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How to write better Papers: Tips from Professor Jay Wegter
- Do the work; give yourself enough time to do the work. Good writing takes time. Get started right away. Begin reading about your topic days before you write. The material you encounter in your research will begin to ‘gestate’ and ‘gel’ in your thinking—helping you formulate your thoughts once you are ready to sit down at the keyboard.
- Take notes from your research. This advice ought to be a ‘given’, but many students tend to delete this vital step of note-taking. Consult theological dictionaries and look up theological journal articles on the internet. It is amazing just how many good articles one may find in just seconds on Google. For example, Google: evangelical articles on Christian ethics and you will find more than you need. Keep great Christian websites at your fingertips (such as www.monergism.com).
- Make a sentence outline so that you know what will be in each paragraph you write. Outlining pays huge dividends. For every minute you take to construct an outline, the return will be multifold. Outlining helps you conceptualize. Outlining shows how you will use your research in your paper. In a good sentence outline there will be bullet point sentences showing what will be in each paragraph of your paper. Construct a solid outline and your paper will ‘practically write itself’.
- Always answer exactly the question asked (the writing objectives listed in the assignment). The writing objective must control the text you are composing. As you respond to the main point in the writing objective, explain and support your argument by evidence and examples. Stay on topic; don’t create rabbit trails which lead away from your argument. As you articulate your response, build your case with claims and reasons from the evidence you have gleaned. Back up your claims from Scripture. Professors grade hundreds of papers a year; they can immediately spot if a student is simply adding ‘filler’.
- Expect to write a draft that you will revise. Revising your draft will usually mean at least a grade point higher on the assignment. When you revise, keep these guidelines in mind: Does each paragraph you have written capture your position and state it as clearly and as precisely as possible? Put yourself in the place of the reader: does your paper have ‘sign posts’ allowing the reader to know ahead of time where you will take him? State the results of the research carefully in a conclusion under each section (writing objective) in your paper.
- Re-read your work in order to carefully proofread. When your reader encounters major errors in spelling and/or grammar it can be irritating. Diligent proofreading says that you care about excellence to the glory of God. Research, organize, and write your paper as an extension of your Christian ministry. Avoid handling an assignment in a perfunctory manner (just for the sake of getting through). The habits you develop in good Christian writing are immediately transferrable into your stewardship in sermon preparation and in the handling of the Word of God. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Col 3:23-24).