There are 5 writing exercises presented here.

Try some or all of these (to taste).

Do some research and thinking about the essay.

Work on them again

Writing exercise 1: re-write the question in your own words

The idea is to draw out what you think the question is getting at based on the ideas you have. Take each part and unpack it to explain what it means to you.

Explain it step by step as you might to a child. Einstein said that if you couldn’t explain something to a six year old child then you didn’t understand it.

Do not just change “Consider…” to “Think about…”           You should end up a full explanation of the questions that starts you thinking about what an answer would look like

For example take the question:

“To what extent is the concept of the “public sphere” useful in helping illuminate the role of journalism and the media today? Discuss with reference to the idea of free speech and the Leveson Inquiry.”

If I wanted to set out some ideas as the question meant to me I might write:

100 Journalism lets individuals know about the public world – we mediate between the public and the private.

200 The public sphere is the ongoing argument about where society should go and how people should live. I need some information about Habermas.

300 The discussion of the public sphere highlights a changing balance between the individual and society – the public world seems obsessed with private individuals and their behaviour – this must speak to the role of journalism today.

400 Is the public world diminished and what does that mean for journalism?

500 Free speech seems important to public debate (I will need some quotes and arguments that link free speech to the public

600 The Leveson Inquiry is about tabloid journalism and poor journalistic standards: is this what Habermas argued was a “restructuring of the public sphere”? The idea here is NOT to simply re-phrase the question e.g. by changing “Consider the ….” To “Think about the…”.

This re-write allows me to start thinking about the question. I can come back to it as I go along and re-do it or re-work it. Remember writing is often about editing until you decide exactly what you want to argue. By the end you may have bits that would make a good introduction to your essay.

Print it out your re-write and carry it around to add to and edit.

 

Writing exercise 2: “Brainstorm” points

This plays a similar role to the question re-write i.e. to start yourself thinking.

It is also “brainstorming” i.e. getting any ideas you can without worrying too much about whether they are perfectly formed.

Use the question as your heading. Underneath write down any ideas you have that might go into the final essay. Use one sentence for each.

Do not worry if the ideas don’t make complete sense; just keep writing all the ideas that you can think of. Write down points you want to make, points by writers that you know of, examples and what they are examples of. Let the points you have written suggest other ideas.

Group the points that are in the same area next to each other. Write a summary for each group. The ones that are not in themes put at the end

Print it out and carry it around to add to and edit.

When you start writing this edited and grouped list of ideas will help you to create a structure.

 

Writing exercise 3: directly write a structure

In writing exercise 1 unpacking the question suggested a structure

In writing exercise 2 brainstorming points suggested a structure

Now write down a structure directly (you can use the ideas from C1 & C2 or go straight at it)

Give each line a number so that you can re-number it to make it fit

For example

1000 Introduction
1010 Explain the question in my own words
2000 Introduce the concept of the public sphere especially as it relates to journalism (find quotes)
3000 Present the most relevant discussion/debate about the public sphere and journalism
4000 Present a second topic that links the public sphere to journalism – find quotes etc.

etc.

 

Writing exercise 4: Create a draft

Combine your question rewrite, essay points and structure to create a draft

Start with the title, then put the structure in, then move the points and the rewrite into the structure

Turn the themed points into paragraphs.

Each paragraph should have one main idea. Say what the main idea is in the first one or two sentences.

Then the following sentences should:

discuss the main idea
give examples that relate to the main idea
have quotes about the main idea
qualify the main idea (i.e. suggest where it does not apply)

Edit and re-edit your draft several times. Try to make sure each point or paragraph leads to the next.

Writing exercise 5: still have nothing? – work from a boilerplate template

If you are not in a position to do some of C1-C4 you are in trouble – perhaps you are doing the wrong question?

But you can use a boiler plate template and try to fill it in as you go along

Boilerplate template example:

1000 Introduction
1010 Explain what you understand by the question
1020 Explain the steps you are going to take to answer the question (write this at the end)
2000 Introduce the main idea / theory that you are going to use and explain how it relates to the material in the question. Include quotes, evidence, references, and details.
2100 Discuss in detail one or more examples to explain the main idea (and how it relates it to the question)
2200 Discuss objections to the main idea.
2300 Discuss why the main idea makes sense despite the objections.
3000 Introduce the second idea / theory that you are going to use and explain how it relates to the material in the question. Include quotes, evidence, references, and details.
3100 Discuss in detail one or more examples to explain the second idea (and how it relates it to the question).
3200 Discuss objections to the second idea.
4000 Conclusion
4010 Summarise your main arguments
4020 Explain you general conclusions and link this to the question title
5000 References