Final Year Project Workshop on Writing

1

Tips for Writing Essays• This assumes you can write English.• Use top-down refinement: have a beginning, middle and

an end.• Be sensible with paragraphs.• Be balanced (argue with yourself).• Use and acknowledge reliable information.• Make sure your arguments are justified form the facts.• Save a little bit of pure opinion for the conclusion if you

like.

Final Year Project Workshop on Writing

2

Writing Chapters

• Use the chapter outlines on the project web pages as a template for each chapter in your report.

• Plan each chapter in outline and then incrementally refine each major section of the chapter

• Top and tail each chapter in a manner similar to Sommerville or Pressman in their respective Software Engineering text books.

Final Year Project Workshop on Writing

3

Typical Chapter 1

• Should contain a discussion of the academic context of the project, the project motivation and background

• Should contain a survey of the particular field of the project with citations and examples

• Should contain the objectives of the project and the project plan

• Should end with a guide to the rest of the report, chapter by chapter

Final Year Project Workshop on Writing

4

Size of Chapters• Aim for a balance in material throughout the report -

roughly 18K words might be broken down as follows:– Chapter 1 - 2K

– Chapter 2 - 3.5K

– Chapter 3 - 3.5k

– Chapter 4 - 3.5K

– Chapter 5 - 3.5K

– Chapter 6 - 2

• Major chapters generally should have more material than the first and last.

Final Year Project Workshop on Writing

5

Proof Reading and Reviewing• Make it a practice to proof read what you have

written and if possible also ask a colleague to proof read your text - offer to proof read theirs in return

• Discuss your chapter drafts with your supervisor - it is good practice to ask your supervisor to review chapters once you have completed them, ideally do this as soon as you have the chapter ready - don't wait until the report is complete!

Final Year Project Workshop on Writing

6

Writing Tools

• Use tools such as spell checker and grammar checker regularly to ensure that typos, etc are eliminated

• Consider using a tool like EndNote to manage your references, or build your own reference database.

• Use diction and style to measure the complexity of your writing and gain advice on improving your style.

Final Year Project Workshop on Writing

7

Other resources

• Books on writing, chapters on writing in the project books, e-books on writing, …you’ll find references for these in the Duo workspace for the Final Year Project Module

• Feedback welcome!