How to Effectively Approach & Manage Assignments

Written assignments, whether short response essays or long research papers, often seem overwhelming at first, but
carefully reading and evaluating assignment guidelines and requirements will help you understand your goals and plan
your paper. This can result in a more confident, optimistic approach to the assignment, and a more relaxed writing
experience. Whenever you receive an assignment, its important to review the requirements several times. Reading
them over as soon as you receive them will help you to plan time needed, and give you a sense of the scope, or focus,
of the project. If you look over them again right before you start researching or writing, they will be fresh in your mind,
and youll use your time more effectively, since youll have a better idea of what tasks you need to accomplish. Finally,
always reread the assignment requirements after youve completed your rough draft but before youve started revising
it. This will help you make sure that youve fulfilled all of the requirements before you hand the work in for a grade.
The first time you read the assignment guidelines, its helpful to keep these types of questions in mind:

What is the assignment asking you to do? Although most assignments require that you do many different things
within them, they almost always have a main objective or purpose. This is what the paper should do. Look for
words like argue, persuade, define, convince, compare, contrast (or compare and contrast), analyze, explain, present,
summarize, report, recommend, narrate, outline, and discuss. Are you required to develop an original thesis or
argument about a topic or issue? Will you be responding to another authors book or article? Does the assignment have
a question (or prompt) that the assignment will answer or respond to? If you can establish your primary goal, or
purpose, for the assignment, it will be much easier to plan your work and manage your time.

What skills will the assignment emphasize or teach? Assignments usually support, or require you to use, skills, tools,
and/or techniques that youre working on in your course. Will the assignment require you to use sources (books,
articles, databases) that you discussed or read in class? Are there certain topics or issues that youve studied during the
semester, and will the assignment be your opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of or opinions about them? How
does the paper assignment relate to the focus of your course?

Does the assignment require research from secondary sources? Sometimes youll be using the library, online
library databases, and/or the Internet to conduct research for your assignment, while other times youll be required to
use only your own ideas or knowledge.

If the assignment requires use of secondary sources, does it specify what types of resources? If you are
incorporating secondary sources, you may be required to use a certain type of source, such as an online library
database. You may also be required to use a certain number of a certain type of source (a minimum of four library
databases, for example). Being clear about this before you start researching will save you time later.

Are there particular parts or components that you must include? There may be certain elements that youre
required to incorporate into your paper, such as graphics, charts, graphs, or summaries. You may also need to discuss
certain points, subtopics, or questions within the paper (sometimes in a certain order). Look for these kinds of
requirements as you review the assignment guidelines.

Does the assignment need to use a particular citation style? Sometimes your instructor will require a certain
citation style. American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago, and
Turabian are among the most common citation styles. If the assignment guidelines dont specify a particular citation
style, check with your instructor, so you can format the citations as you write and develop your draft.

Are there any formatting requirements? Do you need to use a particular font, margin size, or layout? Do you need
a cover page? Does the title need to be in a certain spot?

How long does the assignment need to be? Is there a minimum or maximum length for the paper?

When is the assignment due? Make a note of the assignments due date, and plan accordingly. Also check to see if
theres one date when everything is due, or if youre required to hand in certain parts individually. Sometimes youll
submit a thesis statement or introduction before the rest of the paper, for example. Considering these types of questions
will help you to understand your assignment requirements and develop a plan. Always check with your instructor if
you are unsure about any requirements.
Prewriting, Drafting, & ways of Brainstorming: Benefits to Pay Attention to

Prewriting Strategies for Exploring Ideas
Prewriting refers to the all the ways you begin your writing project. It includes coming up with ideas,
organizing those ideas, and making a plan for your paper. Exploring ideas can include:
Doing research
Thinking
Talking
Freewriting
Listing (sometimes called brainstorming)
Clustering (sometimes called webbing or mind-mapping)
It can also include any other way that you have for creating and writing down ideas for your paper.

Why Bother with Prewriting?
1. Prewriting can help you think. Writing is a creative act of communication. Communicating means you
have to have something to say, and that implies thinking. Unless you are someone who can hold the entire
piece of writing in your mind, putting your ideas down on paper (or the computer) helps you collect and
develop your ideas.

