Some people say that gardening is akin to art – meaning that a good garden may be much more than a simply perfectly-planned, carefully-laden, well-groomed combination of trees, flowers, and shrubs. If a gardener knows what he/she is doing and how to act productively, the garden will look like a real piece of art. Doesn’t it look like essay writing? When you sit down at the desk knowing what and how to do a paper, you pick the fruit of your labor – a good reputation, high grades, etc. However, there are more points that associate both processes – gardening and writing – they are much more like crafting. There are clearly-defined steps, stages, and methods that cannot be foregone. Either an amateur gardener or essay writer is much more likely to fail without proper planning, necessary skills, and experience.
In the case with an inexpert gardener, there is always a possibility that plants simply will not grow at all. In the case with an inexperienced writer, there is a chance to fail in the paper submission that leads to deplorable results. It isn’t worth to mention them as this article is aimed at helping you succeed academically. Moreover, you can have green fingers at the same time. Well, if you want to excel at gardening like in essay writing or vice versa, you should follow particular steps that are below. Read them carefully and apply in practice!
3 Pre-Writing Steps: Get Prepared for Gardening Thoroughly
1. Get an Idea on What to Do
First of all, you should decide for yourself, what you are going to do. If you need to write an essay, determine what type of essays you’re required to write. A narrative or argumentative essay? Or an essay where you need to critically evaluate a hot issue? Keep in mind that each type of essays implies different purposes.
By contrast with essay writing, the purposes of gardening are several – to look good to the eye and bear fruit. However, you also need to choose what kind of garden you are going to start. A flower garden or a vegetable one? Or, probably, you are going to try your hand at growing herbs? In other words, there should be a definite aim in any business whether you are writing or planting.
2. Pick a Place to Work in
Like the flowers, vegetables or herbs in your garden, you need a place in the sun where you would feel comfortable to work and produce great results in essay writing. Is it a cozy couch or a bench in the park? Additionally, you can find a source of inspiration among 22 places to write when you’re tired of working at home. It’s up to you where to work! However, if you are never concerned about the geography of writing, keep in mind the fact that, as a rule, the place where you write affects what you write. For example, J. K. Rowling has written her first Harry Potter novels in Edinburgh’s cafés. Sure you won’t be distracted by the noise around? If not, you are welcome to a public place!
As for gardens, it is also important to pick a good place to grow plants. Learn what kind of soil your garden has, which kinds of plants will be able to grow there right away. Go ahead with special preparations to pick fruits. For example, while some plants like a lot of the sunlight, others flourish in shade, others like a combination of both – and the same goes for soil moisture. It is highly recommended to spend a day to watch how the sun moves across the chosen place. Isn’t it sunless at all during the day? Don’t get upstairs if the light of the sun does not reach the chosen piece of ground. For example, there are 25 gorgeous that grow in shaded garden areas. You can grow these plants or consider the other areas of your garden. Keep in mind that the vast majority of flowers and vegetables need at least six hours of full sunlight a day to grow properly. So if there is no such place in your garden, you will be limited in the choice of plants. Use the Internet or ask a skilled gardener to find out which plants will be suitable for the conditions you have. Buy seeds or seedlings by keeping in mind how much space you have.
3. Do the Groundwork for Quick Results
After you decide on what you are going to do and where to do it, you’re highly recommended to do pre-work so that the subsequent process will seem easy to you and bring the positive results. For each process, there are particular good results. A gardener can be proud of the tree that is massive in size. In turn, a writer can say, “Wow! I managed to write my 30-page research paper. I can’t believe it!” And know what is the cost of these results? Think perseverance wins? Nope! To be precise, not only diligence is the mother of success. You can achieve great results with the help of effective preparatory steps.
Take into consideration gardening. What do usually gardeners do when he/she plans to grow? They prepare the soil.
- Again, consult somebody to find out what you have to do to optimize your plot. Dig and churn the soil, add some compost or old manure and moisten the soil up. You may want to run a soil test if you want to be really thorough – its results will give you a better understanding of how exactly you have to improve your garden and what you may expect from your efforts.
- After that, there comes the time to plant your seeds. Read the instructions to them carefully as methods and optimal time for planting may be different depending on the kind of plant and soil. Keep in mind that some seeds should be first planted indoors, in little pots, and only after growing a little bit, they can be transplanted outdoors.
Almost the same procedure happens in successful essay writing where you need to create a foundation for the further quick writing process as well.
- Carry out extensive research into the issue based on the reliable sources of information. Don’t rely on the data that aren’t backed up with any reference. For example, the statement that the readability of printed texts is higher than the readability of texts on the computer screen is strong. It will become valid if any study underpins this evidence, for example, with the help of words and reference to the source, “As stated by a researcher, …, who makes an experiment, the readability of printed texts is higher in 227 times than the readability of texts on the computer screen is strong.” Remember that Wikipedia isn’t a trustful source to use in academic papers as it can be edited by anyone at any time. You can consider it as an additional way to get a general understanding of the issue under discussion. For example, you find the term ‘malapropism’ difficult to grasp. What will you do? Certainly, you’ll google it. And what will you see first in a search engine? Without any doubt, it will be Wikipedia that you can read but not to cite! However, it is better to apply a dictionary to make reference while writing a paper about any given concept.
- Outline all the ideas you find relevant for your topic at the research stage. Don’t think you will memorize everything. Nobody has any doubts about your good memory, but when it comes to writing long papers, it is difficult to get thoughts together. But when an essay outline is in front of your eyes, your thoughts are better organized and visible. By the way, the button ‘delete’ always can help you get rid of unnecessary points. However, you should know the benefits of writing by hand versus typing. These benefits work fine with writing an outline.
- As for the paper instructions, they should also be thoroughly examined and applied in your papers. What are they? Usually, they concern word/page count, formatting and other guidelines for content writing, its organization, etc. The most important point is plagiarism, namely, the absence of unoriginal ideas, words that aren’t yours. All academic papers must have a bibliography or list of references that contains all the sources you use – articles, books, dictionaries, reports and other types of information sources. Don’t forget to include citations in the paper each time you borrow ideas or facts. In addition to all the mentioned, you are supposed to format a paper according to any given style – MLA, APA, Harvard, Chicago or Turabian. If you have doubts about formatting styles, it is better to have guides at hand. For example, open the website Purdue Online Writing Lab to know all the essentials of proper formatting.
All in all, gardening and essay writing is not so difficult – with the help of the Internet, you may find all the necessary information on improving the quality of both processes. You only have to read carefully and follow the tips. Take it away!