Planning and Writing: "Prep work" is essential to clear writing. This work can give you a roadmap for your documents, something that will help you write and that you can return to if you change your mind as you write. As you plan your writing, consider the following:

• Your purpose for writing and the reasons why your readers will read your words
• The context in which your readers will encounter your words
• Your assignment's or project's due date, length, and formatting requirements
• Your targeted readers, as well as any secondary readers, and the things that you will need to do in order for them to understand your meaning
• The type of document you are producing (essay, creative work, report, article, etc.), and the medium that you will use to "deliver" it to your readers (print, webpage, PowerPoint, email, etc.)

Also as you plan your writing, think about how you think and how you have gone about writing in the past. Does the productive "chaos" of freewriting help you generate ideas, does a methodical approach work better for you, are your strategies a mix of productive chaos and sequential "steps," or something else? Be prepared to try new strategies, or to switch strategies, to back-track, and to talk with others. Remember that this effort is time well spent!

A Word about What's Here: This page will take you to handounts, tip sheets, and other resources, both print and online. Consider consulting this page in the future, as we will be revising and adding to our collection.

Topics:

Thinking about Audience and Context

Pre-Writing and Invention

Planning and Organizing Your Writing

Drafting Your Text