# How to Write a Reflection Paper: Structure and Example (2026) > Describe briefly, then explain what the experience meant and what you will change. Gibbs and What, So what, Now what, with a worked example and APA notes. Source: https://hidengpt.com/guides/how-to-write-a-reflection-paper # How do I write a reflection paper? Updated October 10, 2026 · 8 min read · by the HidenGPT team Write a reflection paper by describing the experience or reading briefly, then spending most of your words on what it meant to you, why it went the way it did and what you will do differently, written with “I” and tied to ideas from your course. A model such as Gibbs' reflective cycle or “What? So what? Now what?” gives the body its order. It is not a standard essay. There is usually no formal thesis, but the paper still needs one central idea, and your course brief sets the length, the format and whether you cite readings. | Part | Question it answers | In What, So what, Now what | Words (of 1,000) | |---|---|---|---| | Introduction | What happened, in one sentence, and what is the central idea? | Leads into What? | about 80 | | Description | What happened, when, who was there and what did you do? | What? | about 120 | | Feelings | What were you thinking and feeling then, and what do you think now? | What? | about 80 | | Evaluation | What went well and what didn't? | So what? | about 130 | | Analysis | Why did it go that way? Which readings or course ideas explain it? | So what? | about 330 | | Conclusion | What did you learn, and what could you have done differently? | So what? | about 130 | | Action plan | What exactly will you do next time, and how will you make sure you do it? | Now what? | about 130 | ## What a reflection paper is, and what it isn't A reflection paper asks what an experience, a placement, a lecture or a reading did to your thinking. The University of Toronto Scarborough library guide lists the shapes it can take: a short paper on course readings, a journal, a reaction paper or a response to a service placement. UNSW's academic skills guide describes reflective writing as a blend of description, analysis, evaluation and personal expression. It also lists what reflective writing is not: pure description, a summary of course notes, a simple judgment of right and wrong, or a standard university essay. That last point shapes the structure. Toronto's guide notes that a reflection paper usually has no thesis statement but still revolves around a central idea. The central idea is the thing you understand now that you didn't before. “I learned a lot during my placement” is not one. “I had been treating silence in a group as a sign that people had nothing to say” is. ## Two models that give the body its order Gibbs' reflective cycle, developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988, moves through six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. The University of Edinburgh's Reflection Toolkit gives guiding questions for each stage, says you don't have to answer all of them, and names the analysis stage as the natural place to bring in academic literature. The table above turns the six stages into a paragraph plan. “What? So what? Now what?” is the shorter option. The Toolkit traces it to three questions Terry Borton asked in 1970, later developed by Driscoll and by Rolfe and colleagues. What? covers the facts and your feelings, So what? draws out the meaning and the theories that explain it, and Now what? is the action plan. The Toolkit's own caution is that answering only the three headline questions can leave a reflection shallow, so work through the prompts under each one. Gibbs suits a longer paper or a situation that repeats, such as a semester of team meetings. The three questions suit a response of a page or two. If your course names a model, use that one. ## Worked example: from description to reflection This example is invented for this page. A student volunteering with an adult literacy class writes about one session. A paragraph that only describes: “In week three I led the discussion of the article we had read. I asked the group what they thought of it, but nobody answered, so I explained the main points myself. Then I asked two more questions and the same thing happened. After the session two learners stayed behind to talk to me. Overall it was a difficult but useful experience.” The same session, reflected on with What? So what? Now what?: “What: In week three I asked the group what they made of the article and, after about five seconds of silence, answered my own question. The next two questions went the same way. Afterwards, two learners told me they had answers but needed time to find the English words. So what: I had read the silence as having nothing to say. It was the opposite: they were getting ready to speak, and by filling the gap I took that time away from them. Our week 4 reading on questioning makes the same point about waiting after a question [cite your course reading here]. Now what: In the next session I will wait for a slow count of ten after each question and let people talk in pairs for a minute first. I will note in my log how many learners answer each week, so that by week six I can tell whether the change worked.” The second version is longer, and every added sentence does a job the first version skips: it names a wrong assumption, links it to a course idea and ends with a plan that someone could check. ## Reflection paper format, including APA Your brief decides the format, so read it first and ask your instructor about anything unclear. Most reflection papers are continuous paragraphs with an introduction, a body and a conclusion; a heading for each stage is fine if the brief allows headings. If the brief says APA, use APA's student paper setup. The student title page carries the paper title, your name, your department and university, the course number and name, the instructor's name, the due date