history fairy

• Formatting: Headings, pagination, and a (creative) title.

• Thesis: I try to write out a thesis (just one sentence) so I have some foundation to build upon. Usually my theses change or develop as I write—sometimes I change the thesis entirely. Either way, it’s good to at least have some semblance of what you want to write about at the start.

• Organization Outline: I plot out the main topic of each paragraph that way I stay focused while I write. Also that way I can arrange the paragraphs in an order that works most efficiently before I even write the paper. This saves me time instead of trying to blend paragraph topics together in an unnatural way; or not having any idea what some paragraphs should talk about. Here is usually a great place to think up topic sentences you can use later, too!

• Prompt: here is where I type out my prompt for my paper, either given by my professor or one I came up with on my own. I like to keep my prompt closer to the top so I can refer to it throughout my writing to make sure I’m still on the same track.

• Brainstorming: underneath my prompt, I write my initial thoughts—am I arguing? Am I analyzing? What do I want to research? What would make a good idea to focus on? Things like that.

• Research/Academia: After I search through academic and peer reviewed journals, I paste their citation references in this section. That way I can make sure I have enough research (if there is a required minimum), and I can divide my research into categories that I want to address in my paper (so it doesn’t feel too heavy handed in one area only).

• Academic Quotes: I pick out the quotes and research I need to support my thesis here, making sure to organize them in accordance with my citations so I don’t lose track of who wrote what.

• Primary Source Quotes: Here is where I put all of the quotes I think pertain to my thesis from the primary source (book/poem/play/etc). Sometimes I divide the quotes into subcategories, or even color code them, that way I know more smoothly where everything is.

• Works Cited: Finally, I keep a running tally of all of the citations I use so I don’t end up accidentally deleting them (guess how I learned this…ㅜㅜ)

—