How to Write a Term Paper

It’s that time of year again- halfway between Christmas and summer vacation, just before spring break. How do we do it? How do we survive until summer?

If you’re like me, when I was in school, I was fed up with school. Tired of mid-terms, cramming for tests, and struggling to get ideas for the ever-increasing pages of research papers. In this page, I want to show you some great time saving ideas to help your writing process and to help you get the A you deserve.

Making it Fun: Choose a Good Topic

Did she just write what I think she wrote? You may say to yourself. Yes, writing can and should be fun! Most research papers offer a broad topic or choice of topics you can choose. People, especially overworked students, work harder when they enjoy something. So it goes to follow to try to make the paper about something you enjoy or already have an interest in.

Case in point. While in graduate school, I took a required theology of the church class. Training to be a writer and teacher, I naturally had no interest in theology. In fact, the mere mention of the word sent shivers down my spine. A frequent church-goer who enjoys reading the Bible and church, I was by no means a theologian. Sitting in class week after week with aspiring theologians sent me home crying in frustration.

 The assigment: choose a current theological issue, investigate both sides, and propose an integrated response to the issue.I was dreading the theology term paper. I could analyize a language, write a good story, or even create an alphabet, but to propose and then answer a theological question? No way.So I took a step back and thought about ways to make the topic interesting to me.

I thought about my recent trip to Africa. And, I thought about the great disparity between the language of church (formal) and the language of the people (informal slang). Could this be made into a theological issue? Well, after talking to the professor, it could.

So maybe you haven’t been to Africa. But you have relevant life experiences and passions. Use them to come up with a narrow topic that excites you. Or, if not excites you, at least makes you want to spend a few hours in front of the MS Word Channel.

Maximize Research

When I first started college, I still wrote everything by hand. Even through undergraduate studies, I copied research quotes and ideas copiously into my notebook. Over time and with my first laptop, I decided to start typing as I researched.

Your school writing center will tell you to research first and then create an outline. I found this a waste of time, as often, after creating my outline, I had to do more research, wasting my previous research sessions. My time spent writing papers dramatically decreased when I took my computer to the library, actively created my outline as a I researched, and fitted the research into a powerful thesis statement.

Write in Drafts

After an afternoon of research, it’s time to begin that first draft. The writing school would say it’s too early; but here is a good time to craft an excellent introduction and conclusion. Start at the end and work your way forward.

View each part of the writing process as a small mini paper. This helped my 30 page theology paper turn into 15 short essays. I divided up the time into researching mini-parts of the paper, and found that writing it soon became enjoyable.

Rewrite and Revise

Yes, you do need to follow the English teachers on this one. A professor still looks for active voice, proper comma usage, and correct spelling. Please save your grade by reading your paper at least once and maybe even printing before you edit.

And, in your editing, look for coherence of thought and ideas. Make sure all of those mini-papers transition into a coherent big paper.

So, to sum it up, make writing fun by choosing a good topic, mazimize your research time by combining research and outlining, write several mini-papers, and revise your work. Follow these steps, relax, and maybe you’ll learn something along the way.

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