Planning your assignment

There are different approaches to planning your assignment. You might create a rough outline before you start doing any reading. This will help you to think about what your question/title is asking you to do. You could use what you know about the topic already (from lectures or your own knowledge) to create a logical outline. Or, you might decide to do some reading first to give you an overview of the topic. Either way, your plan might change throughout the writing process as your thinking and understanding develop. You'll find some activities below to shape your thinking at the planning stage. 

In this video, Learning Enhancement Tutors at UEA offer tips on planning your writing.

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PLANNING YOUR WRITING

5 QUESTIONS for planning your writing:

Developing a logical structure for your assignment

Spend some time thinking about the title or question you have been given is asking you to do. Think about how many sections you will have, how many points you will make and the order in which you will present information. Your assignment brief might give detailed instructions about this, or you might have to decide what is logical. Keep your reader in mind: what will help them to understood the ideas you are discussing? You might find it helpful to draw a diagram or shape that shows how ideas relate to one another. An example of how this could be done is on the left. The example also shows some questions to consider in the different sections of your assignment. 

Further help

For more help, have a look at the Learning Enhancement Team's resources to help you with academic writing and studying.