2. Prewriting can help you have well-organized, clear writing. Trying to write an outline or a draft before
you have recorded any ideas is difficult. Using prewriting strategies helps you to come up with ideas,
organize those ideas and develop a plan for your paper. Having a plan will lead to a well-structured writing
assignment.

3. Prewriting can save you time. This may seem strange because you have to spend time doing the
prewriting. However when you put ideas on paper, you have something to work with to create an outline, and
an outline in turn makes writing your first draft easier. Furthermore, if your essay is better organized in the
first draft, you can save time when you come to revise and edit your paper.

4. Prewriting can produce better writing. The process of prewriting pushes you to think and generate
support for your ideas. When your ideas are better supported, you are likely to have a better piece of writing.

Beyond J ust Prewriting: What are Some Techniques for Exploring Ideas?
This is at the heart of the creative part of writing. There are many ways to come up with ideas; you need to
find the ways that work for you. You probably already use some prewriting techniques. For example, you
probably begin by thinking about your topic.


1. Talk about your topic. After you have done some thinking, its useful to talk about your topic with
another student, or you might try to explain it to a Learning Centre tutor or someone at home. Talking about
your topic and expressing your ideas can help you develop your ideas even if your listener doesnt know
anything about the subject. Getting your listener to ask you questions is especially helpful.

2. Write down your ideas. Start to make point form notes of your ideas. If you dont usually begin to write
your ideas down at this point, start to make this a part of your writing process. Carry a piece of paper around
with you for several days and write down ideas as they occur to you. Dont worry about putting your ideas in
sentences; just write enough to remind you of the thought. If you are writing a research paper, you will need
to spend time reading and taking notes on the articles and books that you are using. Whether you are taking
notes using a computer, writing out notes by hand, or highlighting or writing on copies, make sure you write
down your own ideas and opinions as they occur to you. Put brackets around them or use some other system
to show which are your thoughts and which are the authors ideas.

3. Set time aside and use a formal strategy for exploring ideas. There are a number of specific strategies
for exploring ideas, and you may want to use several of them. The key is to put aside your inner critic or
editor, and write down all your ideas. Dont worry about whether or not you want them all to end up in your
paper. Youll figure that out later. Begin by rereading your notes, and then try one or more of the following
strategies. (If you want more suggestions, you could try checking the web and Googling prewriting
strategies for more suggestions.)

Listing: Listing as a strategy for exploring ideas simply means writing down everything you can think of
about your topic. Dont write in sentences, as that takes too long. Dont worry about the order of the ideas, or
whether some ideas are general and others are details. You can sort that out later. Include questions you have
about the topic. Dont worry about whether what youve written is sensible, or worded correctly that part
comes later. If you get stuck, go back to one of your ideas and elaborate on it. Ask yourself questions about
your ideas to help you generate other ideas.

Freewriting: Freewriting can be
a good way to explore your topic.
You need many sheets of paper
and a timer. To begin, write
your topic at the top of a page,
and for 5 minutes write without
stopping. Dont worry about
spelling, grammar, or punctuation,
and dont stop to read what you
have written or make any
corrections. If you reach a point
where you cant think of anything
to write, dont stop. Instead, write
your last thought over and over
until you have something else to
write. At the end of the five
minutes, read over what you have written and underline any parts you think have interesting ideas, or ideas
that might be useful to your paper. Write these in point form at the top of a new sheet of paper, and then
freewrite again for another 5 minutes. What you will have at the end of several freewritings will not be
something that can be turned into a paragraph or an outline for your essay. But you are likely to have more
focus and ideas that can be used.


Sample List
Clustering: Like listing and freewriting, clustering helps you explore your ideas and expand on them. To
begin to cluster, write your topic in one or a few words in the center of the page, then go on to write words
that you think of when you think about that topic. For example, if your assignment was to write a paper
about the influence of the United States on Canadian culture, and you had decided to write about the
American impact on Canadian television, you might write TV in the center of the page. Circle TV and then
write all the words that you associate with this topic, even words that at first may seem to be random. Write
quickly, circling each word, grouping words around your central word, or connecting them to whatever word
you associated them with. When some new idea occurs to you, radiate it from the center word or from any
word or phrase that the new idea flowed from. When you feel you have exhausted the ideas flowing from a
word, go back to the word in the center of the page and begin again. Below is an example of a start on a
prewriting cluster. Often, writers find that clustering helps them narrow their topic. Then, cluster again, this
time starting with the narrowed topic at the center of the page. In the example above, this might look like
taking Canadian TV imitation as the topic and working to expand those ideas through more clustering.

