The document provides guidance on key considerations for writing a document, including audience, purpose, genre, thesis, organization, and revision. It emphasizes thinking about who the audience is, the purpose of the writing, and what genre is being used. It also covers developing a clear thesis, outlining main points and evidence, and revising by ensuring the paper follows the assignment and is logically organized, supported, and free of errors. The overall message is to plan and structure the writing process around these important elements.

2. You have decisions to
make before you
even begin.
Think about the
audience, purpose,
and genre of what
you are about to
write.
Image Credit: "Writing" by Brice Ambrosiak is licensed under CC by 2.0.

3. Audience
• Who will be reading your
writing?
• What does this person
already know or what they
might they need to know to
understand what you are
trying to say?
• Do you need to give
background or are they
experts in your topic?
• Is your audience likely to be
skeptical of your viewpoint? Image credit: “Reading on the Wall” by Mario Mancuso is licensed under CC by 2.0

4. Purpose
• Writing can have a
variety of purposes: to
persuade, to entertain,
to describe, to inform,
or to analyze.
• Consider what you
want your audience to
think or to know after
reading your work. Image credit: “Speaker with a lot of mikes” by www.audio-luci-store.it is licensed under CC 2.0.

5. Genre
There are all different kinds of writing,
and each has its own set of
conventions - be aware of the tone,
the organizational structure, and the
typical features of the kind of writing
you are being asked to perform.
TONE: The attitude of the
writer towards the
subject as seen through
word choice…
• Formal or informal?
• Objective?
• Persuasive?
• Optimistic or
pessimistic?
Organizational Structure
Should your writing follow a pre-determined structure? If you are
writing an essay, follow the steps laid out in this presentation. For
other types of writing, see other tabs on the Writing Guide.
Typical features vary
depending on what you are
being asked to write. For
example, a research essay
always has a works cited page.
A creative brief usually
includes coverage of the target
market. Finding good examples
of the genre will help you
decide what you should include
in your writing.

6. Brainstorm.
Try writing on paper.
Write down your ideas – good or bad.
Organize your thoughts in a graphic.
Take breaks.
Do some background reading.
Don’t judge your writing yet – let it flow.

7. A good thesis statement has these
three qualities:
• The statement is concise, typically
being limited to a single
sentence.
• The idea expressed is
specific. Avoid vague claims.
• It would be possible to argue with
the idea presented. A thesis is
not simply a statement of fact or
a declaration of the topic of the
paper.
You cannot start writing your paper
until you have written your thesis
though you may need to revise it
as you write.
Examples:
Bad thesis statements
This paper is about school violence, a prevalent problem
in the United States.
(declaration of the topic)
School violence is a prevalent problem in the United
States.
(vague claim, not specific)
Violence in schools has a negative effect on students.
(not an arguable claim, very obvious)
Better thesis statement
School violence, a prevalent problem in the United States,
must be addressed through stricter punishments for
juvenile offenders and parental monitoring of
children's media and lifestyle choices.

8. The outline allows you to organize
your ideas.
• What are your main points?
• What are your sub points?
• What evidence will you provide
for each of your points?
Once you have written an outline,
it will be much quicker to write
your paper. See the following
example outline.
I. Introduction
A. Open with statistic about growing obesity in US
B. List diseases associated with obesity and the cost to American consumer
C. Discuss marketing and presence of sugary foods
D. Thesis statement: Given that the United States is experiencing increasing
obesity rates, the government needs to help the public make better choices
about food though the use of strongly worded nutritional labels, stricter
nutritional guidelines, and taxation of sugary foods.
Body Paragraph #1
A. Description of standards for food labels
B. Evidence from study on the effects of labels on consumers
C. Lack of sugar content labeling and transparency of ingredients
E. Effect of label prominence on food choice, according to research
Body Paragraph #2
A. Current state of nutritional guidelines
B. Effect of government guidelines on public opinion about nutrition, according
to a survey
C. Competing ideas of the food pyramid
D. Lack of governmental guidance on sugar intake
E. Possible connection of government recommendations to subsidized food
industries
Body Paragraph #3
A. Evidence of poor food choices despite proper information
B. Review of effects of fatty food taxes in Europe
C. Foods with poor nutrition tend to be cheaper, taxes would reverse that
scenario
D. Rebuttal of argument that taxes on fatty foods in Denmark barely increased
expected lifespan
Conclusion
A. Restate thesis
B. Review main arguments
C. Importance of changing Americans nutritional choices, especially for future
generations

