Owly - Online Writing Lab

Where can you write best?
When can you write best?
What distracts you from writing?
Who is the target audience of your work?
Do you know what is expected of you?
Is your assignment clear?
Do you know the requirements of your supervisors / instructors?
Is there an evaluation grid for your work?
Which questions can you answer yourself through research?
Which questions do you need to clarify with your supervisors / instructors?
How important is your writing project? And for whom?
How much writing experience do you have?
What memories do you associate with writing?
What difficulties do you have with writing?
Could it make sense to publish your work after completion because it offers added value for others?
Do you prefer to write alone or around other people?
How could you solve your writing problems?
What mood do you need for writing?
When is your submission deadline?
Which writing tools do you like to use?
What do you need for writing?
How much writing time can you plan per week?
What kind of atmosphere do you need for writing?
How would you explain step by step to a child what you want to write?
What will you be proud of once you’ve finished your work?
Have you created a schedule for your academic writing project?
In which language do you want to write your work?
Who would you like to tell about your work?
Have you decided on a good way to break your work down into manageable chunks?
Have you documented your literature research in a way that’s clear to you?
Does your literature research cover all relevant academic books in your field?
Do you know any literature management programs? (e.g. Citavi)
Do you have someone you can turn to with questions about your writing or for feedback? (e.g., a writing center)
When do you want to start writing?
Which supervisor could be suitable for your topic?
Have you attended workshops offered by your writing center?
Does your literature selection reflect the current state of research?
Are you allowed to use “I” in your paper?
Have you already engaged with academic writing?
What are your next steps?
Great, you’ve answered all the questions for this writing phase! If you want, you can simply start over from the beginning.

Do you think your topic is suitable for an academic paper in your field?
Have you narrowed down your topic enough?
Is the goal of your work clear in your research question?
What is your main focus in your academic work?
Is the wording of your research question appropriate for the planned length of your work, or is it perhaps too vague?
Who is the target audience of your work?
What excites you about your topic?
What interests you most about your topic?
Why is it worthwhile to write about your topic?
Do you know what is expected of you?
Is your assignment clear?
Does your research question fit your topic?
Would you read a text with the title of your paper?
Is there enough academic literature on your topic?
Which methods have you used so far to generate ideas?
Have you discussed your research question with your supervisors / instructors?
Is your research question complex enough? In other words, does it take more than a simple Google search to answer it?
Is your research question formulated precisely?
What is your personal motivation for this topic?
Why did you choose this topic?
What do you hope to gain from working on this topic?
Could it make sense to publish your work after completion because it offers added value for others?
Is your topic relevant?
What are your next steps?
Great, you’ve answered all the questions for this writing phase! If you want, you can simply start over from the beginning.

Have you discussed your outline with your supervisors / instructors?
Are the individual points in your outline short, concise, and meaningful?
Is your outline complete?
Is there a common thread running through your outline?
How many subpoints do you have for each main point?
Why did you structure the outline in this particular order?
Would another order also be possible?
What is covered in each of the points in your outline?
How many pages do you plan to write for each point in your outline?
Do you need a list of tables?
Do you need a list of mathematical symbols?
Do you need a list of figures?
Do you need a list of abbreviations?
Does your outline give a good preview of your work?
Have you formatted your outline consistently?
Where is your own contribution located in your outline?
What is your main focus in your academic work?
Are all aspects of your research question addressed in your outline?
Have you been consistent in how your chapter titles are written? (nominalization / verbs, etc.)
Does your outline include all key elements of an academic paper?
Are the individual points in your outline clearly distinguished from one another?
For which points in your outline would you like to include figures or tables?
How have you organized your appendices?
Does your paper contain evidence of your own thinking?
What are your next steps?
Great, you’ve answered all the questions for this writing phase! If you want, you can simply start over from the beginning.

Is the goal of your work, in other words your research question, clear?
Do the introduction and conclusion form a coherent frame?
Is your introduction different from your abstract?
How did you introduce the readers to your topic?
How did you highlight the relevance of your research question?
Do you want to give an overview of the structure of your work in your introduction?
Is the length of your introduction appropriate for the overall length of your text?
How did you start writing your introduction in previous, possibly creative, texts?
Do you describe your procedure / method in your introduction?
Do you want to include a professional or personal motivation in your introduction?
Do you want to hint at or present results in your introduction already?
How has your writing gone this week? Did you achieve your goals? If not, why not? If yes, celebrate!
What are your next steps?
Great, you’ve answered all the questions for this writing phase! If you want, you can simply start over from the beginning.