Categorizing
This method of exploring ideas
is particularly useful for
assignments in which some type
of comparison is required.
Categorizing can also help you
identify the views expressed by
the authors of the articles and
books you are reading, which
may lead you to find the thesis
for your own paper. Below is
part of one example which
shows how categorizing can be
used to compare ideas and keep
track of your own responses.

Topic: World Aid A Sample of Categorizing
Stuff Stuff Stuff
Problem
- Would countries give aid if not attached to trade
agreements? - What are the aid-trade agreements? - is a
global body like WB needed?
- aid doesnt go to most needy - World Bank not
consulting countries - WB demands on poor
economies causing problems

So Many Good Ideas: What Comes Next? The purpose of all this is to help you think and get your ideas
down on paper. Continue using one or more of these strategies until you feel you have explored each idea by
asking yourself questions about it. Try to schedule your time so you can leave your ideas and come back to
them later, the next day, if possible. If you are doing a research paper, it would be a good idea to review the
notes you took and make sure you have included ideas you think are important. (You may find that you
recognize areas you need to research more.) When you return to your ideas, add any new thoughts you have
as you read what you have written. Now that you have explored your topic, you will be clearer on the
direction of your ideas. Once you have finished, read your ideas over and look for the ideas you can explain
or defend -- the ideas that could be at the center of your paper. Try to write in one sentence the central idea
you want to present to your reader. It helps if you come up with several of these sentences, expressed slightly
differently each time, so you can select the one you feel is the clearest. This is your working thesis statement.
(All Adapted From: J. Cameron/2008/Douglas College)




A Cluster
The Purdue Owls Three Cents... Why and How to Create a Useful Outline. Why create an outline?
There are many reasons; but in general, it may be helpful to create an outline when you want to show the
hierarchical relationship or logical ordering of information. For research papers, an outline may help you
keep track of large amounts of information. For creative writing, an outline may help organize the various
plot threads and help keep track of character traits. Many people find that organizing an oral report or
presentation in outline form helps them speak more effectively in front of a crowd. Below are the primary
reasons for creating an outline:
Aids in the process of writing
Helps you organize your ideas
Presents your material in a logical form

How does one create an awesome outline?
Determine the purpose of the paper.
Determine the audience being written for.
Develop the thesis of the paper.
And then
Brainstorm: List all the ideas that you want to include in your paper.
Organize: Group related ideas together.
Order: Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or from abstract to concrete.
Label: Create main and sub headings.
Remember: creating an outline before writing your paper will make organizing your thoughts a lot easier.
Whether you follow the suggested guidelines is up to you, but making any kind of outline (even just some
jotting down some main ideas) will be beneficial to your writing process.

Sample Outlines (Alphanumeric Outline)
THE COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESS
I. CHOOSE DESIRED COLLEGES
A. Visit and evaluate college campuses
B. Visit and evaluate college websites
1. Look for interesting classes
2. Note important statistics
II. PREPARE APPLICATION
A. Write personal statement
1. Choose interesting topic
a. Describe an influential person in your life
(1) Favorite high school teacher
(2) Grandparent
b. Describe a challenging life event
2. Include important personal details
a. Volunteer work
b. Participation in varsity sports
B. Revise personal statement
III. COMPILE RSUM
A. List relevant coursework
B. List work experience
C. List volunteer experience
1. Tutor at foreign language summer camp
2. Counselor for suicide prevention hotline

(Developed from: Copyright 1995-2013 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use).
Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing
Constructs an ordered overview of your writing
Defines boundaries and groups

