Tips for Stress-Free Essay / Paper Writing at University.
Jun 27 '07 (Updated Feb 08 '08)
The Bottom Line Essays/Papers don't have to be a trial by fire. Find out a method that works for you and follow some simple tips and you are well on your way.
Essay or Paper writing is a fact of university life that many students turn into much more of an ordeal than it needs to be. Having recently completed my university degree, I feel my own approach to this task can really simplify what at face value can seem like a daunting task, especially to new students.
Don't forget, your first assignment is due in three weeks.
This is a phrase you are going to hear from your teachers often as you progress through different units at university. You will also hear time and time again how you shouldn't leave your work until the last minute. Because of this, many students fall into the trap of attempting their work too early. Deadlines almost always coincide when the finishing of the subject matter to which they relate in your class, so trying to get ahead can leave you lacking some important information. I find the best time to start a piece of work, depending on the size of course, is three to four days before the due date. I find this sort of time allows for the right mix of elements to get you spurred into action. There's enough urgency that you aren't likely to suddenly find other things to do, you will have as much information from class as possible and you don't have too much extra time to stress over what should be a piece of cake.
Before you Begin
Things will go infinitely more smoothly if you actually have some sort of idea what you are going to write in place. The best way to do this is to come up with a simple plan for your writing. You can either draw a diagram or just have it in your head. Academic essays are made up of an introduction or thesis statement, a series of arguments and a conclusion. What you have to do is think of which arguments you will be using in the body of your work. Your discussions should be inspired largely from what you have discussed in class and from your textbooks with further embellishment from additional sources.
So your written/imaginary essay plan would look something like:
Intro/THESIS Statement
Argument 1
Argument 2
Argument 3 (and so on)
Conclusion
Getting Started and Writing
The hardest part by far of writing any paper or essay is actually getting started. It's happened to all of us, we are suddenly struck by those "The night was humid" moments where we type and delete our opening thoughts over and over again. The best advice I can give here is this - write SOMETHING. It doesn't matter if it is inane, once the words begin flowing they keep coming and the inane can be refined into something useful, or if not, it can trigger ideas as the brain shifts into gear.
It is essential to write your intro and conclusion last because they will be far more effective if they jive with the content and you are only going to know how to make that work once the arguments are all in place.
A lot of people tell me that when writing a piece of academic work you should stick with it and remove all distractions, but I don't entirely agree with this approach. Sure, you don't want to be on the phone to someone or watching TV while you write, but I often found it helpful to jump up and walk around outside for a few minutes, grab something to eat - generally let my head clear. A favourite tactic of mine was when writing say, a 3000 word essay was to crank out 300 words and then reward myself with half an hour playing computer games, or with watching a single TV episode. King of the Hill box sets got me through a lot of papers during University! This way, I never got too beaten down by a large, tedious paper and often new ideas came to me when my mind was stimulated by other, less stressful activities. The main thing is find a method that works for you and regardless of what anybody tells you, run with it and your work will be done with a minimum of pain.
References and Referencing - How, Why and Which?
Yes, it's the thing new uni students dread. The thing you never had to do at high school, but in the first few weeks of your university experience have had drummed into you until you want to decapitate your teacher with an Endnote cd.
I'll tell you this - they aren't kidding when they drum this into you. Unless your teacher is a really slack marker, any argument you use will get you no credit whatsoever if it isn't based on a reference. Ideally you would both launch an argument with a reference and back it up after your own postulations based on the first idea with a further, different reference at least a couple of times in addition to all your regular refs. As daunting as it sounds it isn't hard at all and if you are reading this then you already have at your fingertips the greatest tool for finding quotes to use - the Internet. You also have your textbooks. Firstly you thumb through the relevant chapters of your texts and look for statements that jump out at you which you can use to argue your case in your own words and examine and dissect the statement. For further info, hit the Net, but remember, academics often *hate* papers sourced largely from online sources. A good rule of thumb is to only use an item you find online if it has a physical real-world equivalent. It's also a good idea to reference it as such in your reference list at the end of your work. If you find a passage from an actual academic book on the web, reference it as a book, not as the website you found the passage from the book on. It's a good idea to use a discerning eye and make sure whatever you read online is legit, but once you have it sussed it is very easy to find a bunch of info online which can easily be referenced so it looks like you were delving deeply into a variety of libraries. Much of the academic dislike of the Internet is involved with students citing things like Wikipedia or personal websites in papers - as long as your source is academically credible you can use it, but once again - if a non-digital version exists, reference that one, even if you found it on the web.
