Prewriting is the first stage of writing that focuses on planning and organizing your writing (1). Tasks associated with this stage include (1):<\/p>\n
Devoting time to the prewriting stage can clarify your purpose, strengthen your argument, and improve your organization.<\/p>\n
Before you begin to write, be sure you clearly understand your purpose (1,2). If you are writing for a course, review the assignment\u2019s description and rubric. Be sure to clarify any questions you may have about the assignment with your professor or TA. When determining your purpose, ask yourself:<\/p>\n
If you are having trouble deciding on your purpose, try these methods to help you refine your ideas:<\/p>\n
After\u00a0careful consideration of your evidence, you should revisit your aims and develop a strong thesis statement. Your thesis should clearly identify the public health problem and your purpose (3).\u00a0It should address your audience, establish a clear position, and outline your key points (3,4).<\/p>\n
For more information about developing a thesis, visit:<\/p>\n
After determining your purpose, gathering your research, and developing your thesis, you should consider organizing and planning your paper before diving into writing it. First, you should understand the format of your paper. This step can help you discern how to arrange and present your argument. Reviewing your assignment\u2019s instructions and strong examples are excellent ways to learn the format of your paper. For in-class assignments, if you need clarity on how to format your paper, check with your instructor. Your instructor\u2019s guidelines should always take priority over general suggestions found in this guide. For more general information on typical types of writing in public health, visit<\/a> the Specific Types of Public Health Writing section<\/span>.<\/p>\n Once you are familiar with the type of writing you will be doing, reflect on how your research will fit into this format. Exercises such as outlining your argument or creating lists of your main points can help you create a writing plan (3,5). After you have created a plan, reflect on it. Make sure your points flow logically and that they support your overall thesis (3).\u00a0Reconsider your audience and make sure the points would be appealing and easy for them to understand. After you create a plan, see how your research fits into it. All of your research may not stay in your draft; interesting findings may not always naturally fit into your paper (3,5).<\/p>\n Need new ways to think about organizing your information? Try these strategies:<\/p>\n Below are some videos that demonstrate some prewriting techniques:<\/p>\n Prewriting is the first stage of writing that focuses on planning and organizing your writing (1). Tasks associated with this stage include (1): Determining your purpose, Developing a thesis, and Organizing your paper. Devoting time to the prewriting stage can clarify your purpose, strengthen your argument, and improve your organization. Determining your Purpose Before you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8472,"featured_media":0,"parent":52569,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"bu-publication":[],"profile_tax":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49188"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8472"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49188"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70466,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49188\/revisions\/70466"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=49188"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=49188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Additional Resources<\/h3>\n
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References<\/h4>\n
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