Plan out your research and writing process, allowing ample time early on to identify a problem and find materials. Here are some suggestions for steps (not all apply equally to all 3 options):
A. In historical research there are primary and
secondary sources. Primary sources are the original documents,
like letters, journals, minutes of an organization, writings of a key
player, testimonial records, and so on. Secondary sources are writings derived from primary sources such as histories, biographies, and
other works that draw from and often analyze the primary sources. You will probably use mostly the secondary literature, given time
constraints. Do not rely on a single source for your research. If you do, and that resource is of the secondary literature, you
cannot check on the accuracy of analysis and interpretation by that author. Always think critically about your sources.
As you investigate, here are some questions to ask: How do you define the
central terms? What are the boundaries of your place? Is
your topic the history of an issue, or is it the issue? What are the
major issues and sub-issues, the main positions, the main logic
used by their defenders? Who were the major forces or players in the
story? Who identified the problem, and what was their point of view? Your task is to determine what is important in the history you
are examining. Don't get bogged down in too much detail - be
selective. Construct a careful chronology. What happened when, in what
order? What exactly led from one event to another?
B. As you draw the details together, begin digesting the material, and try to state the central questions in your own words. What is the significance of the dispute, the positions, the underlying perceptions? What is learned from this history? What generalization s can you draw, if any?
C. What is the major point you want to make? This is your major claim or thesis. A thesis is an educated answer to the question that prompted your research; it is not fact, but an informed assertion about the subject. Does it clearly identify a problem, a binding conceptual issue, a clear causal hypothesis? Can you answer this: "Why is this the most important claim for me to make?" What makes it important? Are there other possibilities? You should be able to complete a sentence summarizing the point of the whole essay: "The purpose of this paper is to. . . " (even if these words never appear in your paper).
D. Before your reader will believe your major claim, what must you show him or her? You will need to break your main claim into a series of narrower questions, your answers to which become your subordinate claims. Decide which of these less general assertions can be easily supported, and which need more time. Your task is to demonstrate a reasoned and supported argument, not to simply air your opinion.
E. Assemble the evidence - data, texts, logical arguments, etc. that led you to your conclusion. Selectively illustrate and substantiate your claims. Each piece of evidence should be a clear demonstration of the point you are making. Merely summarizing is the wrong track, as is repetition. Be sure to provide evidence that addresses possible objections to your claims also.
F. Choose a suitable design for your essay. How and in what order will you present your ideas? A design needs to be flexible enough for the complexity of the material, but also clear enough direct the reader. Clarity and interest are your main goals.
G. Do a draft! If you have trouble with steps C and D above, write first and see where you end up! Usually by the end of struggling though a draft your major claim will be clearer. A sentence that summarizes this newly discovered point will be a good starting point for revising what you wrote so that everything connects to it.
H. Revise the draft. Don't skip this step! Usually this means extensively revise it! Do you have an introduction that lays out your thesis and the issues you will address? You may find that only at the end of your first draft did you come to a clear formulation of a thesis! This needs to be "given" to the reader up front. The introduction needs to lay out the major points rather quickly, leading right up to your statement of this thesis. An effective thesis performs at least 3 functions: ---1. Clearly identifies the subject of the paper. ---2. Makes an assertion about that subject, one that allows for a range of discussion. Sometimes it qualifies and expands the assertion) ---3. Predicts the logical order you will follow in your discussion. The reader approaches the discussion cold, and needs to be oriented right away! The thesis sets up expectations and guideposts that will guide the reader through your formulation of the problem and solution. It becomes your gift to the needy reader. (Thanks to Barbara Sylvester for this locution!)
I. Reassess the body of your paper. Are all the points and details in this exposition relevant to your thesis? Does each sentence add to the development of an idea (i.e., a paragraph). Does each such point define or support the thesis? Are the relationships between your points (transitions) clear to the reader? Always ask: Do you need this point? Does it belong here? (Signs of poor organization are interchangability and repetition.)
J. A good conclusion should do more than reiterate established points. It is a good place to raise issues and questions that occurred to you while writing, but did not help to develop your thesis. You may also want to point out limitations of your work, and what should be done next.
In rewriting, you may need to go through all the steps above more than once, and not necessarily in this order. Reconsider the questions above as a reader might ask them. Read your essay aloud; if you find an awkward sentence, examine it to see what is wrong. Writing is a problem solving process! A better organization may become apparent only after writing a draft. Revise and rewrite. Give yourself time to do your best. But do not torture yourself waiting for the "miracle of inspiration" - if you are having trouble, ask for help.
An excellent source on all aspects of the research and writing process is Jacques Barzun & Henry Graff, The Modern Researcher 3rd ed. (New York: Harcourt, 1977).
On broader matters of style, many books are available.
Try the On-line copy of Strunk & White's classic piece on writing clear
prose,
The Elements of Style (New York: Macmillan, 1959),
or William Zinsser, On Writing Well, 3rd ed. (New York: Harper
and Row, 1985),
or a recent edition of Sheridan Baker, The Practical Stylist (New
York: Harper and Row),
or Joseph Williams, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1990).