A standard piece of advice about essay writing is that you should make a plan. I used to think – and some people still do think – that this is a linear process: generate ideas —> research —> plan. But of course it isn’t as simple as that.
This article is a continuation of Essay writing: answer the question!
Instead of that linear, 1-2-3, process, in practice it works much more like this:
Let’s take an example:
Many find that Measure for Measure fits uneasily into its First Folio category of Comedy. Consider the extent to which Shakespeare subverts or endorses the generic conventions of comedy.
Your initial reactions to this question might be:
The very fact that your reactions take the form of questions means that the next stage in essay writing is to do some research:
- inside your head: recalling what you already know
- in your notes: recalling what you have heard and read
- in books and online
In turn this can (should!) lead to more notes and ideas. Here, for example, is a clip of a diagramatic set of notes on the first chapter of Shakespeare’s Dramatic Genres by Lawrence Danson:
(Download the full diagram as a pdf here.)
This research may lead to some early notes on how you might tackle the essay:
So in this case, initial ideas have led to research, which has resulted in some sketchy ideas about the plan. This in turn can generate fresh ideas or lead to further research. Most of the time it isn’t a clear-cut business. Even if you start with a reasonably clear plan, you nearly always find that later research generates new ideas that mean you have to adapt it.
Just how all this works depends not just on the subject matter, but also on how you like to work. Some people prefer to get everything cut and dried as early as possible, while others are happy to work in a freer way, keeping their options open and being prepared to re-write even at quite a late stage. The important thing to remember is that at some stage you have got to go through the threefold process of:
- generating ideas
- doing research
- making a plan
And if you launch straight into the writing process, without first making a plan, you’ll still have to do the preparatory work – it will just be a lot messier.
You’ll find more about essay writing in my book
The Oxford Guide to Effective Writing and Speaking.
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