Setting up a Structure
Do this before you start to write since it will keep you focused and stop you from rambling and getting carried off of the subject.
Art papers seem to be very closely related to papers written in engineering, at least as far as their structure is concerned. This makes perfect sense since the content of an art paper is a close examination of a special project, and that is what technology papers are usually all about as well – the one notable difference being that engineering papers will also almost always have benchmarking and usability studies whereas the subject matter of art papers does not call for such surveys and tests. This difference aside, in terms of structure it is probably a very good idea to borrow the structuring of an engineering paper for an art paper. And, as far as I can see, this is what that would be like, the following little hierarchical structure or something very similar is what you should put down before all else and then proceed to fill out:
Abstract: This should be a very short description – around 150-200 words – of what your work is all about and how you will approach it in your paper. Keywords: These come right after your abstract. Select up to 5, do not get carried away, please do not become absurd. Having more keywords will not make your paper better. Your keywords will really need to relate to what you do!
Introduction
- Aims/Objectives. Here you should talk about why you decided to create this particular work. Pure and simple! Nothing complicated or esoteric! I should add that if you cannot figure out why you decided to create the work in the first place it may be a very good idea to drop the idea of writing a paper about it right here and now… ;-)
Background/Overview
- Survey of related literature, leading into...
- ... The State of the Art: You will need to show that you are familiar with current developments in the area, that you have not been working in a vacuum, that you know what goes on around you. This would be work created by others in your field, which you feel relates strongly to what you did. Not necessarily things that you like!
The Work: This is the meat of your paper. The main course. While until now you have basically been leading up to it, here you actually start to speak about it. The language from here onwards can change, it can become far more informal and “artistic” if you choose to do so.
- Description: This is a purely "physical" description that describes the attributes of your work to people that have not personally experienced it.
- Inspirations: These are different from a literature review in that they are personal and therefore do not need to be referenced.
- Content: This relates to the ideological content, or the concepts of your work.
- Technology (if applicable).
Conclusion/Future Work.
References.