Mailing Address: 3501 University Blvd. East, Adelphi, MD 20783
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. © 2022 UMGC.
All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.
Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?
After enrolling in college, you might wonder why many of your classes require a great deal of essay writing. Writing assignments allow you to acquire knowledge and practice many different critical thinking skills. For example, the research process helps you learn how to evaluate information for reliability and relevance. Writing a thesis statement lets you practice summarizing big concepts. Good paragraphing can give you practice in organizing ideas, building arguments, refuting counter-arguments, analyzing data, and many more important thinking skills. Plus, the process of completing a writing assignment can sharpen your project management skills.
Writing assignments are recursive in nature, which means that sometimes you might repeat previous steps with new ideas in mind. For example, research at any stage of the process might cause you to revise drafted pieces of the paper. Or, as you draft a section, you might brainstorm a new idea to include. This is normal and natural, and it should not be a cause for concern unless it keeps you from completing a project on time.
Click on the arrows below to learn more about the writing assignment process.
Steps in the Writing Assignment Process
This includes a close reading of the assignment so that you understand the reader's expectations and the assignment goals.
This includes a timeline for research, drafting, feedback, and revision.
This is an idea generation process that might include mind-mapping, free-writing, or other open-ended tasks.
Early research is often performed with the simple goal of seeing what kind of information exists on a topic, and it can often help with brainstorming.
Prewriting activities include outlining, note-taking, and organization of ideas with the assignment requirements in mind.
Rather than open-ended and exploratory, this research is designed to find targeted source information to support a paper’s important concepts.
This is the process of writing sentences and paragraphs.
Also called a rough draft, this preliminary paper will usually change in significant ways as the paper is completed.
This is when a writer shows someone a paper draft with the goal of finding out how to make the paper better.
This is when a writer applies feedback comments to the draft with the goal of strengthening the paper.
This is changing a draft to make it better, and it can include large changes in organization and content or small changes in word choice or punctuation.
This is the final read-through to make sure everything is correct and complete.
This is the paper in its finished form.
Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing
-
How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing? -
What Is College Writing? -
Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?
-
Doing Exploratory Research -
Getting from Notes to Your Draft -
Introduction -
Prewriting -
Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition -
Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience -
Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started -
Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment -
Rewriting -
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
-
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 -
Developing a Paper Using Strategies -
Introduction -
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
-
Introduction -
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?
-
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
-
Introduction -
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
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 -
Conclusion -
General Introduction -
Peer Reviewing