Section four - Developing your writing skills

Section four

DEVELOPING YOUR WRITING SKILLS:

There are many different ways of developing assignments. They all need some basic principles to be followed:

Read the assessment guidelines to see what kind of writing you will be producing for the individual modules. These could be any of, or a combination of, the following:

 Essays require structured arguments which are evidence-based and based on literature and other resources

 Reports: a structured piece of work presenting a specific topic.  A critique developing arguments around the comparing and contrasting of material following a critical appraisal.  Reflection: thinking critically about nursing practice or learning.  A portfolio: a collection of evidence presented critically to demonstrate learning and/or competence  Competencies: evidence of the development of knowledge and skills.  Exam: an examination of knowledge. To undertake essay writing you need to demonstrate your ability to:

1. Understand the instructions given within the module.

2. Identify an appropriate question and search the underpinning literature and resources/ evidence. 3. Critically appraise and synthesise the evidence formatting an informed discussion. 4. Construct effective evidence-based arguments to support the conclusion. 5. Format evidence-based recommendations for practice. 1. Identifying a subject title:

Start your work by understanding what the assessment requires. This will be clearly indicated. Take your time to read this information and perhaps highlight the important words which will help you plan your essay. Once this is highlighted you need to plan how you are going to achieve each point. Plan how you are going to lay out the assessment, and start by identifying the title. Return to this regularly so that you can stay focused on the point.

2. Start with a brainstorm:

To start the process place your thoughts on the assessment content on a couple of A4 sheets of paper or a Word document. This can then be organised to a greater extent after you have a clearer idea of your understanding of the assessment and topic.

Ask yourself questions like:

 What is the structure that is being introduced?  What main points have been emphasised or jump out at you?  What reading and resources do I need?  Where is the best evidence going to be found? The next step is to break down your ideas, reflect upon the plan and build it up to one that is more structured. Consider the notes you have made and plan what reading and resourcing is required. In this plan, start to form a more coherent argument. The only fixed feature of this section is the essay title and you should return to this regularly to remain focused.

3. Start your efficient reading:

This section takes the most time and it’s important to plan well and use the above stages.

 Stay focused on the plan you made and don’t waste your time reading material which is irrelevant or isn’t linked to the topic.  Read with a purpose, linking this to the title and plan.  Use systematic note-taking to record the references, quotes and page numbers. You may use all of the details later, so think about where to keep this information;  Write as you read (notes or sections), clarifying your ideas as you develop the arguments. You can revisit these drafts later.

However, remaining focused does not mean that you should not be flexible to new ideas generated from your reading.

4. How to establish the structure when you are ready to write

The underpinning structure is important in helping you to bring the arguments you are making to the forefront. The decision will be yours and may be influenced by clinical area, the title or your own preference.

Some areas may be:

 thematic: producing themes that have emerged from your reading and remain relevant to your title

 by context: to demonstrate that the area of practice you have decided to focus on has a sound literature base

 comparative: addressing more than one area of research or practice that can be developed into a contrasting debate to draw conclusions  a fluid structure developing an idea: emerging from the evidence and evolving as you further appraise the evidence. These can be developed into more complicated structures:

 an overall chronological structure that compares sections

 an overall thematic structure broken into sub themes

 an overall comparative structure, broken down by context. To answer the question, the process can potentially follow the following structure, which may be applied to many differing assessments:

 analyse the title  brainstorm relevant ideas

 gather information  read around the title, making relevant notes  structure first draft, introduction; structure the argument  form a conclusion and recommendations

 prepare a first draft  analyse the title again  critically appraise and review the draft, adding in any further reading as necessary to support the argument  prepare the final draft  critically edit and submit the finished essay. 5. The Introduction

Structuring the assignment introduction can be done in draft as you commence the development. It may need to be altered later as the assessment develops. Used correctly the introduction provides a powerful, invaluable way of engaging the reader in the topic and the work to come. The length can range from one paragraph to a couple of pages.

The following structure may be used:

 state the assessment aim

 commence the development of the main point  give an overview of the assessment structure  give a rationale including clinical practice, your experiences and local/regional or national policy/protocol/guidance which supports the topic you are covering  introduce confidentiality. 6. Structuring the main body (the argument)

The structure must be the one that fulfils the expectations of the introduction. The main content should address ideas and provide relevant referencing and examples of the evidence. You need to convince the reader that your point of view is worth considering.

You should address:

 linking to the introduction at the start  addressing aims and objectives  coaching your introduction in an academic style and remaining focused on this throughout.  potentially discuss the methodology of your literature search

 engage your reader by critically appraising, synthesising and evaluating your evidence, resources and literature throughout  form arguments underpinned with literature and evidence (these should include your own views and experiences)

 clarify thoughts and expressions,  do not use slang or colloquial dialect or abbreviations

 order your work to ensure the flow develops arguments and analysis throughout  link to the next section.

7. Developing a critical writing style

To develop your writing, focus on developing your critical writing skills. This will help you develop your argument by critically considering the argument, your own practices, the evidence and the practice of others. “Criticial” is not a negative term, but allows you to explore further the ideas and practices nurses deliver.

The main characteristics to consider are:

 confidence on challenging the conclusions drawn by other writers and researchers  evaluating the findings of your critical analysis  a balanced presentation of your view points and conclusions

 a recognition of the limitations in your own evidence, argument, and conclusion 8. What is descriptive writing?

This form of writing is acceptable as diplomastyle writing but degree-level writing needs to go further. Descriptive writing is writing where the author gives:

 a general description of a piece of literature, resource or evidence

 a list of measurements of the resource or, research or literature and describes these without considering meaning or effect  only a brief summary of the evidence, practice or data.

In critical writing the arguments are underpinned and robust. These can be presented in one idea per paragraph or an explanation of the quote or argument. You could use the paragraph to practise critical writing. Critiquing a paper

You should research the paper and read it several times, breaking the paper up in your notes to sections. However, don’t worry if you need to reread to understand it, take your time and apply these questions:

Title Is this concise and relevant to the research question?

Author

Does the author(s) have the correct qualifications, academic courses or professional experience? Abstract Has the abstract succinctly identified the research topic and structure of the work? Introduction Is there a specific focus?

Literature review Are there enough sources of relevant data supporting the paper? Is this up to date including relevant works? Are seminal papers used? Is there a transparent search process? Is there a balanced literature evaluation? Is the need established and linked to practice? The hypothesis Is this clear and realistic?

Method Can you see the methodology used and is this discussed?

Population/sample If statistics form a part of the study, is the population right for the topic you wish to look at? Is the sampling generalised or specific? Are the figures explained?

Data management

Can you identify the data collection method and results clearly? Does this validate the hypothesis? Date analysis Is the approach appropriate and clearly discussed? Does the data validate the hypothesis? Ethical matters Is there informed consent used? Has anonymity/GDPR discussed? Is the data securely stored?

Results

Discussion Are these clear and present? Do the results clearly relate to the data? Is this fair and transparent? Is there more data included?

Conclusion Is the conclusion seen to be supported by the findings? Recommendations Are there recommendations underpinning the need for further research?

Limitations Have these been highlighted and discussed?

Conclusions and recommendations:

The conclusion is important to demonstrate how your arguments have been drawn together and will underpin the recommendations of practice. You should not be including new material at this point, but evaluating how your learning will underpin practice, personal and any professional developments you have recommended.