts of career development, career education, career counseling, career guidance, and career information with special reference to the Australian career development system in schools.
• Career Development Compensation Plan For example, in the compensation plan it is shown that there will be different rewards for the best employee, the best improved and honoring of retired employees.
• Career Development & Employee Motivation Initiatives: Chipotle Introduction Motivation and Organizational Behavior Problem Evaluation Goal of Analysis Hypothesis Recommendations and Solutions Conclusion
• Career Development and Employee Motivation Initiatives at Chipotle However, as revealed in this paper, Chipotle’s vast expansion has resulted in challenges pertaining to the sustainability of its operations and the control of the prevailing business culture. Chipotle’s culture of sustainability, reverence, and growth […]
• Interest Profiler and Career Development I think it reflects my disposition as an individual and in my career since I like working with people and communing in a friendly and skillful manner.
• Management Career Possibilities and Development Therefore, the following paper is to discuss and determine the personal steps that one has to take in order to become a conscious manager.
• Career Development Theories The individuals inappropriate for the application of social learning theory are the individuals that happened to be isolated from life in the society and interactions with other people.
• Career Development in Saudi Arabian Organizations Saudi Arabia is regarded as a high-income economy because of the attractive wages that the organizations pay the employees. A significant challenge that faces the programs is the willingness of Saudi nationals to take up […]
• A Five-Year Career Development Plan In other words, selecting a career is not enough; rather, one has to be willing to work on acquiring the skills and competencies needed to pursue a chosen career successfully. The development plan further assists […]
• Public Policy for Career Development Although this is the intention of the curriculum, it is evident that the current academic system is not training the pupils to nurture their careers as they continue to acquire skills.
• Formalized Career Development System A formalized career development system may be helpful to an organization in terms of setting the expectations and reviewing the success through competencies and learning objectives.
• Socialization and Career Development For instance, effective socialization structures have enabled employees of institutions that operate in the tourism sector in the US to understand the needs of customers and what is expected of them.
• Leadership and Career Development Interventions The second aspect is leadership development that bridges the routine, policy and science of leadership development by highlighting the importance of enhancing both physical and social capital in organizations.
• Career Development and Compensation Career development refers to the lifelong process of managing progression in learning and work, which significantly determines the nature and quality of individual’s lives, the kind of people they become, their sense of purpose, the […]
• Career Development Activities A career development mentor should be assigned to the employees to provide this kind of mentorship for the employees. The company therefore needs to be prepared for other stages such as reviewing the pay package […]
• Critical Analysis: The Peter Principle as an Explanation of Problem of Career Development However, the statement of the point of incompetence should be considered from the position of the lack of motivation and the peculiarity of every situation.
• Theories of Learning and Their Significance When Developing Career Development Systems
• Managers Can Assist Employees with Career Development
• Aspects Concerning the Opportunities of Career Development in the Human Resources Domain
• How Technology Affects Career Development
• An Analysis Of Employee Training And Career Development
• Career Development Is the Responsibility of the Individual
• The Theories Of Individual Career Development
• An Analysis of the Career Development Model in the United States of America
• The Different Steps in Learning the Proper Career Development
• Ethics Codes And The National Career Development Association
• Factors Which Enhance Job Recruitment and Career Development
• The Role of Career Development in Improving Organizational Effectiveness and Employee Development
• What Are Your Aims for Your Future Career Development
• Concept of Career in the Context of Career Development Perspective
• Civil Servants Career Development in the Romanian Central Public Administration
• Career Development Intervention Vs. Leadership Development Intervention
• LGBT Identity Stages and Career Development
• The Importance of Career Development Class to Students
• Career Development in Generation X
• Transitions Of Career Development And Transition Programs
• Effective Succession Planning and Career Development
• Gender Differences in the Career Development of Young White-collar Workers
• Leadership Style, Career Development and Work Satisfaction to Employee’s Performance
• Middle School Principals and Professional Career Development
• Improving Performance For Future Career Development
• Career Development And Performance Of Succession Planning
• Leading Theories And Practices On Career Development
• Enhancements of Job Recruitment and Career Development
• Career Development And Initial Start Into Professional Learning Communit
• The Importance Of Management And Career Development
• Career Development of Native American Adolescents
• The Effect Of Compensation, Career Development, Work-Family Support On Job Satisfaction
• Attracting Retaining Talents And Career Development In Global Era
• Factors Affecting Health Care Administration Career Development by Gender Differences
• Factors Affect The Culinary Career Development Management
• Men and Women in Fiduciary Institutions: A Study of Sex Differences in Career Development
• Measuring Personality For Use In Career Development
• Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Career Development
• The Relationships Among Performance Appraisal Satisfaction, Career Development and Creative Behavior
• Using Technology To Enhance Employee Productivity And Career Development
• Career Development Is The Most Essential Aspect Of Human
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy And Body Dysmorphic Disorder Counseling
• The Relationship Between Effective Learning And Career Development Programs And Employee Retention In Organizations
• What Challenges Facing Women’s Career Development in the Greek Banking Sector?
• Why Is It Important to Learn About Careers?
• What Is Career Development?
• How Does the School Testing Methods Affect the Students in Preparation for College or Careers?
• What Is Career Development, and Why It Is Important for an Organization?
• Why Is Career Development Important in Our Lives?
• What Are the Benefits of Planning Your Future Career?
• Is Career Development Necessary to an Individual?
• What Are the Barriers That Influence Career Development?
• How Does Career Development Impact Your Professional Development?
• What Factors Influence Career Development?
• How Does Skills Affect Career Choice?
• What Are the Things You Need to Consider in Creating Your Career Plan?
• Why Structural Engineering Is an Appealing Career?
• What Career Transitions Are You Likely to Face in the Next Ten Years?
• How Do You Discuss Your Career Goals?
• What Are the Types of Career Development?
• How Do You Discuss Career Development With Your Boss?
• What Are the Stages of Career Development?
• What Are Career Development Strategies?
• What Are the Principles of Career Development?
• What Four Questions Should You Ask When Choosing a Career?
• What Are Good Questions to Ask a Manager for Career Development?
• What Are Some Good Career Development Questions?
• What Do You Discuss in Career Development?
• What Do You Say in a Career Development Meeting?
• What Can You Do to Improve Your Skills in Achieving Your Career Goals?
• What Skills Will You Need to Develop to Prepare for This Career?
• What Are the 5 P’s of Career Development?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, November 9). 115 Career Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/career-development-essay-topics/

"115 Career Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 9 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/career-development-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '115 Career Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 9 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "115 Career Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." November 9, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/career-development-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "115 Career Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." November 9, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/career-development-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "115 Career Development Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." November 9, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/career-development-essay-topics/.

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