Tackling End-of-Term Papers

The Big Bonus Point: It’s a lot easier to edit what’s already written!

Everything here spirals into one big idea: It’s easier to edit when you’ve already started writing. Gone are the days when drafts counted as final papers. Everything should be proofread. Everything should be edited. It’s impossible to do either without an actual paper. Who knew, right?

 

#1: Start Writing!

The hardest part about writing…is writing. That blank page with the blinking cursor looks intimidating and then once we start writing, it seems so permanent. It’s not. Writing through your research process means you can physically see the ideas as they develop. You can cut, edit, and hone the material as you go.

 

Plus your work will be started, which definitely reduces stress.

 

No matter how prepared the ideas are in your head, there is no such thing as “I’ll just hammer the paper out tonight.” Don’t do it! Writing is introspective and crucial in helping synthesize new concepts. When it’s done in a dash, the process gets stunted and oftentimes the paper will show this. Ideas won’t be fully explained or sentences will wander. There will be more grammar errors, a higher potential for logical fallacies, and overall the paper won’t be as solid as it would have been with time and editing.

 

Start writing right away!

 

#2: Bibliographies are your very best friend.

When you start researching, start a bibliography. Grab your trusty Turabian 8^th edition (there’s one on reserve in the library!) and build your FULL citations as you read.

 

Even at the library, where we are Masters of Catalog Searches, it’s tricky finding materials on vague information: “I read this book two months ago…it had a blue cover. I think THE was in the title.”

 

You’ll save time, energy, and stress if you have a Word document open from the get-go with all your citations. Then when you’re writing, you can just pop the footnotes in! You already have what you need and you won’t get pulled out of your thinking process to construct citations.

 

#3: Quoting and Paraphrasing—they’re not the same thing.

First, if you’re finding quotes that support your argument, add them to your bibliography with its respective citation. Remember to jot down page numbers!

 

Make sure the quote is written down exactly as it appears in the source. Use ellipses (…) to represent any content you omit.

 

Include a small note about the context of the quote—it will help you remember the source’s argument while also stimulating your memory later on. You may also not always recall why a quote seemed relevant a week later, but if you tell Future You why, then the work is done. 

Be nice to Future You! They have a lot to do.

 

Second, when you’re writing, you may find that certain quotes are too big to include, but you need the idea. Or maybe it’s a helpful tidbit, but not so crucial that you should disrupt your own voice. When this happens, paraphrasing is your ally.

 

Paraphrasing should represent concepts, not the words. If you can’t think of another way to word a quote, you may not fully understand the concept yet. Try rereading the section (or chapter) until you feel comfortable explaining it without the author’s language. Paraphrasing shouldn’t be reflecting the original quote.

 

Example:

Original Quote: “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” ― Mark Twain, The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain

 

Paraphrase 1: The difference between finding the word you need and the word that’s close to what you need is like substituting “lady” for “ladybug.”¹

 

Paraphrase 2: Choosing the “almost right word” over more specific language risks building sentences on potentially crippling vagueness. ¹

 

Paraphrase 3: In The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain, Twain’s emphasis on the crucial nature of specific word choice is included amongst his writing advice. Nuanced meaning is lost when lesser words are chosen. ¹

 

P1 is too close to the original. Even though it’s cited at the end (as paraphrases should be), it’s not in quotes and thus runs dangerously close to plagiarism. If your paraphrasing is this specific, then reconsider your reasons for avoiding the original quote.

 

P2 and P3 are both examples of how paraphrasing should work.

 

P2 incorporates unique word play from the original, but the rest is explained in terms of my paper’s argument and in my own voice. P3 nods to the source, but for the purpose of my paper, it’s Twain’s idea about word choice that’s important for support, but it’s secondary to a primary source, so I highlight it with my own voice, then weave it into the bigger argument.

 

#4: Take a break.

And don’t forget to eat and sleep. A rule of thumb I learned in college was work for one hour, then take a twenty minute break. Go off and watch Netflix, play video games, go for a walk…do something other than work.

 

Your brain needs fusion time. We’re not robots (unfortunate as this may be sometimes), so allowing your brain the time to get distracted will help keep it focused during work time. It’s also unhealthy to sit for too long. So go frolic!

 

Make sure you return to work after twenty minutes though! It won’t help if you wander off too long.

 

#5: Read the whole paper through at least once.

Do whatever you have to do (make it a .pdf, print it off), but find a way to read the paper from start to finish at least once without stopping to edit. Get the big beautiful picture of what your paper is saying!

 

This will help ensure it’s saying what it’s supposed to be saying and you’ll finally see how all your ideas link up into your conclusion.

 

#6: Read out loud.

Reading your paper aloud is a great way to catch grammar errors, awkward sentences, and wordiness. It slows you down and zeroes your eye in on individual words.

 

You’ll get tongue tied over wordiness, double back for incomplete sentences, get winded on run-ons, and pause naturally for certain punctuation needs (like comma splices that need to be full-stops, or a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) that needs a comma, but doesn't have one yet).

 

#7: Breathe! And remember that you’re awesome!

You can do this!

 

#8: Plan ahead—schedule a writing appointment! A second set of eyes is the best help you can get.

 

A helpful resource:

Darwin, Emma. “Twenty Top Tips For Academic Writing.” This Itch of Writing: The Blog. Last modified May 28, 2013. Accessed December 2, 2016. http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2013/05/twenty-top-tips-for-academic-writing.html