Producing a Draft and Building Your Argument

You’ve selected your question and deconstructed it, looking for command words and limiting factors. You’ve searched the library for resources. You’ve decided which resources are most relevant, and you’ve analysed them. You’ve taken all the notes you need. You’ve considered how your work relates to the wider literature. The good news is that you have already made a substantial start on writing, since the mental process of writing is, by this point, well underway. This chapter will take this further, into the production of your first draft. From our experience, we’ve found that science students sometimes lack confidence in their writing abilities. This is often because writing was part of subjects that they didn’t enjoy at school. Consequently, this made them find writing boring or difficult. This can sometimes leave students with the impression that they are ‘bad’ at writing. It might surprise you to learn that having worked with students from all disciplines, our experience is that science students’ writing skills are on a par with their fellow students in the arts and social sciences.