Tips to conquer writing
December 2, 2007
We all experience it, or at least I do, the dreaded announcement of a writing assignment commonly given in many classes, but especially those English classes. I don’t know about you, but I have always had a distaste for writing. Every time a teacher announces a writing assignment there is a brief moment where it seems as though the world I live in is coming to an end. I always feel that my writing is not good enough, or that I just do not have the precious time to consume in order to write the paper. It just sits there and eats at the back of your mind until you finally sit down and do it. If you are a procrastinator like I am, you should know how writing a paper at the last minute can be very stressful.
So here are a few tips on how to get that paper done without feeling the strains of stress:
1.) Start early (and I mean way early)- Simply begin by understanding exactly what your professor is asking you to write in the paper.
2.) Develop a thesis statement – It should be clear and to the point stating exactly what you are going to talk about in your paper and should contain a lot of supporting evidence.
3.) Develop an outline – Take out a piece of scrap paper and briefly outline some of the main points you want to talk about within the paper.
4.) Write down your sources the moment you find them – This is a tip I have always failed to follow, but it can be a serious time saver. The moment you find something on the internet or in a book, or anything, write down everything it is you will need to make that bibliography page.
5.) Make a first draft – don’t worry about spelling or grammatical errors just get all of those ideas scrambling around in your head onto paper.
4.) Verify that your sources are valid – don’t cite wikipedia (trust me I’ve tried it), professors do not like that website at all because of the simple fact that it can very well be completely made up information since it can be edited by anyone at any time.
5.) Always revise your work after the first draft is written – Have a friend or parent look over your paper for any errors. Believe it or not, it is very common that they will find problems within your paper that you most likely bypassed.
6.) Take your time writing the paper – Do not rush through any paper, you could do so much better if you just pace yourself and start early.
7.) Do not do the paper all in one day – You will feel so much less stressed out if you split up your writing time. Come up with a set schedule to write the paper and abide by it.
8.) Take breaks – In addition to not doing the paper all in one day, be sure to give yourself breaks while writing your paper so you can rest your mind. Get a drink, eat some food, anything so long as you are sure to return to your paper shortly.
If you are having trouble developing a schedule to writing up that paper, go to http://www.lib.uconn.edu/using/tutorials/freecalc/index.php. This is a great resource that actually makes up a schedule for you and gives you tips on how to get started, writing your thesis, and a whole lot more.
Now, what I always believed to be one of the most difficult parts of writing any paper is the works cited page. This can drive anyone insane trying to figure out what should be cited and what does not need to be cited, and even the format can be stressful.
So, what is it that you should cite?
Anything that is not common knowledge, what the average person would not know. For example, we all know bananas are yellow that is common knowledge, but I doubt everyone will know how many people live in the United States with cystic fibrosis or even what cystic fibrosis is.
Cite anything you find from outside scources. If you have any doubt at all at what needs to be cited, cite it.
The following is a list of things that need to be cited:
~ newspaper articles or magazine articles
~books or book chapters
~web sites and web pages
~encyclopedias
~statistics and charts
~emails, interviews or speeches
~group projects
OWL is a great resource for writing up a works cited page: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ It gives you all of the up to date styles such as MLA or APA as well as tips on writing a paper.
Citing sources can be very time consuming and monotonous so what I find to be the best way to get those sources cited fast is using one of the following machines, however, they may not always be up to date so you need to be sure to check OWL before printing out that works Cited page:
1.) www.easybib.com
3.) http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/
They are easy to use and can really come in handy especially if you are running low on time writing that paper. With these tips and information, writing those papers could be a whole lot easier than you once thought. Just remember to start early and take your time.
-Katherine Grierson
