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Occidental College

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Center for Academic Excellence

  • Center for Academic Excellence
  • Writing Center
  • Prewriting

Prewriting

Start with an Idea

Sometimes ideas come too fast, and sometimes not at all, but organizing them and finding interesting connections between them are both key to a successful paper. Here are some strategies for generating ideas, narrowing them down, and focusing them on the prompt:

Center for Academic Excellence

  • People
    • Office Contact
    • Faculty Hours
    • Peer Advisers
  • Drop-In Hours
  • Tips & Guidelines
  • Proctored Exams
  • Writing Center
    • Reading the Prompt
    • Prewriting
      • Brainstorming
      • Clustering
      • List-Making
      • Other Techniques
      • Outlining
    • Outlines
      • Outlining Overview
      • Basic Outline Form
      • Sample Outline
    • Drafting
      • The Thesis
      • Conclusions
    • Discipline-Specific Advice
      • Writing a Scientific Report
      • Biology & Chemistry Tips
    • Citing Sources
      • Citation Overview
      • Documenting Sources
  • Phone: (323) 259-2545
  • Office: Academic Commons, Ground Floor
  • Schedule an : Appointment

Occidental College

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1600 Campus Road Los Angeles, California 90041