9. In your introduction, you need to catch
your audience's attention and set the
stage for the rest of your paper.
Here are some ideas for your introduction:
• Give context for your topic. What are
you going to talk about?
• Give necessary background
information.
• If writing an argument, present both
sides of the issue.
• Consider opening with a provocative
quote or anecdote, if appropriate.
• Think of your introduction as starting
with the broader topic that is then
funneled down to your specific
hypothesis.
• Your introduction ends with your
thesis statement.
Example:
Thesis: Given that the United States is
experiencing increasing obesity rates, the
government needs to help the public
make better choices about food though
the use of strongly worded nutritional
labels, stricter nutritional guidelines, and
taxation of sugary foods.
Ideas for a catchy introduction:
• Obesity statistics in the United States
• Facts about the effect of obesity on
health and lifespan
• Facts about the eating habits of the
American public
• Overview of various efforts to
improve public health
• Lead in to the argument
• Finish with the thesis

10. Your body paragraphs are where you
present your main points in support of
your thesis statement. Consider that
these points are evidence proving
your opinion. You should organize
your paper so that there are separate
paragraphs for each of the points that
you refer to in your thesis.
• Each paragraph should have a
topic sentence that introduces the
point that you are developing.
• Make sure to include sentences
that help transition from paragraph
to the next.
• Only include evidence that relates
to your thesis.
Example:
Thesis: Given that the United States is experiencing
increasing obesity rates, the government needs to help
the public make better choices about food though the use
of strongly worded nutritional labels, stricter nutritional
guidelines, and taxation of sugary foods.
Body paragraph #1 topic sentence: Rather than alerting
the public about the nutritional content of food that is
being consumed, labels on food are confusing to
understand and tend to downplay the negative aspects of
sugar and preservatives.
Body paragraph #2 topic sentence: Correcting the
appearance of labels on food will only go so far to solve
the problem of obesity; stricter nutritional guidelines are
also necessary to reshape public thought on what food
to eat.
Body paragraph #3 topic sentence: Finally, the
government should make the public literally put their
money where their mouth is by enacting a taxation of
sugary foods.

11. You need to wrap things up in your
conclusion. It should be narrow at the
start, and then broaden to include the
consequences now or in the future of
what you have discussed.
Here are some things to include:
• Restate your thesis in different
words.
• Sum up your main points or
arguments.
• Include broader or future
consequences.
• Answer the question: So what?
• End with a strong, meaningful,
final statement that ties your paper
together.
• DO NOT introduce any new ideas
or arguments at this point.
Example closing statements:
Soaring obesity rates, particularly amongst
children, mandates a response from our society.
Because school programs look to government
sources to define nutrition, it is imperative that
the government provide strongly worded
nutritional labels and stricter nutritional
guidelines. Furthermore, the taxation of sugar
could help further deter the overconsumption of
these unhealthy foods. By redefining what it
means for a food to be considered healthy, our
country could go a long way to managing the
obesity epidemic. However, even though the
government should be doing everything possible
to inform and persuade the public of the correct
choices, ultimately it is the individual who
actually makes that choice. Given the high cost
that the United States is already facing, it can
only be hoped that the government's efforts will
be enough.

12. Revising your paper is more than
simply checking for
grammatical mistakes.
If possible, give yourself a day off
before revising.
Be prepared to spend more than a
few minutes revising – you
may need to organize your
paper, add stronger evidence,
or rewrite passages. This all
takes time!
Ask the following questions when
re-reading your paper. Be
honest with yourself!
1. Did I follow the assignment?
2. Does my paper have a main idea represented
in a thesis?
3. Do all the ideas in my paper relate to the
thesis?
4. Are there any unnecessary sentences that
could be eliminated?
5. Are my ideas supported with enough
evidence?
6. Is my writing organized? Does each paragraph
relate to the topic sentence? Are there
smooth transitions from one idea to the next?
7. Do all my ideas make sense? Are there
confusing or awkward sentences?
8. Are there any problems with grammar or
spelling?
9. Is my language appropriate for the
assignment? Did I use slang?
10. Would someone else reading my paper be
able to understand what I am trying to say?
11. If needed, have I properly cited and quoted all
my sources?