Checklist for assessing the writing situation

• Has a subject (or a range of possible subjects) been given to you, or are you free to choose your own?
• What interests you about your subject? What questions would you like to explore?
• Why is your subject worth writing about? How might readers benefit from reading about it?
• How broadly can you cover the subject? Do you need to narrow it to a more specific topic (because of length restrictions, for instance)?

• Where will your information come from: Reading? Personal experience? Research? Direct observation? Interviews? Questionnaires?
• What kinds of evidence will best serve your subject, purpose, and audience?
• What sort of documentation is required: MLA? APA? Chicago (CMS)?

• Why are you writing: To inform readers? To persuade them? To entertain them? To call them to action? Some combination of these?
• Who are your readers? How well informed are they about your subject? How will they benefit from reading your work?
• How interested and attentive are your readers? Will they care about your purpose? Will they resist any of your ideas?
• What is your relationship to them: Student to instructor? Employee to supervisor? Citizen to citizen? Expert to novice? Scholar to scholar?

• Do you have any length specifications? If not, what length seems appropriate, given your subject, purpose, and audience?
• Does the assignment call for a particular kind of paper: A report? A proposal? An essay? An analysis of data? A reflection?
• Must you use a particular format for your document? If so, do you have guidelines to follow or examples to consult?
• How might visuals—charts, graphs, tables, images—help you convey information?

• Who will be reviewing your draft in progress: Your instructor? A writing center tutor? Your classmates? A friend? Someone in your family?
• What are your deadlines? How much time will you need to allow for the various stages of writing, including proofreading and printing the final draft?

Go to related page: Assessing the writing situation