#studyinstyle

1. Preliminary Research

When it comes to papers, there are usually two routes: picking your own topic (common with STEM research papers or argumentative papers in history/philosophy classes), or responding to a prompt. 

Either way, the first step is preliminary research. It might seem like a waste to research topics you won’t be writing the paper on, but it’s a much bigger waste to get halfway through the paper and realize you hate your topic. 

Also, “research” doesn’t just refer to new sources; this can apply to reviewing course material applicable to the topic. Even if you know exactly what prompt you’re responding too, it’s important to figure out your own initial thoughts before diving into a topic. 

2. Picking your topic

When you’re trying to figure out what your topic should be or how to respond to a prompt, think about these things: 

- Am I thinking too narrowly/broadly in terms of what the paper calls for? Don’t try to tackle a 10-page topic in 2 pages. Likewise, don’t try to stretch out a 2-page topic over 10 pages. Your writing will either be painfully rushed or painfully dull.  

- Do I actually have things to say about this? If you don’t like the topic, filling up a page requirement is going to be hell. Even if you’re responding to a prompt, find an answer that makes you invested. 

Once you have a topic picked, get a vague understanding of what your point is- Don’t write your thesis yet!! Just form your thoughts enough to dive into research. 

3. Research and Outlining 

Now we’re in it! 

I like to outline while I do my research. I group quotes from the research into categories. As I get more to work with, I start to figure out how they connect and am able to group them into sections, and eventually, specific paragraphs. 

I make sure to cite as I go! I leave a bibliography at the bottom and indicate which source is connected to each quote. This makes in text citations so much easier. 

4. Writing your ~Thesis~

Ok, you might be wondering, why did I put outlining before writing a thesis? Isn’t that backwards? 

I’ve spent so much time writing theses, doing research, and then figuring out my thesis was wrong. It saves me time in the long run to go into the research/outlining phase with an open mind; ready to accept the connections I make as I work through material. Figuring out what you want to say naturally, rather than trying to fit research into a thesis, makes your statement much stronger. 

To write your thesis statement, go over 1) the prompt/assignment, and 2) your research and outline. Follow the natural progression of what you have; Where is the research going? What is the easiest statement you could make with this research? Does that statement answer the prompt?

After you have that, take your time to agonize over wording. Make a statement you’re proud of; the rest of the paper rests on it. 

5. Writing a Rough Draft

My first version of a rough draft relies more on reorganizing the outline you made earlier rather than writing. Your thesis should fit your research, now fine-tune that outline to even better fit your thesis! 

Once you have that fancy outline pt. 2, fill it in with the simplest writing possible. Connect the evidence you’ve gathered in as straight-forward a route you can. This should be a much faster process than making the outline was. 

6. Editing! 

I like to turn on tracking mode in Word, so I can see changes made in red. I want to see all the changes made so later I can evaluate whether that was the right decision, or if there might be a better way to do it. This would also work by printing it out and making physical changes, but I lose looseleaf papers so that’s not for me. 

Read it out loud, and edit any obvious problems (think grammar, misspelled words, that kinda thing). Next, find the more egregious problems: clunky sentences, transitions that don’t work, or paragraphs that don’t flow logically. Note these not by going in and changing it, but by leaving a ‘comment’ next to it. In my comments, I note what’s wrong and how could it possibly be made better. 

Do this same thing with a friend if you can- fresh eyes are always helpful! 

At the end of this step, your paper should look torn up. It should be ugly and messy and brimming with changes that you need to make. 

7. Writing the “Final” Draft

Open the word doc with your ugly, torn-to-bits rough draft. 

Open a fresh new word doc. 

Start transferring your paper over. This will take time. 

I found that when I tried to edit and rewrite in the same document, I got too lazy to make the major changes my paper needed. By committing to rewriting the entire thing, you free yourself to actually restructure paragraphs, move sections around, and cut/add sections as needed. 

Slowly work your way through the doc, paying attention to how the whole things flows, and always going back to your thesis statement. 

I put “final” in quotations up there because honestly, you could cycle through steps 6-7 quite a few times to improve your paper. But with limited time, doing this once should be enough for your paper to be in good shape.