I’ve mentioned before that I went to a college level high school, so I’ve done my fair share of academic papers. Remember that Anthropology paper I told you about that was worth 25% of my grade? Guess what? I got 100 on it! I’m not joking. Obviously, my high school prepared me well for my college career.
This got me thinking. I’ve been using the same essay writing process for years. I’ve tweaked it over time, but overall it’s been the same. I decided to share that process with you. I hope it helps.
1.//Choose A Topic
Sometimes, you’ll be assigned a topic. If so, you can skip this part. If you have to choose a topic out of a list of questions, go with the one you are more interested in. Doing the easy one isn’t as fun and your professor can tell when you are taking the easy way out.
When you write about a topic you are interested in, you are more motivated to do research and write the actual essay. It’s much easier to write about something you are interested in.
2.// Research And Take Notes
Spend a few hours at the library just doing research. As a student, you have easy access to thousands of scholarly articles at your fingertips. Usually for free. Make sure to take advantage of that.
First, find your sources. Go through a bunch of articles to find what you’re looking for. Choose four or five articles, maybe more depending on how much you have to write, and start reading. Don’t read the whole article before making your choice. You can get the gist of it by just reading the abstract.
Once you choose, make sure you read the article. It’s pretty obvious when a student only uses the abstract to write a paper. It can be tempting to use the abstract because the authors some up the information in a perfect paragraph, but don’t do it. If you are short on time, read the introduction, conclusion, and the first and last sentence of the paragraphs in between. Good writers keep their important information there,
Take detailed notes on each article and make sure to take note of how you’re going to use it in your paper. If you take thorough notes, you’ll only have to read the article once. This will help a lot with your outline.
On that note….
3.//Create An Outline
I love outlines. I can’t write an essay (or blog post) without one. They calm me down and make me feel like I know what I’m going to do next. Here is how I usually format my outlines.
I. Introduction A. Thesis Statement II. Idea 1 A. Subpoint 1 B. Subpoint 2 III. Idea 2 A. Subpoint 1 B. Sbpoint 2 C. Subpoint 3 D. Subpoint 4 IV. Idea 3 A. Subpoint 1 B. Subpoint 2 C. Subpoint 3 V. Idea 4 A. Subpoint 1 B. Subpoint 2 VI. Conclusion
How long it is depends on the essay. Don’t make it too detailed. Just get a broad idea of what you’re going for. That way, it’ll make sense later on.
4.//Fill Out Outline With Bullet Points Beneath Them
Remember all those notes I made you take. Those will come in handy right now. The initial outline is also based on that, too, but it’s most important when you fill out the outline. Organize your notes into all the categories and subpoints you made. Do more research if necessary. Here’s an example of how I do it.
I. Introduction
A. Thesis Statement - blah blah blah
II. Idea 1
- Intro sentence idea
A. Subpoint 1
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
B. Subpoint 2
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
III. Idea 2
-Intro sentence idea
A. Subpoint 1
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
B. Sbpoint 2
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
C. Subpoint 3
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
D. Subpoint 4
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
IV. Idea 3
-Intro sentence Idea
A. Subpoint 1
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
B. Subpoint 2
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
C. Subpoint 3
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
V. Idea 4
A. Subpoint 1
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
B. Subpoint 2
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
-Information from previous research
VI. Conclusion
-Point 1
-Point 2
5.//Write The Essay
I like to do this the next day as long as it’s not last minute. It helps me get into the right mindset after a long day of research and outlining. Using the outline, I write the entire essay at once. I personally don’t schedule different parts for different days because I’m less productive if I do that. I’m much faster and more efficient when I write everything at once.
If dividing things up works for you, that’s fine. I just work better when I write the entire paper in one sitting.
- DON’T PLAGIARIZE! Laziness is not worth getting expelled.
6.//Don’t The Bibliography
Ah…yet. The dreaded bibliography. This is my least favorite parts of writing essays. I tend to do them last minute. They are either the first or last thing I do. Make sure you cite all your sources correctly and use the correct format. You can get penalized if you don’t.
If you have trouble with this, visit Purdue Owl. It has a lot of helpful information on citing sources correctly.
7.//Revise Your Essay
I hate revising essays. By the end of writing the paper, I’m just so done with it that I never want to think about it again. I’ve always been like this. I am sad to report that I have turned in essays without revising them first. Before, I wouldn’t even let others revise them for me because I was embarrassed about them criticizing my writing (ironic because I write all the time now, though I will admit I have pressed the publish button before revising posts)
This is why I was so excited to get an email from Analyze Academic Help about sponsoring a post. They are a company that revises and grades college papers like professors. The give a lot of comments and fix errors that you may not have noticed. It’s a great company.
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Even if you don’t use this service, revising your paper before turning it in is a MUST.
8.//Make Necessary Corrections
After revising your paper, make corrections. There is always something to make better. No written piece is perfect. It’s fine if there are errors.
9.//Turn In Paper On Time
It’s not worth losing extra points. Always turn everything in on time. Put the date in your planner and look at it every day. There’s nothing worse than realizing you’ve missed an assignment.
This is the great thing about Analyze Academic Help. You can give it to them the day before your due date, and you’ll still be able to turn it in on time!