Revising Your Paper: The Why & How to of Revision. Most of us who compose on a computer
understand revision as an ongoing, even constant process. Every time you hit the delete button, every time
you cut and paste, every time you take out a comma or exchange one word for another, you're revising.
But real revision is more than making a few changes here and there. Real revision requires that you open
yourself up to the possibility that parts of your paper - and even your entire paper - might need to be re-
thought, and re-written.
Achieving this state of mind is difficult. First, you might be very attached to what you've written.
You may be unwilling to change a word, let alone three or four paragraphs. Second, there is the matter of
time: you sense that the paper needs major work, but it's due tomorrow, or you have an exam in physics, or
you're coming down with a cold and know that you need to sleep. Third, you may have difficulty
understanding what, exactly, is wrong with your paper. Finally, you might simply be sick and tired of your
paper. How can you give it another go-through when exhaustion has you in its grip? Why should you be
bothered with (or overwhelmed by) the process of revising?
Of course, we might convince you that revision is worth the extra effort simply by saying that
revising a paper will help you to achieve a better grade. A reader can sense when a piece of writing has been
thoroughly considered and re-considered. This "consideration" (and here we mean the word in both of its
meanings) is not lost on your professor and will be rewarded. But more important than grades is that revising
your papers teaches you to be a better writer. Studies have shown again and again that the best way to learn
to write is to rewrite. In the revision process, you improve your reading skills and your analytical skills. You
learn to challenge your own ideas, thus deepening and strengthening your argument. You learn to find the
weaknesses in your writing. You may even discover patterns of error or habits of organization that are
undermining your papers.
Though revising takes time and energy, it also helps you to become a more efficient writer down the
road. If, for example, you have discovered through the revision process that you tend to bury your topic
sentences in the middle of your paragraphs, you can take this discovery with you as you draft your next
paper. You are less likely to make that particular mistake again. Perhaps we've answered the question "Why
should I revise?" The next question, of course, is "How?" There are many different kinds of revising:
Large-Scale Revision: This kind of revision involves looking at the entire paper for places where your
thinking seems to go awry. You might need to provide evidence, define terms, or add an entirely new step
to your reasoning. You might even decide to restructure or rewrite your paper completely if you discover
a new idea that intrigues you, or a structure that seems to be more effective than the one you've been using.
Small-Scale Revision: Small-scale revision needs to happen when you know that a certain part of your
paper isn't working. Maybe the introduction needs work. Maybe one part of the argument seems weak.
Once you've located the problem, you'll focus on revising that one section reconsider your paper as a
whole to make sure that your revisions work in the context of the entire paper.
Editing: Too often students confuse editing with revision. They are not the same processes. Editing is the
process of finding minor problems with a text - problems that might easily be fixed by deleting a word or
sentence, cutting and pasting a paragraph, and so on. When you edit, you are considering your reader. You
might be happy with how you've written your paper, but will your reader find your paper clear, readable,
interesting? How can you rewrite the paper so that it is clearer, more concise, and, most important of all, a
pleasure to read?
Proofreading: When you proofread you are looking for mistakes in your paper. Common mistakes
caught in proofreading are punctuation errors, spelling errors, subject-verb agreement, its/it's confusion,
their/there confusion, and so on. When you proofread, you need to slow down your reading, allowing your
eye to focus on every word, every phrase of your paper. Reading aloud can help you slow down, pointing
your attention to errors that have gone unseen. Also, USE YOUR SPELL CHECK. Professors are less
forgiving of spelling errors and typos than they were before the invention of this very helpful tool.

The very best writers will revise in all the ways listed here. To manage these various levels of revision, it's
very important that you get an early start on your papers so that you have time to make any substantive,
large-scale revisions that your paper might need. Good writers also understand that revision is an ongoing
process, not necessarily something that you do only after your first draft is complete. You might find, for
example, that you are stuck halfway through the first draft of your paper. You decide to take a look at what
you have so far. As you read, you find that you've neglected to make a point that is essential to the success of
your argument. You revise what you've written, making that point clear. In the end, you find that your block
is gone. Why? Maybe it's gone because what was blocking you in the first place was a hole in your argument.
Or maybe it's gone because you gave your brain a break. In any case, stopping to revise in the middle of the
drafting process often proves wise.

