Plan before you write
The students who struggle are the ones who open a Google Doc and just… start writing. Don't do that.
This stage is about getting the big ideas straight: what you're arguing, what concept you're using, what your diagrams will show. You're not deciding exactly where each sentence will go yet; the structure in the next section will let the big ideas fall into place once you've got them clear.
Before you start: two things to have ready
- Your article is approved. Sam needs to sign off on it: fill out the article form first if you haven't already.
- A Google Doc that Sam has access to. Seriously, do this now. Sam needs version history to give proper feedback. If you work locally and paste it in at the end, that's a problem.
A quick word on AI
Here's the deal:
- Don't get AI to write your commentary. It's bad at diagram explanation, it may miss key marking points, and if it's detected you risk losing your diploma. Not worth it.
- You can bounce ideas off it, or check whether you're interpreting something correctly at a high level.
- Close the AI tab before you actually start writing. Your voice, your words.
The four-step planning exercise
Do these in order. Don't skip ahead.
Name the thing you're analysing
In one sentence: what is the specific economic principle, intervention, or event you're focusing on? Not "sugar": "an indirect tax on sugary drinks to correct a negative consumption externality." The more specific, the better.
This takes about two minutes. Write it down.
Choose and check your key concept
Pick one of the nine IB key concepts that fits your article. Then ask yourself honestly: can I weave this concept through my entire commentary: the diagrams, the analysis, and the evaluation: not just the introduction?
If the answer is no, pick a different concept. A concept that only appears in the first paragraph is worth almost nothing for Criterion D.
One caution: if your micro article involves government policy, intervention may feel like an obvious fit. Consider saving it for macro, where it tends to go deeper. For a micro article about a tax or subsidy, efficiency or equity will usually do more analytical work.
List your economic vocabulary
Open the textbook. Go through the relevant chapter and write down every economic term you'll use in your analysis: definitions included. This becomes your terminology bank for Criterion B.
Allow 15 minutes. Don't rush it.
Draw your two diagrams
By hand first: on paper, pencil, proper labels, arrows showing direction of shift, dotted lines to intercepts, everything. Then digitally. This is the most important thing you'll do before writing.
If you can't draw the diagrams cleanly, you don't yet understand what you're writing about. The diagrams come first. The paragraphs explain them.