Greetings Tousif,
I find that free-wring, writing to prompts and outlining help my writing.
1. Free-writing
Free-writing is like brainstorming in sentences. It is the opposite of knowing what you want to say first, and writing about it second.
Write for five minutes.
In sentences.
Private writing. No external reader.
Never stop writing. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
If you can’t think of what to say write, “I don’t know what to say.” Write down whatever is in your head on the page.
Don’t rush, but don’t go too slowly either. Write the words as they come to you without editing.
Again (because this is important) don’t think about editing, or correctness.
Don’t even think about what the next word on the page should be – just write what comes to mind, even if it doesn’t relate immediately to what you were saying before.
2. Generative writing to prompts
You can write about:
My project is about . . .
The stage I am at now is...
The next step is...
What I am interested in finding out is . . .
For my writing task, ‘original’ means . . .
Since last week/month I have progressed my project by . . .
I have identified a problem with.
Generic structure prompts:
The subject of my research is . . .
It merits study because . . .
My work relates to others’ in that . . .
The research question is . . .
I approached it from a perspective of . . .
When I did that I found . . .
What I think that means is . . .
There are implications for . . .
Introspection prompts:
What I am most interested in is…
The books/papers I have enjoyed reading most are…
The ideas I want to write about are…
What I want to do with this is…
What I want to look at is…
The idea I keep coming back to is…
Here are my ideas… views… feelings… on the topic…
The main question that interests me is…
What I really want to do is…
What I really want to say is…
I want to find out whether…
What’s next?
What writing have I done and what would I like to do?
Where do my ideas come from?
How does what I read compare with my own views?
What I want to write about next is...
What’s the Story?
Work-in-progress stories
What’s the story of your learning so far?
What’s the story of the development of your standpoint?
What’s the story of your understanding of the literature?
What’s the story your research so far?
What’s the story of the extent to which you have begun to achieve your writing task… goals/aims/objectives at this point?
3. Outlining
Classical outline:
Introduction – exordium: [The function of an introduction is to secure sympathetic attention of the reader]
Statement of the case – narration: [The case and your standpoint. Tell them what you are going to tell them]
Outline main points – divisio: [Outline of your main points]
Proof of the case – confirmation: [Your arguments for your claims]
Refutation of contrary case – confutation: [Your arguments against other views – rebuttals]
Conclusion – peroration: [The point is to asks for approval — impress, emphasise, arouse, restate]
Problem-solving outline:
What is the problem?
Why is it an interesting problem?
Why is it an unsolved problem?
What is my idea?
What are the details about my idea and how does it work?
How does my idea compare to other people’s approaches?
Outlining using paragraphs:
Write a list of the points you want to cover.
Look at your list: are any of these actually more than one point?
Can you drop any points?
Are they in the right order?
Write a paragraph on each one.
Sources
Rowena Murray's 'How to write a thesis'
Simon Peyton Jones's talk 'How to write a great research paper' https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/write-great-research-paper/
Wayne Booth's 'The craft of research'
Best,
Luke
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