Part 1 - Compiling Your Notes

Now that you've done the bulk of your research, you should have several pages (on the computer, on paper, or both) of point form notes. In those notes should be full quotations you intend to use or paraphrase later, as well as general notes that you've already summarized or paraphrased. If you sit down to write the essay with this pile of unsorted stuff, inevitably you'll have trouble deciding where to begin and you'll keep leaving things out. It is much easier to group the notes, plan the essay, and then write, rather than trying to stick random bits in as you go.

Look at your focus. Chances are it has several different elements to it, and now is the time to look at those elements separately. Don't worry about what element should come first or last, that will be sorted out in the planning stage next. For now, you're just going to group your notes according to where they fit into your coursework question.

 You will have to decide whether some points better fit one group than another, but do decide now rather than accidentally repeating yourself later. If you change your mind later, make note of it directly on the page. You will also find that some notes don't fit any category. Chances are, these are things that should be left out. You still have them written down if you decide to include them, but don't try and make every note fit your groups.

In going through the notes this way, you may find that you have managed to completely forget to look up information on a section, or the information you do have is too little. Doing this at an early stage allows you time to go back and find more information, if possible.

Once you have your notes in order, you're ready to start planning out your essay.

Part 2 - Planning Your Essay

You've gone from an idea, to research, to a pile of random notes, to categorised notes. You're now ready to start planning how the essay will fit together.  Formal essays must have an underlying structure that makes sense so the reader doesn't have to wonder where you're going with your points.

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Start by putting the subgroups that you pulled out of your focus into a logical order. Consider the reader's point of view as they may not have read all the sources you have on your topic, and might need definitions first. Next, plan the introduction and conclusion, and make sure each fits with the outline so far.

Now it's time to add in the notes. Go through your notes and type in (or cut and paste, if they're already on the computer) the highlighted bits. Don’t worry about their order yet, just make sure you get everything into the ...

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