Research Plan

Well here we go again, another year a new plan.

For my students, please note that it is imperative that you have a plan before you begin. No plan ever survives contact with the enemy so it is okay to make changes but you MUST have a plan.

Here are the steps you need to do to develop a successful project and I suggest you do the same:

1. Plan a weekly/daily/monthly plan with deadlines and try to stick by it.
2. Develop a series of questions that you wish to answer from your research.
3. Develop a preliminary bibliography-separate by primary & secondary.
4. Collect your sources.
5. Use each source by taking notes
I prefer note cards for much of my work but on last year's project I also put information into a spreadsheet/timeline with various tabs for events. This proved very effective in keeping long quotations etc as my handwriting now leaves something to be desired.
6. Develop an outline.
7. Organize your research according to your outline.
8. BEFORE you beg the first rough draft make sure you now develop an effective Thesis Statement. Without one your historical writing will lack focus and direction.
9. Right a rough draft.
10. Review the draft-PRINT IT OUT-you will be amazed what you cannot see on a computer screen for some reason. READ the paper out loud, again you will be amazed.
11. Have someone else read it to see if your Thesis Statement is proven in your paper.

Sound like a lot of work? To answer that, I guess it boils down to how good do you want it to be!

For me, this week I will be spending time developing my plan for the next 11 months.

Keep History Alive.
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