For many of us, its that time in the semester, again. Due dates are flying through the front door like a labor and delivery unit. And for the sake of your GPA, you've got to get to writing. As a 3rd year English Major, I have written a lot of papers. I have also made a lot of mistakes in writing those papers. Most importantly though, I have received some incredible advice along the way, and I am here to share it with you. So strap in!
1. Get Started Early:
The more time you spend on your paper, the better it will be. Makes sense, right? And the more reading you do of the work or on the subject about which you are writing, the more understanding you'll have, and the more interesting your paper will be. Additionally, getting outside help from classmates, professors, and tutors can turn a decent paper into the sample essay your professor will give to future students. Writing happens best in collaboration, so start early.
But, if you've come to this article with only a few days/hours to spare, I feel you.
These next few tips are for you.
2. Gather the Wool:
If you started making anything, no doubt you would gather the materials you needed, beforehand. With
writing, many students seem to start with nothing of substance at their disposal. So to have what you need,
begin by copying down any quotes from the text or from secondary sources that you may have into
a word document, then, start a second-word document and fill it with claims, ideas, and observations that support
your thesis. This may take some time, but I promise, a minute here will save you an hour down the road
3. Start Somewhere:
As silly as it sounds, the first step to getting started, is (drumroll please) getting started.
We've all been there: staring at a blank page with that little beady-eyed
cursor was peering back into our souls. So instead of wasting the precious time
you have left to write, take the two-word documents you created in step two, open them up
with a third blank document and start putting together your ideas with supporting quotes
from the text. Badda bing badda boom, you've got some paragraphs, and you're well on your way towards that A+
4. Speak Up:
After flying through the first draft of a paper, the chances are that you have left it riddled with blunders.
One great way to catch these little guys (Referring back to point 1) is to read your paper out loud to
some friends, family, or even that random stranger at Barnes and Noble. If you don't have this option due to
procrastination and what not, just read it out loud yourself. You'll be amazed and embarrassed at what you find.
5. Pull out Your Phone:
When writing a paper, sometimes it feels like our words don't matter. Surely countless people have said this stuff better than us. I mean, we don't have the best vocabulary or style or syntax. Heck, we might not even understand the work all that well. If you feel this way, do yourself a favor and pull out your phone (granted its not already out distracting you from your paper). Open up your contacts and find someone you have gone without speaking to for awhile—maybe an old friend, or a family member, or someone who has helped you along the way—and text them. No need to be fancy, something simple will do: a thank you or an I miss you or an I love you or a heartfelt compliment. I promise you this. They won't attack you text with a red pen. And they won't mark you off for your sentence structure, or for missing that comma, or for an incorrect citation. They'll simply feel appreciated and important, and hey, it might even change something for them. You just poked at a screen with your fingers and changed the world. Your words carry incredible power. So go on, get writing. You've got this champ.
