Tips

[Furen]

So every time it ends up I need to do some writing for class it ends up that I don't write well enough for the teacher. I have good points but I can't get them from my brain to my paper...

Any tips?

[Esoteric]

Your request is quite vague. Are you talking about grammar and structure? Thesis and analysis? Creative writing? What does your teacher say needs help?

[Furen]

Thesis and analysis

[Esoteric]

Okay, so like writing a research paper.

The first paragraph should contain what is known as your thesis statement. It should announce what you intend to prove, argue for, or analyze. It declares the reason you are writing this paper; what you intend to accomplish with it. Everything paragraph that follows should be related to your thesis statement. If it doesn't it shouldn't be there. I've critiqued more than a few papers which declared one thing starting out, but then supported something else. The result was an unsatisfying paper.

Once you've defined your thesis in the first paragraph, you must set about proving your it through points of argument that are organized into paragraphs. Start with the most basic point, and build on it. Depending on the length of your paper, you may need multiple paragraphs for making each point, but for most short papers, one or two paragraphs per point of argument is usually adequate. Just remember not to ramble off on a topic which doesn't support your initial thesis.

After your argument has been made, finish with a paragraph which wraps everything up. It should contain a brief overview of your points and closing thoughts; in other words, an over all impression in light of the many considerations you talked about.

Depending on the purpose of your paper, the exact formula will vary, but this is the basic approach to writing a research paper. Try to be logical and orderly, and always ask yourself while proofreading if everything you talk about is relevant and clearly explained. Does that help?

[Furen]

Thanks for the help, but every time I try to do this method the teachers say I'm being too redundant and so it bugs me that I can't figure out what they want.

[goldenspines]

Going off of what Esoteric said, I suggest making an outline for your paper. I find when I make an outline for my papers, I can avoid being redundant and be able to organize all my points and thoughts better.
(If you don't know how to make an outline, I can show you an example layout. Just ask.)

[Furen]

I've had many different Guidelines but I think one from you couldn't hurt

Sure I'd love an outline!

[goldenspines]

General essay outline guidelines:
Bear in mind that my example is the bare minimum (one main idea and three supporting points), you can add on as many supporting points as you want/need to get your point across (and depending how long your paper needs to be).

To reduce space, I used a very simple example of a topic. Your paper may have to be a lot more complex(and longer), but this should give you a basis that you can build off of it you find it helpful.

I. Introduction (This part should include your thesis statement, the "main idea" of your paper put into a sentence or two. Then add on two or more other sentences to make it a paragraph. Your intro should be a blueprint for the rest of your paper. For example, if your paper was about cats being great pets, you could make the intro as follows:

Cats are the best pets to own (this the thesis statement). They are easy to take care of since they are clean and quiet. Cats are also great hunters that can rid your house of pests like mice, rats, and sometimes bugs.

Most of the statements I made in that paragraph are fairly general. They don't tell "why", though. That's where the supporting points come in.

II. Body of your paper

A. Supporting point #1 (ex. Cats are easy to take care of)
How you choose to prove your point is up to you. You can give examples (like, cats are clean because they wash themselves, they use a litter box, etc..) or by comparison (cats don't bark all the time like dogs).

B. Supporting point #2 Same with above. Just keep using your first paragraph as your guideline to prove "why" the statement you made is true.

C. Supporting point #3 Same as above and so on for however many points you want to make.

III. Conclusion This is simple a restating of the Introduction. Obviously, you don't want to state it in the same words as your intro. The conclusion is simply here to reaffirm your points that you just proved to the reader and to wrap things up.

Now I need to get back to my own homework. XD;

[Furen]

Thanks! I'll try it out.