Homework Helper: Writing Skills

Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff Updated by an Factmonster Editor on February 21, 2017

Writing Skills

After you've gathered your sources, begin taking notes.

Use 3 x 5 index cards, one fact or idea per card. This way related ideas from different sources can be easily grouped together or rearranged.
If you copy something directly from a book without putting it in your own words, put quotation marks around it so that you know it is an exact quotation. This will help you to avoid plagiarism.
On each index card, be sure to note the name of the source and also the page number where you got the information from. If you use the idea or quotation in your paper, you will have the information about the source ready to put in your footnote or endnote.
Before you sit down to write your rough draft, organize your note cards according to the order of your ideas in your outline.

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