Thinking of Proper Academic Writing? - Get Organized!

Imagine a research paper with the conclusion first and the introduction last. It would be chaotic. What about reading a book that starts in the middle without any explanation as to the characters or setting of the story? Narratives without any organizational structure would be confusing. That is why many essays and/or research papers use different types of organizational structure. Organization helps the writer to form an outline or thesis statement of an essay. A thesis statement helps the reader to gain the purpose and direction of a story or article. Organization helps with the structure of the research paper and allows the writer to clarify his/her thoughts. Different techniques exist in being organized and knowing these make custom essay or term paper writing easier.

For instance, could you imagine reading a love story without any type of explanation of whom the characters are and why they are important to the story? A narrative story begins by introducing the setting and main characters. Usually narrative stories follow a time line in which certain things happen until the last moment of climax. For instance, a mystery would begin with the setting and main character as it shows what is happening. The middle entices the reader to continue reading. The last chapter ends with how the mystery was solved. Solving the mystery at the beginning of the story takes the excitement out of the suspense of the story.

Another example of organization is spatial order. This type of organization arranges the relationships in regards to the physical position. For instance, if I am talking about my refrigerator I might begin with the top of my refrigerator as the freezer. The next part of my refrigerator is the top shelf with items such as butter or eggs on it. The middle shelf has even smaller items with the last shelf containing milk or juice. The next part of the refrigerator is the different drawers that contain vegetables.

Classification is a type of organization that divides the topic into different major categories. For instance, consider the animal kingdom. The classifications begin with the invertebrates and vertebrates. This breaks into different classifications including insects and primates.

Many different types of organization exist. Another type of organizational structure is the cause and the effect. This type of organization can be a little difficult because it is often difficult to determine what the cause really is. An organization type many writers use is the comparison and contrast where they compare items and then contrast how they are different. This is often done through brain storming when beginning an essay.

Many writers use the climatic order (order of importance) in essay writing. They may begin with what is most important and what is least important. However, there are other types of climatic order including general-to-specific order, specific-to-general order, order of frequency, and order of familiarity.

These different organizational types are used in the research process as the researcher gains information about the topic he is researching. However, organizational structure can be used in a variety of ways. A common way organizational structure is in outlines. The primary points of an outline may be in climatic order, topical order, or chronological order.

Transitions are important in any organizational structure. Different organizational structures use different transitions. For instance, the chronological order may use any of the following transitions such as next, afterwards, when, or finally. The topical order may use the following transitions may be first, second, a third practice, and finally.

Different types of organizational structures are used in essay and research writing. An important element in organizational order is transitions. Outlines are often used to give organizational structure to an essay.