Essay Writing Tips for ICSE
Notes Before Writing an Essay.
In my career as a student many, many, years ago, I would occasionally dive into drafting an essay or report without taking a single note on the topic. I’d sit down with a pile of books and my laptop and start writing, feeling rather smug.
And then I’d stop writing so that I could look something up.
And start again.
And stop. Wait, what page was that on?
And so it would continue until the wee hours of the morning, when I would kick myself pretty hard for trying to take the “easy” way out.
And so it would continue until the wee hours of the morning, when I would kick myself pretty hard for trying to take the “easy” way out.
As you can imagine, this is a really inefficient way to write. It’s also a bit reckless, especially if you aren’t writing a reference list as you go. I can’t tell you how many times I thought, wait, did I think that…or did I read that…or did I hear that during class?
Eventually, I learned the value of taking good notes.
Note taking — which is any process that involves the recording of information from another source — eases the process of essay writing in a variety of ways. Note taking helps you
- identify what you already know,
- identify gaps in your knowledge,
- organize similar facts and bits of information,
- track and manage the sources you’ve consulted to prevent plagiarism, and
- recall relevant, essential facts and ideas as you write.
Oddly enough, even though note taking is an essential part of conducting research, chances are good that you’ve never been taught how to do it, or at least not how to do it effectively.
That’s why I’m going to share 10 note taking strategies for creating neat, orderly notes that not only keep your research organized, but that will also help you write your paper more efficiently.
Thanks...
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