I need help.

[Panemore]

Does anyone have any advice on how to write an actual proposal? So far, mine is essentially a laundry list and I don't know what to do to improve it.

[Doge Land]

You should post a draft here so you can get some help from the community.

[Lorrana]

Let's go through a GA proposal together and we can see how they work

First, we have the preamble. This usually provides some sort of background information. The preamble consists of multiple "clauses". Each clause starts with an "ongoing" verb. Here's an example from Resolution #416: (I've highlighted the verbs in green)

Understanding that the universe is composed of beings of diverse cultures, backgrounds and religions;

Having considered that the importance of certain cultural and religious practices are integral to the beliefs of such followers;

However dismayed that there are those who, in the name of said culture or religion, continue to perform traditional rituals that cause irreparable harm or death;

Determining that such actions are violations of the basic human right to live;

Defining "ritual sacrifice" as the intentional and ritualistic act of killing one or more other beings (a) as an offering to a god or spirit, (b) as an effort to control sapient population growth, or (c) as a method by which a ruling class or regime creates or perpetuates social hierarchy;

Clarifying that such "ritual sacrifice" does not include capital punishment, assisted suicide or euthanasia of a terminally ill patient or other medical procedures, or any acts of war including insurgency and counterinsurgency;

Next, we have the operative clauses. These clauses are the bulk of your resolution and provide information on what the act/bill/law/etc will actually do. Here's another example, this time from Resolution #510 (again I've highlighted the verbs in green):

1. Defines "regulations" as reasonable restrictions on any of the following, for the purposes of this resolution:

a. the types and scale of fishing and other harvesting of marine organisms;
b. the dumping of waste;
c. access to tourists and the activities tourists may undertake; or
d. industrial activities, such as oil drilling and refinement;

2. Establishes the Committee for the Preservation of Marine Environments (CPME) to oversee the protection of critical marine environments in international waters, with the following responsibilities:

a. identifying areas within international waters which would benefit from sanctuary designation due to said areas meeting any of the following conditions:
i. being critical to the survival and growth of a species due to serving as a major spawning, breeding, or feeding area;
ii. serving as a habitat containing an exceptional level of biodiversity; or
iii. containing a notable shipwreck or other site of high cultural or historical significance;
b. designating such areas as sanctuaries, and implementing and maintaining regulations in said areas to further the purpose for which said sanctuaries were
designated;
c. compiling and maintaining a comprehensive report on the state and health of the marine environment within each sanctuary as applicable to the purpose
for which that sanctuary was designated, to be available upon request to any member nation; and
d. ensuring that member nations are appraised of the regulations enacted within a sanctuary should they desire that information;

3. Clarifies that any regulations implemented under this resolution must comply with other World Assembly resolutions;

4. Permits member nations to petition the CPME to remove sanctuary designation from an area or modify regulations implemented pursuant to this resolution in that area, which the CPME shall thoroughly review before making a decision on the matter;

5. Mandates that member nations implement regulations within areas of their territorial waters meeting the conditions outlined in section 2a of this resolution, to the extent reasonable and effective in those areas;

6. Urges member nations to take further measures to protect marine environments within their territories; and

7. Encourages member nations to finance the implementation of measures pursuant to this resolution through financial penalties on industrial practices harmful to environmental health.

As you can see, the operative clauses sometimes have subclauses that provide more detail.

Finally, we have the general structure of a proposal/resolution. Generally, it will go like this

Proposal Title
Category and Strength

The General Assembly of the World Assembly,

(preamble)

Hereby,

(operative clauses)

I hope this guide was helpful

Edit: You should also go through this guide which is pretty helpful