For All of the Procrastinators Out There

Everyone wants to know the secrets to writing a research paper. The tips and tricks, and most importantly how can you write one in the shortest time possible. Well for those procrastinators out there there happen to be a few tips and tricks that you can use that will save you time, confusion, and hopefully some hairs. Some things you can do to save time are no brainers yet we decide to skimp on them anyway. Sorry to say but sometimes skipping steps means sacrificing points off of your grade. And trust me none of us want that. So in the end when you finally do decide to buckle down and write that paper keep some of these tricks in mind.

Now we have to most important thing to talk about, which is the subject. It’s going to have to be something that you can talk about for copious amounts of time and words. So that means if you have a special talent to talk about the the history of potato chips or hours, then you should go ahead and write your paper on that right away. Just do everyone that has to read this paper a favor, don’t write about something you’re not interested in if you can help it. Your paper will reflect your interests and the more interested you are in the subject you choose the easier the paper will be to write.

Your thesis is going to be important because your paper will revolve around this point. A thesis is going to tell your reader what to expect while reading. It is going to be an interpretation of a question or subject but not the subject itself, and it will offer a way for the reader to understand the topic that you choose. The thesis should be a claim that readers may not agree with making them question what they know and presents the argument you are going to make during your essay. Take time to create your thesis this way you will be able to have a copious amount of ways to construct your essay.

Second most important thing is the outline. Trust me when I say that outlines will save your life and the life of anyone that happens upon you during your time of writing. Not only will your paper be more uniform but you can stop yourself from wondering if you’ve already talked about a certain subject before by having the map out in front of you. Even though it’s an extra step in the long run you will save copious amounts of time because you’ve now eliminated the question of “what should I write about next?” Not only will it make your paper easier to write but it will also mean you have to make less corrections when you finish the first draft. Sounds great right?

Outlines are great in the way that if you have a ten page paper you can split the ten pager into several different smaller papers with subjects that coincide with the main topic. This makes it easier when writing the paper because sitting down to write one ten page paper is daunting, while sitting to write several two or three page papers makes it easier to confront and finish.

When starting on your paper make sure that you give yourself time. In order to give yourself enough time for research, organisation and actually putting the paper together you would ideally need about a month in advance. However, for those of you like me, you could do this in a week. Try your hardest to give yourself more than that thought because in order to get good information that you can check credibility on, and sourcing your quotes will take time. More importantly the more time you give yourself the less that you will have to stress about when the due date gets closer and closer.

Your notes are going to be important so make sure that they’re organised and easily understandable. A good way to organize your notes is to color code them. This way you’ll know where you want to use them and it will save you looking through pages and pages of notes for that one fact. Another good habit to get into is putting the citations next to each new source this way citing will be easier and when you do your bibliography you’ll be ahead of the game.

Don’t forget that you should always have a first draft and a second draft. This will allow you to weed through anything that is excessive information and add to subjects you didn’t touch enough on during the first draft. Each draft of your paper you have will improve it more and more so if you’re on your third draft yet you feel like it still needs improvement just go through it again. In between each draft give yourself some time away from your work so that you can come back to it with a fresh perspective.

Your final words on the paper should sum up the point that you were trying to make. Don’t summarize your whole paper just make your final point an take the time to make your last point or two answering your thesis statement and making the answer clear and understandable. This is an important paragraph because all the statements you made throughout the paper will come to  a close. It’s hard to balance between making it into a summary of the whole essay and summing up your point so give yourself some time to plan out what you want to say and how you want to say it.

I hope you find these steps useful I know they helped me out when I was writing my paper and allowed me to be more confident in what I was writing. The confidence will show throughout your paper and readers will be able to remain interested throughout.