What is your main focus in your academic work?
Have you had personal experience with the methods you describe in your text?
Have you justified your choice of method?
Which numbers or data from your research results are truly relevant?
Could someone else reproduce your method based on your description?
Have you followed the basic principles of research? How are you conducting your study? Qualitatively or quantitatively?
How do you present your research in a transparent and comprehensible way?
How do you discuss the results of your research?
Where do you include your research results in your paper?
Have you read other works that are methodologically or thematically similar to yours?
Have you critically examined your method and described its limits and weaknesses?
How would you explain step by step to a child what you want to write?
What will your research be relevant for later on?
Is your argumentation coherent and logical?
How has your writing gone this week? Did you achieve your goals? If not, why not? If yes, celebrate!
What are your next steps?
Great, you’ve answered all the questions for this writing phase! If you want, you can simply start over from the beginning.

Is your citation style consistent?
Have you provided evidence for everything that needs to be proved?
Have you marked every quotation clearly?
Have you discussed your citation style with your supervisors / instructors?
How many direct quotations do you have in your text?
Does your citation style follow the conventions of your field?
Are all details of your references included in your bibliography?
Do you find your sources suitable for an academic paper?
Have you, wherever possible, cited the original source?
Can you confidently stand behind the idea that the people you cited could read your work?
Do you always refer to the most recent edition of each source?
Is it clear to your readers what type of source each one is? (book, edited volume, film, online document, law, etc.)
Do you know the key sources in your field? Have you asked your supervisors / instructors about them?
How do you handle longer quotations?
Have you quoted something that is actually common knowledge?
Have you used your quotations meaningfully?
Does your selection of literature reflect the current state of research?
Do you often cite second-hand sources?
Great, you’ve answered all the questions for this writing phase! If you want, you can simply start over from the beginning.

Who would you like to tell about your work?
Are you satisfied with your text?
Do you know the requirements of your supervisors / instructors?
Is there an evaluation grid for your work?
Do you find your text easy to understand? – Read it out loud to check.
What was the biggest problem you had when writing previous papers?
Have you checked your text for spelling and punctuation?
Do you separate linguistic and content-related revision?
Have you received feedback on your text?
Has someone proofread your text? Who? Who else could do it?
Have you revised your text thoroughly enough?
What do you need to pay attention to when formatting your text?
Do you need a list of figures?
Do you need a list of abbreviations?
Do you need a list of tables?
Do you need a list of mathematical symbols?
How have you organized your appendices?
Are all the details of your references included in your bibliography?
Which questions can you answer yourself through research?
Which questions do you need to clarify with your supervisors / instructors?
Is your writing style appropriate for an academic paper?
Could it make sense to publish your work after completion because it offers added value for others?
Is your text structured in a balanced way?
Are the lengths of the individual sections roughly proportionate, or are some parts very short and others very long?
Have you used a program or AI tool for spell-checking?
Have you read other works that are methodologically or thematically similar to yours?
Do you refer in your text to all the sources listed in your bibliography?
Are your figures labeled? Have you referred to them in the text?
Is the structure of your work logical?
Do you use vague words?
Is your wording consistent?
Do you use filler words?
Is there a common thread running through your work? Can the reader follow your argument?
Do your tables have titles? Have you referred to them in the text?
What was the biggest problem you had when writing previous papers?
What’s the worst that could happen if your work turns out to be a failure?
Have you followed your faculty’s rules for academic writing?
Should you use gender-inclusive language? If so, do you do so consistently?
Are you allowed to use “I” in your paper?
Do you use the correct words and phrases for your subject?
Have you used duplicate phrases or two words with the same meaning (redundancies)?
Have you answered your research question?
Great, you’ve answered all the questions for this writing phase! If you want, you can simply start over from the beginning.

Writing Smarter With Owly

Stuck in the writing process? Unsure how to improve your text? I’m Owly, and I’m happy to provide you with ideas for your writing. Through targeted questions, I give you ideas to reflect on your academic text and revise it independently. That way, your text always remains entirely your own!

Simply choose a writing phase you would like to reflect on and go through the questions one by one. Feel free to take notes if you’d like.

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Online Writing Lab

Writing Smarter With Owly

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