For example, you may have begun with the general subject of "backpacking." After thinking about your subject, you decided your subject was a bit broad and limited it geographically to "backpacking in the Grand Canyon." After a bit more thought, you decide that you are really interested in "the dangers of backpacking in the Grand Canyon. You might write the following theses:

• Backpackers in the Grand Canyon must prepare themselves to deal with possible dangers from the weather and environment.
• On a lonely trail descending into the Grand Canyon, I learned that nature is filled with wonder and danger.

Usually a thesis evolves from your thinking or reading about your subject. If the subject is unfamiliar, you will find writing a useful thesis more difficult. So—the first step is to find out about your subject, though you probably won’t be prepared to find specific support for you entire paper at this point. You may need to read some articles or search the Internet for an overview of the your subject. Second, decide the purpose of your paper. What do you want your readers to gain from your paper? Is the paper merely informative, or is it argumentative, or does it deal with causes and effects, etc.

Sometimes it helps to ask questions about your proposed thesis:

• Why are there so many homeless people?
• How will/won't gun control decrease the number of violent crimes?

The answer to the questions can lead to your thesis. The thesis statement develops your subject into a scholarly proposal. It does not state the obvious. For instance, stating that child abuse has a negative effect on children is obvious and, therefore, does not warrant an entire paper to prove that point. No one would argue that child abuse is good for children. However, how the effects of child abuse can be manifested in a victim’s later life might warrant discussion in a developed paper.

(Stating the thesis in this manner is so direct that it implies that the reader would not be able to figure the subject out unless it is spelled out for him.)

(This less direct way of stating the thesis makes the subject clear and gives the reader some credit for being able to read and understand concepts on his own.)

The first copy or rough draft of your thesis is called a "working thesis." The thesis for a research paper is also often referred to as a "proposal." After you have a working thesis or proposal, you are ready to begin brainstorming ideas or points you want to make in your paper. Then you need to find sources to support those ideas or points you wish to make. By making a rough or "working" outline of the main ideas you want to discuss in your paper BEFORE you begin finding sources, you won’t be tempted write a paper that merely reports what various sources say about your subject. If you have a rough plan and some definite opinions or ideas about your subject before you begin to find sources, then your paper will have more of your "voice" and your "style" in it. You papers should reflect YOUR critical thinking, and you should use sources to support YOUR ideas.

Though your thesis may change somewhat as you write your paper and discover precisely what you want to say about your subject, you will finally end up with a final version of your thesis statement.

Generally, a writer wants the main or central idea of his or her paper to be presented in the beginning of the paper. By placing the thesis in the introductory part of a paper, the writer allows the reader understands the focus of the paper up front, and the reader doesn’t have to guess what the paper will be about. The reader is "prepared" to read about the subject.

Usually, in shorter papers, the thesis is placed at the end of an introductory paragraph. If a paper is short, one paragraph of introduction is all that is needed. If a paper is very long, more than one paragraph of introduction may be needed. The introduction should be proportionate to the length of the whole paper. It is usually desirable for the central idea of the paper, the thesis statement, to be in the position of greatest impact. The position of greatest impact usually comes at the end of the introduction of the paper.

An introductory paragraph is all that is generally needed for a short paper. Just as a paper has a beginning, middle and end, the introduction has a beginning, middle and end as well. The beginning of an introduction is important because it will either draw reader into the paper or cause a reader to dismiss the paper as uninteresting or unimportant. To help capture the reader’s interest in the paper, a writer usually begins the introduction with something that will motivate the reader to continue reading the paper. This motivator might be a startling fact, an appropriate quotation, a short anecdote that somehow relates to the subject, a striking description, etc. The middle part of the introduction serves as a transition between the motivator and the thesis statement. The middle part should explain how the motivator relates to the main idea of the paper. In other words, it smoothly and logically connects the motivator to the thesis statement. The last sentence of the introduction usually contains the central idea of the paper or the thesis statement. Below is an introductory paragraph for an informative paper. (Incidents in the example are not factual, but are merely invented to serve as a model.)

Example with motivator (anecdote), transition, and thesis:

• (motivator)à An exhausted and terrified eight-year-old boy was pressed by the crowd toward a waiting boxcar that would take him on a one way trip to Auschwitz. Suddenly, an arm shot from between two cars, and a hand grabbed the fabric of the boy’s jacket and jerked him into the darkness between the cars.
• (transition)à This action by a German woman who could not bear to stand by and do nothing while innocent people were shipped to their deaths not only changed the fate of the boy, but indirectly led to the preservation of the lives of thousands of children. This young boy grew up to become a noted doctor who developed treatments for childhood onset leukemia. (thesis)à Many of the effective treatments for leukemia today stem, in part, from the research and practices of Dr. Leo M. Godell.

Every essay, and even every book, has a central idea that the author attempts to develop. Sometimes, however, the thesis is alluded to or merely implied rather than stated directly in the introductory paragraph. Usually, if the author has avoided stating the thesis in the introductory paragraph, it is for stylistic reasons—suspense, for example. A writing technique for those who have difficulty sustaining an organized paper or who wish to strongly emphasize the central idea of their papers is to place the thesis as the last sentence of the first paragraph. They state the thesis as clearly as possible so it establishes the order in which the points will be developed (if the thesis lists separate points) or so the reader has no doubt about the subject and the direction the paper will take.