DEVELOPING OBJECTIVITY. We've yet to address the matter of how a writer knows what she should
revise. Developing a critical eye is perhaps the most difficult part of the revision process. But having a
critical eye makes you a better writer, reader, and thinker. So it's worth considering carefully how you might
learn to see your own work with the objectivity essential to successful self- criticism.
The first step in gaining objectivity is to get some distance from your work. If you've planned your
writing process well, you'll have left yourself a day or two to take a break from your work. If you don't have
this luxury, even an hour of air hockey or a walk over to pick up a hard copy of your draft might be enough
to clear your head. Many writers find that their mind keeps working on their papers even while their attention
is turned elsewhere. When they return to their work, they bring with them a fresh perspective. They also
bring a more open, more detached mind.
When you return to your paper, the first thing that you'll want to do is to consider whether or not the
paper as a whole meets your (and your professor's) expectations. Read the paper through without stopping
(don't get hung up on that troublesome second paragraph). Then ask yourself these questions:
Did I fulfill the assignment?: If the professor gave you instructions for this assignment, reread them
and then ask yourself whether or not you addressed all of of your paper. When you are finished you
will want to the matters you were expected to address. Does your paper stray from the assignment? If
it does, have you worked to make your argument relevant, or are you coming out of left field? If the
professor hasn't given you explicit instructions for this paper, you'll still want to take a moment to
consider what the professor expects. What are the main ideas of the course? What books has the
professor asked you to read? What position do they take as regards your topic? Has the professor
emphasized a certain method of scholarship (feminism, Marxism, etc.)? Has he said anything to you
about research methods in his discipline? Does your paper seem to fit into the conversation that the
professor has been carrying on in class? Have you written something that other students would find
relevant and interesting?
Did I say what I intended to say?: This is perhaps the most difficult question you will ask yourself in
the revision process. Many of us think that we have indeed said what we intended to say. When we
read our papers, we are able to fill in any holes that might exist in our arguments with the information
that we have in our minds. The problem is that our readers sometimes don't have this information in
mind. They fall into the holes of our arguments, and they can't get out. It's very important, therefore,
to think carefully about what you have said - and to think just as carefully about what you haven't
said. Ask yourself: Was I clear? Do I need to define my terms? Has every stage of the argument been
articulated clearly? Have I made adequate transitions between my ideas? Is my logic solid? Is it there,
for all to see? If the answer to any of these questions is no, you will want to revise your draft.
What are the strengths of my paper?: In order to develop a critical eye, it's just as important to know
when you've written well as it is to know when you've written poorly. It helps, therefore, to make a
list of what you think you've done well in your draft. It's also helpful to pick out your favorite or
strongest paragraph. When you've found a good paragraph, or sentence, or idea, think about why it's
good. You'll not only be gaining an understanding of what it means to write well, you'll also be
giving yourself a pat on the back - something that's very important to do in the revision process.
What are the weaknesses of my paper?: Looking for weaknesses isn't as fun as looking for strengths,
but it's necessary to the revision process. Again, try to make a list of what you haven't done well in
this paper. Your list should be as specific as you can make it. Instead of writing, "Problems with
paragraphs" you might say "Problems with unity in my paragraphs," or even more specific,
"Problems with the transitions between paragraphs 3 & 4 and 12 & 13." Also force yourself to
determine which paragraph (or sentence) you like least in the paper. Figure out why you don't like it,
and work to make it better. Then go back through your paper and look for others like it.
ANALYZING YOUR WORK. If you've been considering the strengths and weaknesses of your paper,
you've already begun to analyze your work. The process of analysis involves breaking down an idea or an
argument into its parts and evaluating those parts on their merits. When you analyze your own paper, then,
you are breaking that paper down into its parts and asking yourself whether or not these parts support the
paper as you envision it. We've been encouraging you to analyze your work throughout this Web site.
Every time we've prodded you to reconsider your thesis, every time we've provided you with a checklist for
writing good paragraphs, we have been encouraging you to break your writing down into parts and to review
those parts with a critical eye. Here is a checklist reiterating our earlier advice. Use it to analyze your whole
paper, or use it to help you to figure out what went wrong with a particular part of your work.
Consider Your Introduction
If you are writing a researched paper, does your introduction place your argument in an ongoing
conversation?
If you're not writing a researched paper, does your introduction set context?
Does your introduction define all of your key terms?
Does your introduction draw your reader in?
Does your introduction lead your reader clearly to your thesis?
Consider Your Thesis
Does your thesis say what you want it to say?
Does your thesis make a point worth considering? Does it answer the question, "So what?"
Does your thesis provide your reader with some sense of the paper's structure?
Does the paper deliver what your thesis promises to deliver? Consider Your Structure
Make an outline of the paper you've just written. Does this outline reflect your intentions?
Does this outline make sense? Or are there gaps in the logic? Places where you've asked the reader to
make leaps you haven't prepared her for?
Is each point in your outline adequately developed?
Is each point equally developed? (That is, does your paper seem balanced, overall?)
Is each point relevant? Interesting?
Underline your thesis sentence and all of your topic sentences. Then cut and paste them together to form
a paragraph. Does this paragraph make sense?

