Pause: What are you missing?
If you'd like guidance through this step in your process, consider using the services available at the GVSU Knowledge Market!
At this point in your writing or creative process, ask yourself what you may be missing. The bullet points below are suggestions of what to consider.
- Audience: Do I know my audience? Do I know what my audience expects of me, and does my project provide that?
- Grammar: Have I read this out loud yet?
- Genre: Does my project reflect the correct genre? Is it a resume, creative assignment, or scientific report? Does the content, form, and style reflect the subject or discipline?
- Topic: Can I identify my topic? Do I have a clearly defined thesis statement?
- Context: Do I provide background information and describe the setting?
- Credibility: Are my sources credible? Have I included in-text or oral citations and a reference page, when necessary?
- Logic: Does my assignment flow logically? Are my arguments and statements followed by explanation or analysis?
- Style: Is my assignment explaining a topic, descriptive, persuasive, or a narrative?
- Englishes: Do I know which English to use? Do I need to check with my professor?
Reflect: Do you need to go back to a previous step?
It is also important to reflect on what you’ve done so far and where you need to go next. The following bullet points will guide you through the steps in the academic and creative processes. Ask yourself: Do I need to go back to a previous step? Am I ready to move forward?
Academic Process
- Understanding the Assignment
- Idea Generation/Brainstorming
- Research Question Development
- Finding Sources
- Reading Sources
- Evaluating Sources
- Organize/Mapping
- Thesis Development
- Drafting
- Revision
- Practicing
- Editing
- Citations
Creative Process
- Get ideas flowing—find your muse
- Habits of a creative/strategies
- Research (context, etc.)
- Revision/selection
- Refine/edit
- Public sharing
Questions to Consider:
- Semester-long projects: Will you continue to find your topic interesting throughout the semester? Is there enough information on your topic to complete the assignment? Are you able to find a new angle on the topic? Do you understand the scope of the assignment?
- Understanding the assignment: Do you have a good understanding of the assignment and what is expected of you? Do sources need to be academic, scholarly, peer-reviewed or referred? Have you evaluated your sources for content, credibility, and relevance?
- Keep in mind that it’s a good idea to evaluate your position in the academic or creative process. These processes aren’t linear and may require you to revisit multiple steps. For instance, it’s a good idea to go back and do more research to develop a better argument or have multiple reviewers to help with editing and proofreading.
