Education

The Writing Process. It sounds intimidating, doesn't it? Unfortunately, it's kind of destined to remain intimidating to anyone who doesn't like to write. After all, the last thing someone who hates to do something wants to hear is that it's a process, as opposed to a one-shot deal.Yet for those who like to write, or even for those who don't necessarily like it but are willing to do it, writing is indeed a process, just like almost everything else (but we just don't call it that). For example, cooking is a process. You get your ingredients, you do some prep cooking over here, some chopping over there, preheating and measuring, adding ingredients together in a particular order, only serving the food when the process is complete. Building a shelf, same thing: assemble your materials, make your measurements, do the cutting, do the assembling, and there you go.

Outlines are like maps. You can set out on a trip without a map and you'll be fine. You might even have a better time than if you'd set out with a mapped-out route, because getting lost lends itself to new discoveries: the road less traveled and all that. However, if you set out to write your term paper, research paper, or thesis without an outline, I can promise you that getting lost will feel the opposite of fun.Outlines are the best-kept secret in the term paper world. If you have a decent outline, actually writing the paper is like a breeze compared to the process without the outline. In fact, one can go a step further than saying an outline is like a map: an outline is like a coloring book where all one has to do is fill in the empty spaces. How easy is that?