The reasons for the importance of referencing are pretty obvious: If you just write things it is no better than a post on some message board. It isn't an academic work unless there are references involved. You shouldn't fear referencing though as many students do. A good quote writes your essay for you. Imagine you had for some reason been asked to write a paper on "different attitudes to essay writing methods" and this article you are now reading was a scholarly text which you could cite.
You could have something like:
Some, like Mickp (2007) have argued that it is better to avoid burn-out by writing your essay in segments with frequent breaks rather than in one sitting. from this standpoint it can be argued that Mickp takes a position of blah blah blah blah lots of your own thoughts and expansion on this idea here blah blah blah
It's always good to find a counter reference - conflict makes for interesting reading and a more balanced argument: - This time with a direct quote to mix it up.
ExampleGuy (1972, pp 22, para 2), on the other hand disagrees strongly with this position stating that "it is essential for any student to avoid all distraction when writing an academic paper". By taking this stance Exampleguy subscribes to what OtherExampleGuy (2001) describes as the "traditional study approach"
And so on. Obviously this is very simple, but you get the idea. It is the references that drive and guide your work -- not random things you think up off the top of your head.
Students often wonder exactly what needs to be referenced. The answer is simple - If it is someone else's idea, either directly quoted or paraphrased, you have to reference it. If there is any doubt, reference it - You will be marked down much more harshly for under-referencing than over referencing.
Intro and Outro
Introductions are the easiest free word-count you will ever have. There's no trouble whatsoever eating up 400 words in your intro and conclusion and they are important parts of the overall work so you don't have to feel guilty about it either!
The way to write an intro or more properly, a thesis statement is as follows.
1. Identity your argument
2. List the ways and sources you will be using to prove that argument
It's really that simple. Usually one sort of "scene setting sentence", followed by an "in this essay I will be" and then a "I will be drawing on" "argument 1" "argument 2" and "argument 3" to examine the "issues relevant to topic"
The conclusion is a little more tricky to write, mostly because teachers expect different things. The best advice I can give here is find out what your teacher expects. I had a teacher who absolutely demanded conclusions that were practically mirror images of the introduction in reverse - In this essay I showed how "conclusion" by drawing on a number of "issues relevant to topic". First I discussed how "argument 1"..... and so forth.
Other teachers prefer a more philosophical, conversational sort of conclusion based on the overall feel you got from your writing - almost an epilogue or a "moral of the story" thing.
The Finishing Touches
When you finally realise you have your word count, do a quick grammar and spelling check, then leave it for the day and come back in the morning. Nothing is more draining than coming straight from a lengthy piece of writing to intricate final crafting. Many students don't bother at all with this final stage, but it can be the difference between a good mark and a poor one.
The next day when you are fresh and with a clear head, read through your paper aloud.
Check for:
Transitions : Are they logical, are they smooth or abrupt?
Sense or Ambiguity : Are there any sentences that don't make sense or could read differently to someone who wasn't the author?
Repeats : Make sure you aren't repeating yourself. If you are - delete the superfluous bits.
Clumsy Language : A well written, eloquent piece will always be marked more generously. Don't go overboard and make it flowery nonsense - make it good, crisp English.
Padding : If there is weak stuff that is going to appear as obvious padding for word count take it out - you are better without it. 10% length either way wont matter.
Conjecture : Any suppositions you make without reference is mere conjecture - fix it.
Spelling and Grammar : Be thorough this time.
Once you have done all that, it's time to print or electronically submit your work - whatever you do. It is best not to obsess over it, just get it handed in and forget about it till the marks come back. If you followed these instructions you should be in good shape. I know it sounds daunting but it really isn't. There looks like there is a lot to do, but once you get this sort of method down there's no reason you can't knock out a quality piece of work in maybe four hours (not including breaks) on one day and an hour or so the following.
Good luck and don't stress it.
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Member: Mike Price
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