by
Louis Martinez
Writing is difficult enough as it
is, so anything that can streamline the process is invaluable. And if you’re
citing sources, one thing you can do is sort your list of references out early
so you can type those in-text citations at the end of a sentence as smoothly as
any punctuation. When you’re on a roll with a rough draft, you don’t want
anything to disrupt your flow of ideas. Any stray thought can potentially derail
the train on its journey to the end of the document, causing you to omit a statement
that may have made the difference between agreement or disapproval in your
reader’s mind.
If I’m writing a non-fiction piece
with sources to cite, I find it invaluable to have my references readily
available so I can insert them in-line as naturally as I would a period or
comma. In the past, I have made the mistake of pushing through my rough draft from
start to finish, only to realize I now had to go back line-by-line for the
expressed purpose of picking out sentences that should have citations and
tediously adding them in. This added an entire new step to the writing process;
a step that was unnecessary, and one I’m glad I now have a system to accommodate
for.
When I have a large number or
sources I’ll be citing for a piece, I like to form my reference list as I come
across information I’ll be using, rather than simply recording where I found it
so I can form the reference list later on. This may require some detailed
familiarity with the citation style you’re using, which I am fortunate enough
to have at this point. Having this information compiled in advance becomes a
useful tool I can use when writing my rough draft.
When I’m writing a research paper;
a report on an experiment; an analysis of a case study; or some other piece which
may require a reference list several pages long, I like to have that list
available at the side of my screen in another window next to my document so I
can easily place the appropriate information in-line right when it comes up
without having to stray from my spot on the page. I used to scroll down to my
references, gather the information, then return to my spot to type it in, but I
found moving my eyes slightly to the side to be much more efficient than
scrolling all over the place.
Using this method has substantially
decreased the amount of time I spend writing, especially over long pieces. I
encourage anyone referencing other material in their work to develop a system
that enhances efficiency. By cutting down the time spent on drafting, you can
increase the time available for editing, which will ultimately result in an
overall higher quality of writing.
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