Patrick Snider

Consultant since Fall 2016

Advice for writers 
For most people, writing the best paper they can doesn't come easily or quickly, so make sure to start the writing process far before the deadline. You will have more time to come up with ideas and develop them, put those ideas down on paper in a clear, concise, and organized fashion, and seek valuable writing feedback from a peer (or the Writing Center!). If you start the writing process in advance, you are in a much better position, and a less stressful one, to produce the clearest and most effective paper you can.

How do you get started on a writing assignment?
Determining my thesis is always my first objective when I am assigned a paper. The thesis is the driving force for the rest of my paper, as it gives the paper its direction and purpose. I always check to make sure my thesis is clear, specific, and able to stand on its own if I were to erase the rest of the paper. After creating a concrete thesis, I make an outline. This forces me to determine what my main points and supporting details will be for each paragraph and helps me eliminate all the unnecessary ideas and details. In short, the outline gives me a game plan, which makes writing the paper easier.