• Example: Television talk shows suggest that American society is populated with derelicts, lost souls and materialists. (Lists separate points)
• Example: Television talk shows suggest that American society is populated with people of less than desirable character.

There is nothing magic about the number three, but because many students have had a great deal of experience with a "five paragraph essay" in high school, they may think that a paper must always be developed with an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion. However, the fact is that every paper must be adequately developed regardless of the number of body paragraphs that are required to accomplish the author’s purpose in writing the paper. Some papers may be adequately developed with three body paragraphs, but other papers may require many more body paragraphs in order to fully explain concepts, argue points, provide examples, etc. Development is the degree to which you explain your thesis and provide examples, illustrations and facts so that your reader understands your ideas and can follow your discussion or argument. Therefore, in addition to the introduction and conclusion, the paper will have enough body paragraphs to insure the subject is developed adequately. Longer papers may even have body paragraphs that are divided into sections. For instance, one section of the body of a longer paper may define a problem in three or four paragraphs; the next section may consist of several paragraphs that explain how the problem affects society; another section of several paragraphs may explain solutions that experts in the field have offered for the problem. Remember: if you write a thesis that forecasts the organization of your paper, you must deal with each body paragraph or section in the same order that the elements of the paper are mentioned in the thesis statement.

Once you have written your thesis, you are ready to begin drafting your paper. However, first you need to organize your ideas. Outlining is a useful organizational strategy because it provides a visual representation of your paper, a skeleton, in some cases, and the entire paper in others, depending on the amount of detail you want to include. As you write your first draft, following an outline keeps you from diverging too far from the central idea. The point is to organize your ideas to effectively develop your thesis. Some students actually construct an outline after writing a first draft of a paper in order to check the logic of their papers. If the outline of the first draft seems unorganized and a better organization seems apparent, the student can reorganize the paper according to a better plan.

An outline divides your paper into major and minor categories of ideas and supporting detail. A formal outline requires thought because you must establish a hierarchical order for your ideas. There are really only a few rules governing outlining:

• Every category is broken into a minimum of two divisions. If you have a Roman numeral I, you must have at least a Roman numeral II, ("A" and "B," "1" and "2," and "a" and "b", and so on.)
• Each entry must be parallel in structure. This means that if Roman numeral I is an adjective/noun phrase, then Roman numeral II must also be an adjective/noun phrase. If capital letter A is a verb phrase, then capital letter B must also be a verb phrase, and so on, though capital letters under a different Roman numeral don’t have to be parallel with capital letters under other Roman numerals. They only have to be parallel with each other.
• Every phrase at every point of an outline must begin with a capital letter unless the phrase is made of proper nouns such as "Mesa, Arizona."
• Short phrases and complete sentences should not be mixed in an outline unless your instructor asks you to do so. Generally, outlines for academic papers are topic outlines (short phrases), not sentences. Do not end topic outlines with punctuation. Topic outlines are expected when outlines are required in this course.
• Since the introductions and conclusions as such are not topics that will be discussed in your paper and are merely organizational parts of your paper, you should not include the words "Introduction" and "Conclusion" as ideas in your outline. Doing so would indicate that your paper was going to discuss introductions and conclusions, which is very unlikely. (Also, when writing your actual paper, do not start your conclusion with the phrase, "In conclusion…." Doing so is stating the obvious.)

A formal outline follows this pattern: (Notice the correct punctuation for each level in the outline. Do not add your own punctuation behind letters and numbers, but follow the correct format as shown below) 

An outline is represents your ideas in a tangible form. Some topics are major categories and others are subdivisions of those main categories. If an idea cannot be divided into at least two subdivisions, then there may be a problem with your organization. The category may be either a division by itself or you may need to reconsider the relation of this topic to the overall plan for development. A division, which cannot be subdivided, could indicate a weakness in the organization of your paper. Although not always the case, it is worth more thought.

Of course, not. Many writers prefer to use a rough draft to give form to their ideas so they can reorganize, embellish and even eliminate certain ideas. However, the rough draft is a raw form. The writer must then become a disciplined editor. The rough draft is revised - probably several times - before it is finished. There is more to revision than correcting the spelling errors by running the spell check. The thesis must be clear. The paragraphs must relate to the thesis in a meaningful way. The paper must begin and end effectively. The body must be developed sufficiently. For many people revising a rough draft is much more demanding than writing an outline before drafting. See the lecture on Editing & Revising for more suggestions.

No. A thumbnail outline, used during essay exams or in-class writings, helps quickly organize one's thoughts without taking up precious writing time. The idea is to break your ideas into major topics you want to include to answer the question or to organize your essay. Under each topic you can then list examples from your studies to support these ideas. For instance, these may include specific examples from readings or facts or theories presented in the course.

Hint: To prepare for an in-class writing, write an outline the night before so you have an organizational strategy for the paper in mind. Therefore, you will be ready to write as soon as you enter the classroom - assuming you know the topic, of course. If you do not know the topic of your writing, try to guess. What has your instructor emphasized or hinted about? Those topics could be subjects for in-class writings. Try writing outlines for these subjects. You will often guess correctly.