When I joined the Thomasian Debaters Council, I really had no idea that it would be very helpful for my writing career several years later. Of course, speaking and writing are two very different things, but in essence, quite a few tips I learned from being a debater still work for me now that I’m working as an academic writer.

Debate is all about thinking on your feet. There’s no time for lengthy studies at the library. You need a large database of stock knowledge in your head, a quick tongue and occasional humorous one-liners that either drive your opponent to the ground or diffuse a rather uncomfortable situation.

Apart from all those, you need to have a pretty good grasp of organization, too. In a way, this is where writing and debating sort of converge. Without organization, your ideas just float around your brain with no direction or essence at all. They make no sense. You can have the best ideas in the world but if you can’t present them coherently, you’re dead. Or a loser, whichever comes first.

So what’s that got to do with writing? I think I speak for academic writers everywhere when I say that you don’t really get as much time as you want when writing someone else’s paper. It’s not like you took the class for a semester. It’s not easy gathering data for something you never even took up in school.

The time constraint plus the ginormous amount of data available makes writing a paper extremely difficult. This, I think, is where my training as a debater really helped.

Here are a few things you need to keep in mind when writing a paper. Make this your de facto outline. It’s guaranteed to help you get through the deluge of ideas.

1. Introduction. Begin with something interesting. A quote, an anecdote — whatever floats your boat, in short. You need it to be catchy. It doesn’t have to be something sensational, just a good conversation starter. Don’t forget to establish your thesis statement here, too. This is where your audience gets a good idea of what you’re going to talk about, so the central concept of your entire paper should be found here.

2. Sign Post. Not literally, though it does seem like it. Let your audience know what’s coming. It helps both you and your reader make sense of what you’re about to discuss. Note the important areas of discussion in order and do explain why these are important. It’s like explaining your own thoughts to yourself, in a way. Answer this question. What areas should I discuss in this paper chronologically and why?

3. Body. The body proper should proceed in the same way you sign posted it. That way you can just head back to the sign post paragraph when you falter and forget how to proceed. Provide the central arguments of your paper. Even research papers stand for something, so don’t forget to provide your most important details and evidence here to support your arguments.

4. Conclusion. Often neglected, the Conclusion is probably the most maligned part of writing today. Many forget to provide closure for their discussions, leaving readers hanging by a thread. In debate, it would be career suicide to leave the podium without providing this part of your speech. So what do you do? Remind your audience. What was it that you discussed? Best to repeat your thesis statement, enumerate your arguments and close with a bang. By the way, remember to tell your audience why your arguments and evidence prove that your thesis is right. Helps them figure it out (and agree with you) much easier.

So there. Writing is really all about getting your head together. Ideas need to be tied down to specific pages — don’t just let them swim around. You’ll have a terribly muddled paper then. This tip is simple, organized and easy to remember, even when you don’t have a pen and paper for your thoughts. Introduction - Sign Post - Body - Conclusion.

Think fast. Think clearly.

XOXO,