I have a twelve page, research paper due this Friday. I know what I want it to be about, I have almost all of my research and I know where I want to go with it. But writing it?

I've been at a loss.

For the past week, I've struggled with actually beginning. I can't introduce it. I can't seem to actually put words on the page. And then, I spoke with my friend and she gave me some pretty amazing advice.

She's writing the same research paper and she was in the same boat that I was in. She had a direction, but she couldn't actually formulate her thoughts into tangible work. But then, she remembered a strategy that one of her professors told her last semester: Start by asking yourself questions, then, use your paper to answer these questions.

It's so simple. It's genius. It's incredibly helpful.

I still have a long way to go with my paper, but this strategy is helping. It saved me, and it will probably continue to do so. It makes the essay writing process so much easier, no matter the topic or type. It also streamlines the process by providing a stable, defined starting point that links to a definitive end (which fits the way that I think very well).

I began my paper the way I began all others — introduction, lead into first statement, write the paragraphs... It's the way I was taught. I didn't really know what else to do, but when I was introduced to this new approach... It really opened my eyes. I guess, in a metaphorical sense, this experience, albeit stressful, has really shown me that attacking the same type of problem the same way every single time proves ineffective after a while.

I didn't really expect to learn any major lesson through this assignment, but isn't that how it always happens? Don't we usually learn things when we didn't expect to learn anything at all?