In prewriting, you might choose to make a chart to take notes on the sources you’ve collected. You can try clustering or creating an idea tree to organize your ideas.

While you are drafting the first attempt at your document, you will need to organize your ideas cohesively in paragraphs and throughout the paper. Keep in mind that paragraphs have a central idea, and the sentences in it should have a standard flow. You might order statements in a paragraph chronologically, from specific to general, from general to specific, from question to answer, or from problem to solution.

When organizing a paper, you should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. These three parts are not always the same length. For instance, in the traditional five-paragraph essay model, the introduction consists of one paragraph, the body consists of three paragraphs supporting the thesis or main idea delivered in the introduction, and the conclusion consists of one paragraph tying the entire paper together and summarizing your main points.