As
you may recall from my previous post, I have been asked to write an article on
the relationship between maternal and child obesity for a journal. In the
earlier post, I showed you how I do literature searches. Today I will set up my
paper and decide where I am going with it.
I
have read the literature that I downloaded earlier and am now aware that there
are several key issues: The effects of obesity on the mother in pregnancy and
childbirth, the effects on the fetus and newborn, and long-term effects on the
child. There is evidence from both human studies and animal studies related to
the child issues, so I want to make sure I address both of these areas. My
initial plan, depending upon how long the paper is at this point, is to end the
paper with a brief discussion of weight gain in pregnancy and summarize the
research concerning interventions to reduce maternal weight gain during
pregnancy in obese women.
I
like to begin writing a paper with a title- that way I can keep focused on
where I am going. My starting title is: The Effect of Maternal Obesity on the
Development of Child Obesity. I then do an initial outline:
I.
The effects of obesity on the mother in pregnancy and childbirth
II.
The effects on the fetus and newborn
A. Human Studies
B. Animal Studies
III.
Long-term effects on the child
A. Human Studies
B. Animal Studies
(Maybe)
IV.
Weight gain in pregnancy
V.
Interventions
A
first look, tells me I am going to be way over the 12 pages I am allowed if I
include all of this. So I think I will add a very short discussion of weight
gain to the mother topic and leave out interventions. I will concentrate on
human studies, but may mention a few animal ones. My starting outline then for
writing is:
I.
The effects of obesity on the mother in pregnancy and childbirth
A. Weight gain in pregnancy
II.
The effects on the fetus and newborn
A. Human Studies
B. Animal Studies
III.
Long-term effects on the child
A. Human Studies
B. Animal Studies
I
like to set up my paper in APA format before I actually start writing, it lets
me feel like I am not staring at a blank page. So next, I'll write out the
cover page info, add page numbers, label the Abstract page (I will write this
last), and add the title to my page 3, which will be the first page of the
manuscript. I also add in my references as I write, so I set up a page for
that.
My
next step is to write an introduction, which I know I will probably change
later. I want something that will grab the reader's attention and also give me
focus as I write. I end up with this intro paragraph.
Marie is pregnant with her first
child, at a weight of 200 pounds and with a height of 5'6" her body mass
index (BMI) is 32, which is considered obese according to the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC; 2011). How could her obesity affect her health during
pregnancy? How could her weight affect her baby and are there long-term
implications for her child? This article will explore these issues.
How
does the process we went through relate to the writing of your dissertation?
You need to decide what the key issues are before you begin writing; otherwise,
the temptation will be to wander away from the topic. Most people have this
problem (including me!), so put guides in place to keep you on track. This is
the purpose of doing an outline, and thinking about the topics to cover before
you start writing. The penalty for not doing this is that you may write many
pages only to realize that they have absolutely nothing to do with your topic.
Setting up your paper in advance, may help you avoid the paralysis of a blank
page. Writing an interesting introduction grabs your reader and lets them know
where you are going in your paper. Finally, I find it helpful to keep reminding
myself that nothing is permanent when I am writing, I can and probably will
change it later.
Next
time we will take a look at how you may be sabotaging your progress. Do
you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future
post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas!
leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu
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