Mastering Academic Writing: Dos and Don'ts for Succes
Dos:
Be aware that the writing process has several phases: choosing and defining a topic, formulating a thesis (question), making an outline, doing research, writing, rewriting, and adding the finishing touches.
Define your topic: first, choose the topic, then define it more precisely by coming up with a clear question.
Collect material on your topic that is relevant for answering your question and take clear notes from which you can easily retrieve your sources.
Get down to the task of writing and work regularly (postponing is not a good idea).
Rework the material into an argument: explain things in clear steps and show your reasoning.
Write first, correct later.
Bear in mind that writing a thesis is a learning process and you are a beginner.
A supervisor will help you identify any weak points and improve them.
Think about how to resolve the problem if the writing isn’t coming along; go back to one phase in the writing process, talk to others, ask for advice, etc.
Build your writing confidence by looking at what is going well.
Don’ts:
Immediately start writing without a plan.
Try to read everything and include it in your thesis, or if you want to research too many different questions.
Copy everything without looking at whether it’s relevant, or make loose notes you can’t find later.
Work in bursts when you ‘feel’ like it, or wait until the last minute.
Write a collection of unrelated facts.
Expect to write the perfect text straight away: if you write and correct at the same time you will soon get stuck.
Set unrealistically high goals and expect to do things perfectly.
Try to hand in a faultless product because you think that criticism is awful.
Struggle with dogged determination and try to solve problems on your own.
Set impossible targets, ignore progress and compliments, and only pay attention to what is NOT good.
(Source: Leiden University)