Consider Your Paragraphs
Does each paragraph have a topic sentence that clearly controls the paragraph?
Are the paragraphs internally coherent?
Are the paragraphs externally coherent? (That is, have you made adequate transitions from paragraph to
paragraph? Is each paragraph clearly related to the thesis?) Consider Your Argument and Its Logic
Have you really presented an argument, or is your paper merely a series of observations, a summary?
Do you see any holes in your argument? Or do you find the argument convincing?
Have you dealt fairly with the opposition? Or have you neglected to mention other possible arguments
concerning your topic for fear that they might undermine your work?
Have you supplied ample evidence for your arguments?
Do you see any logical fallacies? (for more information on logic and logical fallacies, see Logic and
Argument.)


Consider your Conclusion
Is your conclusion appropriate, or does it introduce some completely new idea?
Does your conclusion sum up your main point?
Does your conclusion leave your reader with something to think about?
Does the language resonate, or does it fall flat? On the other hand, have you inflated the language
ridiculously to try to pad a conclusion that is empty and ineffective?

TIPS FOR REVISION. In addition to the advice given above, here are more tips for revising your paper.
1. This is worth repeating, a lot: give yourself adequate time to revise. If you don't start your paper until
the
night before it's due, you won't be able to revise. If you have a short paper due on Friday, finish your draft
no
later than Wednesday so that you have Thursday night to revise. If you are working on a long paper, of
course you'll want to set aside more time for revising.

2. Print a hard copy of your paper. Studies have found that many people miss problems in their papers when
they are reading from the computer screen. Because you can't see the whole paper on the screen, it is
sometimes hard to diagnose big structural problems. Having a hard copy of your paper will not only help you
to see these problems, but it will give you space in the margins where you might write notes to yourself as
you read.

3. Read your paper out loud. Sometimes you can hear mistakes that you don't see. Reading aloud will signal
to you when something doesn't make sense, when sentences go on for too long, when punctuation has gone
awry, and so on.

4. Get a second reader. It's often difficult to figure out what's gone wrong in your own paper. This is why
getting a second reader is the smartest thing you can do as a writer. A second reader can do a lot for you: she
can tell you where she got bored, or confused, or offended, and she can give you advice for improving your
work. Remember, though: when you ask someone to read your work, you should be prepared for any
criticism they might make. Don't be defensive; instead, try to figure out why your reader feels as she does
about your paper. Of course, you don't have to follow every suggestion that your reader makes, but you will
certainly profit from her comments and questions, even if you do decide to ignore her advice in the end.

5. Be a second reader. There's no better way to learn how to revise your paper than to help someone else
revise his. You'll find that your critical eye works much better when it's focused on your friend's paper than it
does when it's focused on your own. You can be more objective when looking at someone else's work. You
can see more easily what's gone wrong in a paper and how to fix it. When you practice these skills on
someone else's paper, you become more adept at practicing them on your own.

Practical Advice for Ensuring that you Revise Life into your Sentences:
-Use forceful verbsreplace long verb phrases with a more specific verb. For example, replace She argues for the
importance of the idea with She defends the idea.
-Look for places where youve used the same word or phrase twice or more in consecutive sentences and look for
alternative ways to say the same thing OR for ways to combine the two sentences.
-Cut as many prepositional phrases as you can without losing your meaning. For instance, the following sentence,
There are several examples of the issue of integrity in Huck Finn, would be much better this way, Huck Finn
repeatedly addresses the issue of integrity.
-Check your sentence variety. If more than two sentences in a row start the same way (with a subject followed by a
verb, for example), then try using a different sentence pattern.
-Aim for precision in word choice. Dont settle for the best word you can think of at the momentuse a thesaurus
(along with a dictionary) to search for the word that says exactly what you want to say.
-Look for sentences that start with It is or There are and see if you can revise them to be more active and engaging.
(Courtesy the Odegaard Writing & Research Center http://www.dept.washington.edu/owrc. Adapted from
www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/revise.shtml)