Writing is like taking a trip. You start somewhere and end up somewhere. Writing a personal letter is a short hike, an hour or so at most. Writing a research paper for a college course takes many hours, usually spread across several days. But it is also a trip, with an added dimension: while you are writing, you are also learning something new.
This travellers guide will take you step by step down a road on which you gain new knowledge and figure out what you think, as you find a way to write about it. If you follow these steps, you can be confident of doing all the things that need to be done in a reasonable order. To get an over-all view check the list in the box on the left of the screen.
This sequence of steps is not the only right way to make the trip. You may do your own best work by taking a different route, doing these tasks in a different order, or doing several at once.
You may find the guide useful mainly in helping you keep track of where you are. It is easy to lose your bearings in the work of writing, no matter what road-map you follow.
This is true because writing is a complex and demanding skill, and there are important features of the work that this handbook will not help you do. The guide WILL NOT teach you how to
- find the right words
- spell
- avoid grammatical errors.
The guide WILL help you
- define your subject
- carry out your research
- create an apparatus for incorporating your research and for giving your readers information about your sources
- produce a initial thesis statement, with subtopics
- write and revise your drafts
- clarify your thinking as you go along
- produce a final copy.
The guide will also try to cheer you up. Writing is a solitary journey, as well as a difficult one. You need to keep up your morale.
As you work your way along, read the explanatory material, perform the tasks that are described, and proceed to the next page by clicking on the appropriate statement.
PS. The instructions for writing in this version of the Traveller's Guide were created (mostly) by Walt Herbert, and the web page design is (entirely) the work of Rick Denman. Anybody want to help? We can use criticisms and suggestions, and would also welcome proposals for hands-on contributions, from students and colleagues alike.
Rick Denman Campus phone:(512)863-1594 Email:denman@southwestern.edu Mail Denman
Walt Herbert Campus phone:(512)819-1496 Email:wherbert@southwestern.edu Mail Herbert