Writing

Academic writing essentials

Nine steps to a finished assignment

1.    Planning your writing
2.    Understanding the question/task
3.    Brainstorming the question/task
4.    Structuring an outline
5.    Researching and reading
6.    Refining your outline
7.    Writing your first draft
8.    Editing your writing
9.    Proofreading your writing

For an example of following these steps see a guide to writing an essay [PDF 152KB]. (If you would like any of the information on this page made available in an alternate format please contact Julianne East (j.east@latrobe.edu.au).

Academic writing essentials

Writing for an audience

Imagine your audience is not really a lecturer/tutor, but distant readers. These readers haven’t explored your materials, so you need to:

  • identify and explain the things you're writing about
  • give examples to help them follow your ideas
  • give facts to show them what your ideas are based on
  • tell them where your information came from.

Referencing

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is important because it shows you understand the source well enough to write it in your own words. It also gives you a powerful alternative to using direct quotes, which should be used infrequently. More about paraphrasing [PDF 17KB].

Referencing and academic integrity

Universities are very careful about acknowledging where information and ideas came from. Your faculty has specific ways of referencing and you need to know these rules. Find out more about academic integrity.

There are a number of different ways of referencing – check with your subject coordinator on which style your subject requires. You can use the Library’s academic referencing tool to help you write your references.

Resources

Grammar and punctuation

Editing your work

You should give yourself enough time to review your essay a day or so after you finish writing with a fresh eye. Things to check for include:

  • structure and style
  • grammar and punctuation
  • clarity of expression
  • spelling errors that may not have been picked up by the spell-checker
  • consistency in your referencing.

Read more about editing [PDF 83KB]