and a page number. Student papers don't include a running head unless your instructor or institution asks for one. APA says to double-space the whole paper, the reference list included. APA also backs the first person. Its guidance is to use “I” for your own work and reactions, and not to call yourself “the author”, which is exactly what a reflection needs. Cite any reading, lecture or model you use, in your course's style, and list it in the references. Your own experience needs no citation. ## Planning and drafting it Toronto's guide splits the work into six steps with a suggested share of your time for each: about 5% understanding the assignment, 25% reading and rereading the texts, 25% reflecting and writing, 20% organizing, 15% editing and revising, and 10% putting it in final form. Most of the time goes on what happens before and after the draft. Start from notes made close to the event: what happened, what you felt, what surprised you. A reflection written weeks later from memory tends to smooth itself into a tidy story. A few minutes of freewriting, which Toronto's guide suggests, or a mind map, which UNSW's suggests, helps you find the central idea before you outline. Then draft the body first and write the introduction last, once you know what the paper actually says. A tool can help with grammar and length, within your course's rules on AI, but it wasn't in the room with you. If you draft with HidenGPT's Essay format, its Reflective type writes in the first person, and the draft can be no more specific than the notes you give it. A reflection with no real moment in it reads as generic, so the moment, the feeling and the plan have to come from you. ## Common mistakes - Retelling the whole experience: keep the description to about an eighth of the paper and spend the rest on meaning and next steps. - Naming feelings without asking why: follow each feeling with the reason you think you had it. - An action plan like “I will communicate better”: say what you will do, when, and how you will check it, as Edinburgh's toolkit advises. - Leaving the course out: tie at least one point to a reading, lecture or concept, and cite it. - Writing it as an argumentative essay: drop the thesis-and-three-reasons shape and build the paper around one thing you now understand. - Slang to sound personal: UNSW's guide encourages “I” and “we” but asks for full sentences and as little slang as possible. ## Questions ### Can you use “I” in a reflection paper? Yes. Reflection papers are written in the first person, and APA Style itself says to use “I” for your own work and reactions rather than calling yourself “the author”. Keep it formal enough for your course: full sentences, no slang. ### How long is a reflection paper? As long as your brief says; there is no standard length. Once you have a word count, plan the split before you write, with the description short and the analysis longest, as in the 1,000-word plan above. ### Does a reflection paper need a thesis? Usually not a formal one. The University of Toronto Scarborough library guide says reflection papers usually have no thesis statement but revolve around a central idea, so state that idea in your introduction. ### Do I need references in a reflection paper? Yes, for anything you borrow. Cite course readings, lectures and models such as Gibbs' cycle; your own experience needs no citation. Edinburgh's Reflection Toolkit suggests bringing literature in at the analysis stage. ### How do you start a reflection paper? Start with the specific moment or with your central idea, not a dictionary definition or a line about why reflection matters. One sentence of context and one saying what you came to understand is enough for an opening. ### How do I write a reflection paper on a book or a film? Ask the same three questions of the text: what in it struck you, why it matters to you and to the course, and what you now think or will do differently. Cite the passages or scenes you discuss. ### Should I use Gibbs or What, So what, Now what? Use the one your course names; otherwise pick by length. Gibbs' six stages give a longer paper more structure, and the three questions fit a short response, as long as you work through the prompts under each question so the reflection goes below the surface. ### Is a reaction paper the same as a reflection paper? The names overlap. The University of Toronto Scarborough library guide counts a reaction paper as one form of reflection paper, so read your brief to see whether it wants your response to a text, to an experience, or both. ## Sources - [University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit: Gibbs' Reflective Cycle](https://reflection.ed.ac.uk/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle) (checked October 10, 2026) - [University of Edinburgh Reflection Toolkit: What? So what? Now what?](https://reflection.ed.ac.uk/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/what-so-what-now-what) (checked October 10, 2026) - [UNSW Sydney Academic Skills: Reflective writing](https://www.unsw.edu.au/student/managing-your-studies/academic-skills-support/toolkit/writing/reflective-writing) (checked October 10, 2026) - [University of Toronto Scarborough Library: Reflection or Response Paper](https://utsc.library.utoronto.ca/node/44940) (checked October 10, 2026) - [APA Style: First-person pronouns](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/first-person-pronouns) (checked October 10, 2026) - [APA Style: Title page setup](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/title-page) (checked October 10, 2026) - [APA Style: Line spacing](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/line-spacing) (checked October 10, 2026) ## Related - [I want an AI essay writer that actually sounds like me.](https://hidengpt.com/write/ai-essay-writer-that-sounds-like-you) - [I have to write a 1,000-word essay. 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