Madeline F.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Look, I know you would never procrastinate on writing a paper. That\u2019s just not you. You know that presenting and supporting a solid argument requires many time-consuming steps, and that your papers will always, always <\/em>\u00a0come out better when you plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to research, outline, write, and revise. BUT, in certain situations, the last minute may be the only minute you\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n I get it\u2014you were swamped with assignments this week. You had to pick up some extra shifts because you\u2019ve already spent your entire meal plan on Starbucks. Maybe the assignment just slipped your mind. Either way, it\u2019s midnight and \u00a0you\u2019re just now coming to terms with the fact that your paper has to be on your professor\u2019s desk at 8 am. But it\u2019s not necessarily the end of your GPA as we know it. So stop feverishly calculating the damage to your grade and get drafting. While it\u2019s definitely not the ideal, it IS possible to complete a paper in just one night. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Preparation<\/strong><\/p>\n Caffeine. Caffeine. Caffeine. Get the caffeine. Get all the caffeine. Consume whatever it is that you know <\/em>will keep you awake\u2014coffee, Red Bull, Five-Hour Energy, your own tears\u2014and consume it in the quantity that you know <\/em>will keep you awake. Do I advise taking in large amounts of these beverages on a regular basis? NO. Is tomorrow going to suck? PROBABLY. But if you\u2019re like most college students\u2014read: constantly exhausted\u2014then the single biggest threat to your 8-hour paper is the possibility that you fall asleep. Even if you don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to happen, it probably will. So don\u2019t come crying to me when you wake up on the floor at 7:49 am surrounded by notes with only a page of your draft finished. You have been warned. Deal with the abdominal \u00a0pains and fatigue tomorrow. That\u2019s Future You\u2019s problem. Meditate on that struggle. After all, you did this to yourself!<\/p>\n If you\u2019re sensitive to caffeine, I recommend chewing gum, singing as you write, slapping yourself repeatedly in the face, or eating energizing fruits like apples. And don\u2019t you dare dim those lights. <\/em><\/p>\n Hour 1:\u00a0\u00a0 Word Vomit & Research<\/strong><\/p>\n Once you\u2019re good and caffeinated, sit down with a blank piece of paper or a word document and write down everything you know or think you know about your topic. Then write down what you think your thesis statement might be. Don\u2019t spend too much time on this\u2014fifteen minutes should be enough to get down your ideas. And don\u2019t waste time trying to make it pretty<\/em>. You can do that later.<\/p>\n After that, start collecting sources. Jot down valuable quotes and pieces of information as you go along, and always make sure to attribute these pieces of informations to their sources in your notes so you don\u2019t forget where you got it from and accidentally plagiarize. Build a citation for a source as soon as you\u2019re sure <\/em>you\u2019re going to use that source. If you wait until the end to cite all of your sources, you\u2019ll be forced to rush and your citations run a higher risk of coming out sloppy.<\/p>\n Hour 2:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Connecting & Forming Points<\/strong><\/p>\n Have a look at your word vomit alongside your collected research. What does the research support? What does the research contradict? What logical inferences can you make based upon the connections between these materials? Write these down. Use what you learn here to make adjustments to your working thesis statement (which you\u2019ll continue doing until the very end, by the way).<\/p>\n After that, use the connections you\u2019ve made to begin forming the points that will support your thesis. Each of these will become a paragraph. You might even start writing a little bit about each of them\u2014but we\u2019ll get to that in Hour 3.<\/p>\n Hour 3:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Break & Drafting<\/strong><\/p>\n Spend about 15 or 20 minutes away from your paper. Go for a walk, take a shower, make yourself a snack\u2014whatever you want to do, as long as you don\u2019t completely <\/em>put the paper out of your mind. You\u2019ve formed your basic ideas; now allow them to gestate. Consider how you might connect your points, and what strategies you can use to argue them.<\/p>\n When those 15 or 20 minutes are up, start writing for real. Keep your sources, your word vomit, and your points nearby, and use them to push your draft along. Again, it doesn\u2019t have to be pretty right now\u2014the idea is to get out as much material as you can, and polish it later.<\/p>\n Hour 4:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Follow-up Research, Incorporating, & More Writing<\/strong><\/p>\n Now that you\u2019ve started writing, you may have noticed a few holes in your argument. Which paragraphs are looking a little skimpier than others? What points are you having a difficult time supporting or explaining? Additional sources may help to clear some things up\u2014and now\u2019s the time to look for them! You might use the information you find to expound on a point you\u2019ve already made (in which case you should be sure to keep it attached to the appropriate paragraph), or you might use it to create a new point altogether (in which case you\u2019ll probably want to create a new paragraph).<\/p>\n As you work to incorporate your new sources, continue to churn out as much material as possible. (Tip: after a direct quote, spend a couple of sentences unpacking the information in your own words. This helps you to meet the length requirement and <\/em>makes your paper more awesome.)<\/p>\n Hour 5:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Even More Writing<\/strong><\/p>\n This is where you finish the \u201cfirst draft,\u201d so to speak. Keep going until all of your body paragraphs are completed and you\u2019ve just about reached the minimum length. This is when you\u2019ll add in your introduction and conclusion paragraphs. Depending on your style, some of the information needed in these paragraphs may appear elsewhere in the paper, in which case you can simply move it. Consult your original word vomit, too\u2014there may be useful stuff there.<\/p>\n The main things that you need, though, are your working thesis statement (you may want to tweak it a bit now, depending on where you\u2019ve ended up) and your main points, which already appear in your body paragraphs\u2014lean on these!<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget to add in necessary headings, cover pages, etc., depending on what citation style you\u2019re using.<\/p>\n Hour 6:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Revision & Editing<\/strong><\/p>\n Read the entire paper. Closely. Typically, revision and editing are separate activities, but you don\u2019t have time for that right now\u2014so fix grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors as you go along. This is also where the \u201cpolishing\u201d step comes in\u2014if something sounds weird, reword it. Consider the main topic of each of your paragraphs and keep an eye out for any information that\u2019s out of place. Look back over that citation list, too.<\/p>\n After correcting errors and shifting things around, read through the paper one last time just to be sure you didn\u2019t fumble with your keyboard and mess something up (you\u2019re pretty sleep deprived, after all).<\/p>\n And that\u2019s it! Print it out, turn it in, and pick up some more caffeine if you have to. When you\u2019re done with all of your responsibilities for the day, call it an early night. You\u2019ve earned it. You can worry about your grade later.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Madeline F. Look, I know you would never procrastinate on writing a paper. That\u2019s just not you. You know that presenting and supporting a solid argument requires many time-consuming steps, and that your papers will always, always \u00a0come out…
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