1. How to plan your writing

2. Workshop plan and learning intentions
At the end of the session ALL learners will feel more confident about:
Understanding your assignment
Generating ideas for writing
Writing a draft assignment
Structuring ideas in coherent paragraphs
Composing a clear introduction and conclusion

3. Understanding your assignment
To produce a good piece of writing you need to:
Carefully plan the content based on type of format e.g. essay, report etc.
Cover all that is required from the title in a logical order.

4. Starting point. What does the title mean?
Your first task is to understand what the title means:
You need to interpret the academic keywords used in the title.

5. Task 1: Interpreting the question: what are the assessment verbs or task phrases for each assignment title?
Compare and contrast Twitter and Facebook.
To what extent does privately funded education threaten state funded education?
What are the ways that gastroenteric disease can be treated in the first week after infection?
Justify the following position: substantial damage is done to human rights through the use of tax havens.
Using Belch and Belch’s position, (2012), evaluate how important situation analysis is in the development of a promotional strategy.
Look at the handout (Task 1, p1-2) of the main words used in essay and exam titles for extra examples.

6. Planning techniques
There are THREE recommended techniques to generate ideas to get started on a plan:
Brainstorming
Mind-mapping
Linear plan

7. Task 2: generating ideas
Instructions:
Generate ideas for the following question, using the technique you chose.
‘Should the voting age be lowered to 16? Discuss.’ 
In groups, brainstorm to generate ideas
From the ideas you generate, develop a mind map (Look at the task 2 – Mind mapping section in the handout, pp. 4-5.)
Finally, try to organise your ideas into a logical order, and produce a linear plan

8. Mind map

9. Task 2: Linear plan

10. From planning to drafting
Having a clear plan or assignment outline will:
Save you time
Help ensure you answer the question
Help you decide what to read
Help you organise your ideas and cover any assessment criteria
Make it easier for your lecturer to read!

11. Task 3: Drafting
Exercise: in your small groups discuss how you might go about drafting your essay.
What is drafting?
What steps do you think are involved in the drafting process?

12. Drafting: the process The rough draft Working document (better)
Penultimate draft (even better)
The final proof (what you hand in)

13. Paragraphing (a short quiz)
What is a paragraph?
What should good paragraphs contain?
How long should they be?

14. A short video on paragraphing

15. Developing a paragraph
Write a topic sentence, linking to the previous paragraph and introducing the specific point of this paragraph (S)
Expand this with more information e.g. examples, quotations,
definitions, explanations (E)
Compare/ contrast/ examine opposing ideas/ give reasons/causes etc (E)
Evaluate the evidence (E)
Add a viewpoint/ draw a conclusion
Link to the next paragraph

16. Task 4: put the parts back in order
Another area that has received attention is the content and presentation of handover information. Wills (1994, p. 36) observes that “an unprofessional approach has been noted among some nurses, with derogatory comments about patients or their families”. A B
A number of problems associated with the traditional routines of handover practices have been identified. C
Thus, many serious problems have been identified in traditional handover practices which may reflect on the professional standing of nurses in this profession.
Lastly, there is the issue of what information nurses actually pass on during the handover. It appears that:
Nurses frequently report on their own activities over the shift rather than providing patient centred information. Information obtained from discussions with relatives is rarely relayed onto other nursing staff, and of the patient information reported, most is described from a medical perspective rather than focusing on the discussion of nursing related information. (Professional Nurse, 1997, p. 637) D
Baldwin and McGinnis (1994, pp ) find that many handovers are unnecessarily lengthy which means that there is an unacceptable period of time during each shift when nurses are not available in the ward or unit. E

17. Task 4: put the parts back in order
A number of problems associated with the traditional routines of handover practices have been identified.
Baldwin and McGinnis (1994, pp ) find that many handovers are unnecessarily lengthy which means that there is an unacceptable period of time during each shift when nurses are not available in the ward or unit. E
Another area that has received attention is the content and presentation of handover information. Wills (1994, p. 36) observes that “an unprofessional approach has been noted among some nurses, with derogatory comments about patients or their families”. A
Lastly, there is the issue of what information nurses actually pass on during the handover. It appears that:
Nurses frequently report on their own activities over the shift rather than providing patient centred information. Information obtained from discussions with relatives is rarely relayed onto other nursing staff, and of the patient information reported, most is described from a medical perspective rather than focusing on the discussion of nursing related information. (Professional Nurse, 1997, p. 637) D
Thus, many serious problems have been identified in traditional handover practices which may reflect on the professional standing of nurses in this profession. C

18. Structuring your assignment
A clear structure will include:
Introduction
Main body of your argument/writing
Conclusion
Your tutor may get an overview of your work by reading the introduction and conclusion first.

19. Introduction
Use the introduction to explain what your written work is going to do. Your introduction should:
make your reader want to read on
explain how you interpret the title
identify the issues you are going to explore
provide a brief outline of how you plan to deal with each of these issues, and in what order
your introduction should be about one-tenth of the total essay

20. Introduction elements
Some key elements to include:
Background information
Hypothesis or topic
Scope
Outline

21. Introduction exercise

22. Conclusion Should contain no new material.
Should summarise your argument, briefly recap on your main themes, and clearly state and make recommendations on your general conclusions.
Make clear why your conclusions are important or significant. In the last sentence, sum up your argument very briefly and make a clear link back to the title.
Your conclusion should be about one-tenth of the total essay.

23. Conclusion elements Some key elements to include: Opening sentence
Summary of key ideas
Recommendations, predictions and opinion
Round off

24. Conclusion exercise

25. Skills for the workplace
At university:
How to plan your writing
In the workplace:
Understanding what is expected from a task – analysing a question or request
How to generate ideas using brainstorms, mind maps etc – workload planning, office/ward re-organisations
Planning your writing – evidence based reports, incident reports, case/patient notes
Drafting and writing in a clear and well structured style – making yourself understood
What other skills will you need for employment?

26. Other academic skills workshops
How to make notes from your reading and lectures
Reading effectively to understand a report, taking useful notes at meetings
How to put your reading into your writing
How to summarise and synthesis multiple sources
How to reference and avoid plagiarism
Acknowledging the words of another company, or institution, that you use in a policy document
How to get started with critical writing & How to improve your critical writing
Writing a report, writing reflectively for continued professional development

27. Workshops on a range of academic skills
Further help
Library online workbooks
Ask a Librarian
Workshops on a range of academic skills
Study skills webpages