2 The Writing Cycle

understand plan apply check

🗝 Key Concepts

Academic writing follows an Understand-Plan-Apply-Check cycle.

1. Understand
   1. Know the topic
   2. Read and research
2. Plan
   1. Outline for structure
   2. Organize for an approachable flow of content
3. Apply
   1. Develop key outline points
   2. Insert supporting research (or look for more)
   3. Draft paper
4. Check
   1. Peer review or read it aloud after a break
   2. Check content and style against academic writing checklist
   3. Edit and re-edit as appropriate

✓ Check for Understanding

1. Why is academic writing better represented by a circle than a sequence of arrows?
2. Comparing the writing cycle to an algorithm, are there some academic topics for which the algorithm does not halt? You might be interested in the Halting Problem.