Speaker 1: Good academic writing requires effective planning, drafting, and revision. The writing process looks different for everyone, but there are five basic steps that will help you structure your time when writing any type of text. Hi, I'm Jessica from Scribbr, here to help you achieve your academic goals. Step 1. Pre-writing First, you have to come up with a topic. Is there a particular area that intrigued, interested, or even confused you? Topics that left you with additional questions are perfect, as these are questions you can explore in your writing. Narrow down your idea to a specific argument or question. For example, an appropriate topic for an essay might be narrowed down like this. 19th century literature Novels in the Romantic Period The Novels of Jane Austen The Theme of Theater in Mansfield Park Once you know your topic, it's time to search for relevant sources and gather the information you need. This might involve Searching for sources Reading relevant texts if you're doing a literary analysis Collecting data for experiments or surveys Step 2. Planning and outlining It's important to use a logical structure to convey information effectively. Creating an outline is a useful way to plan out your structure before you start writing. This should help you work out the main ideas you want to focus on and how you organize them. For example, in the introduction of a literary analysis essay, you plan on first describing the theatricality of Austen's work, then outlining the role theater plays in Mansfield Park and introducing the research question. Use bullet points or numbering to make your structure clear at a glance. Step 3. Writing a first draft Your writing process doesn't have to be linear. For example, it's reasonable to begin writing with the main body of the text, saving the introduction for later once you have a clear idea of the text you're introducing. To give structure to your writing, use your outline as a framework. You can start by writing each paragraph in a systematic way. First, introduce the point of the paragraph with the topic sentence. Second, provide evidence relating to your argument. Third, explain or interpret the evidence. Finally, express the conclusion this interpretation leads you to. The goal at this stage is to get a draft completed, then you can move on to improving it. Step 4. Redrafting and revising Now it's time to look critically at your first draft and find potential areas for improvement. It's best to leave your work alone for a day or two after completing the first draft to freshen up your perspective. At this stage, you're looking for larger issues like Arguments that are unclear or illogical. Areas where information would be better presented in a different order. Passages where additional information or explanation is needed. Passages that are irrelevant to your overall argument. Last step. Editing and proofreading When editing, to ensure your text is clear, concise, and grammatically correct, you're looking out for Grammatical errors Ambiguous phrasings Redundancy and repetition When proofreading, first look out for typos in your text. Then check for stylistic consistency. For example, whether you use British or American spellings and punctuation. How you capitalize your titles and headings. Don't forget to cite your sources. You can generate accurate references and in-text citations super easily with Scribbr's free citation generator. Do you already have a topic? Let us know in the comments below what you're working on. If you find this video helpful, drop a like and share it with your friends. Sharing is caring. Alright, I'll see you in the next video. Bye.