It's the first day of class, and you're already sweating because you don't know who will be there or what to expect. The professor shows up and hands out the syllabus. After a lengthy description of the course, the professor lays it on you. "12 page paper worth fifty percent of your grade." The anxiety and fear grab you so hard that your immediate reaction is to drop the course. "A 12 page paper? I don't think so." But writing a paper for college can be simple and rewarding.
Writing is a craft, and good writing can be very time consuming and difficult to learn. In college writing, there are so many rules, complicated formatting issues, and confusion that it's easy to see why students dread writing so much. The best thing to remember is the old saying, "preparation plus opportunity equals success."
The first thing you must do is prepare. Writers at all levels of skill and ability will tell you that any good paper they've written started with some preparation. Read the assignment and think about it. Ask yourself questions such as "what is the professor looking for" or "what am I going to need for this project." Then put the assignment sheet away and let it sit for a day.
Putting the assignment away for a day allows the ideas of the assignment to soak into your brain. Give your subconscious some time to let the formalities of the assignment incubate. If you cannot answer the questions in your mind, perhaps you should ask your professor or someone knowledgeable about the assignment guidelines to clarify. Then come back to the assignment sheet and read it over again the next day.
Now you need to develop a plan. Using the assignment guidelines you should begin researching for the assignment. You may find that the assignment requires resources you don't have, such as books or journal articles. Start early and look for quality articles and books that will assist you in your research and development process. Scan the research and make notes on it, highlighting areas you think would be important to address in your paper. Sketch an outline if you feel it will help. Then, set the research aside.
I can see your professor jumping up and down screaming, "Is he insane? You want to work on it as soon as possible!" However, just because you are not generating any of the paper does not mean that you aren't working on the paper. By setting the research aside for a few days and working on the project in small doses, you allow yourself many advantages. For one, the research will incubate and your subconscious will work to come up with new ideas for your paper. Also, you will approach the work more focused and alert. The incubation period is crucial.
The trap you don't want to fall into, however, is beginning your project the night before without any preparation beforehand. A common college student saying is, "I wrote my paper the night before, and that's how I write all of my good papers." While it may be feasible to write the paper the night before, you probably did some kind of research and looking into the assignment beforehand. If not, you will find that there are tons of great ideas that you did not explore that could have made your writing better. Some writers will talk about illumination, or that sudden moment of insight that helps give them inspiration to write. Some people will refer to it as summoning the muse. If you do not prepare and allow your ideas to incubate, you will not be able to have many illuminations before the paper is due and will miss out on some great opportunities.
Also, people who start the paper the night before rely heavily on motivation. Because the paper is due the next day the person realizes the necessity of getting the paper done; the person is motivated by necessity. Relying heavily on "night before" motivation is an easy way to stress yourself out. The best thing to do is to allow time for illumination and motivation to work hand in hand to accomplish your paper. You will gain satisfaction and build your self confidence without a lot of unnecessary stress if you work on your paper in small doses and when you are motivated by good ideas rather than a looming deadline.
The main thing to remember, as painful and boring and dull as it may sound, is to start early. Starting early doesn't mean you should finish early and get everything done as quickly as possible; Starting early means thinking about the assignment and preparing for the eventual writing of the paper. I am confident that you will find that the more thought and time you allow for preparation and incubation, the easier it will be for you to write the paper and the better you will do on the assignment. Just remember: "Preparation plus opportunity equals success."