Essay Writing Checklist

1. Brainstorm Ideas

1.1. What will you enjoy writing about?

1.2. Why will someone who reads this be interested?

1.3. What's your goal for this paper?

2. Research

2.1. Examples

2.2. Relevant quotes

2.3. References

2.3.1. Books

2.3.2. News sources

2.3.3. Blogs

2.3.4. Supporting Data

2.3.4.1. Expert reports

2.3.4.2. Third party research

2.3.4.3. Survey data

2.3.4.4. Size of topic

3. Structure

3.1. Decide on your topic focus

3.2. Create list of facts

3.3. Organize facts into categories

3.4. Create chapters from categories

3.4.1. Introduction

3.4.2. Subhead 1

3.4.3. Subhead 2

3.4.4. Subhead 3

3.4.5. Conclusion

4. Write and Edit

4.1. Don't be afraid to edit. Simple, memorable information is hard and requires filtering.

5. Proofread & Finalize

5.1. Cover Page

5.2. Table of Contents

5.3. Bibliography