Your thesis statement is going to be the central idea of your paper; it is what you are arguing. Make sure that your thesis is concise and to the point. It also needs to be somewhat controversial, or answer the question: "So what?" You want to make sure your thesis isn't too broad or too narrow, but is appropriate to the type and length of your paper. Also, remember that this is only a working thesis that can and will change several times during the writing process. Right now it is something to help guide your research.

As you are working your way through your Reading List, make sure you have a bibliographic entry in your CiteWrite datafile for everything you read and that you take careful notes.

When you run across a passage you think you might want to quote in your paper, add a Note record to your Citation or CiteWrite datafile. Make sure you include the information you need to cite the passage correctly.

Check to make sure you have bibliographic information for every article, book, or web page you read -- and take notes on passages you might want to quote.

Adding a Bibliographic Record

1. Open your CiteWrite datafile and click Edit, Add Record.
2. Select the appropriate form for the work you are reading (e.g., Article in a Journal, Book, Internet: WWW Page).
3. Enter information on the author, year of publication, title, etc. If you aren't quite sure how the information should look in the CiteWrite record, browse through the examples in the Dr Paper Help files.
4. Save the record, and keep reading!