Assignment Planning: Write the Assignment

Now that you have done your research and taken notes, you can start writing. Before you do, however, have a look at the pages on Academic Writing, they might be useful.

You'll be using word-processing software on a device of some kind to compose your assignment. Information technology isn't perfect: computers crash: software crashes - don't lose your work because of this. Three things you should do:

Save your assignment and give it a meaningful name as soon as you start writing it.
If your word-processing software has an AutoSave function, make sure it's turned on.
Make a backup of your assignment every time you finish a session of writing.
- The backup should be stored separately from the main copy - on another device, or in the cloud
- Give your backup a meaningful name - include 'backup' in the file name

Before you begin writing, you should plan the structure of your essay. Your essay should have:

An introduction - tell the reader what you are going to say
A main body - say it to the reader
A conclusion - tell the reader what you said
Recommendations (if required)
A reference list

Your introduction should tell the reader what to expect from your essay. The introduction should:

provide background to the topic
indicate the purpose of the writing
provide a roadmap as to what will be covered and where
be around 10% of the word count

The main body of the essay should:

Expand upon the topic mentioned in the introduction
bring together everything you have found out
state the points you want to make and the evidence that supports them.
fulfil the requirements of the instruction words (see the image on the Understand page) in the assignment question - analyse/evaluate/compare etc
be around 80% of the word count

The conclusion should:

sum up what you have said
show how you have answered the question
if required - offer some recommendations, relating to your points
be around 10% of the word count

Note that 10-80-10 is a rough guide to the length of each section, for instance if you include recommendations, your conclusion will be longer than 10% of the word count.

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