Assignment Planning: Write the Assignment
Now that you have done your research and taken notes, you can start writing. Before you do however, take 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 instructions words (see the image on the Understand page) in the assignment question - analyse/evaluate/compare etc
- bearound 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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