Shhh... Don't tell your professor, but I'm about to teach you the finer points of procastinatory paper-writing. This isn't a set of tips or tricks, either. You're about to start reading a scratch-to-finish, full-on, 100% due in under 24 hours (probably way under 24 hours) college-level paper. I can't guarantee it will earn you an A (probably not), but you can certainly pull of a B by following this guide. Why believe me? Because, I have years of experience with this, being a college senior at one of New York's best teacher colleges, I have a 3.5 GPA, and for the most part, my papers have all been written at the last minute. Now, your's can, too, and it won't suck.
Prep: You will need to have about a week or more to work on this paper. A month is better, and the whole semester is best. Why? It's easier to keep telling yourself "I have plenty of time," or to keep forgetting, if you have a long time to work on the paper. Papers that are due right away have to be started right away, and what's the fun in that? Now, with assignment in hand (most likely written on the corner of a loose-leaf paper or hand-out in a terribly disorganized folder, where you will likely never see it again), promptly go home (even if you still have another class) and turn on no less than two of the following: stereo, Wii video game system, computer, or TV. Wait until last minute, then freak out... and stop. Ready?
1. Review the paper's requirements. You may have lost them, but you can probably get them from your college's online system (if you have one), a classmate, the professor, etc. It's probably a page full of stuff about what the professor wants, maybe in bullet points, maybe not. Your job right now is to read and translate the requirements, writing them down on a piece of paper in bullet points. So, if it says to write a paper about puppies, and it also requests a bunch of stuff like a few of your favorite breeds, how are puppies cute, naughty puppies, and talk about your own puppy, then be sure to bullet point each thing under a title like: Things I'm Supposed to Write About. Maybe it also has requirements about sources, such as not using Wikipedia, but you have to use three books and the AKC website, so have a heading "Sources Requirements" and bullet point all that stuff.
2. Now on your computer, create an outline. The first item, always, is "Intro." Under "Intro," make sure to include "catchy opening sentence," then "thesis," and finally "quick paper summary." Those are the elements an introductory paragraph must have! Next, before outlining anything the body will contain, quickly skip to the concluding paragraph. You will have under "Conclusion" the bullet points "repeat thesis," "sum up arguments," and "concluding sentence." See that? So far, you have 1 page of your paper sorta outlined. Now for the body, for each category of information the professor wants included, such as "naughty puppies," that's one paragraph. Each paragraph will have at least an opening sentence which is your argument, then some information that backs you up. So for "naughty puppies," you'll have under that, "Puppies are sometimes naughty because their curiosity drives them to get into things owners want them to leave alone."
3. Research time! Go look at your requirements for sources and find what you need. It's best to be in a library at this time, but there are things you can do if you're not. Use your library's website to look up periodicals. I love JSTOR, though your college may not have that. Newspapers, if allowed, work well, but be sure to choose a good one like New York Times or the Washington Post, not any easy reading like USA Today. Textbooks from other classes, if you haven't sold them yet or just couldn't, work well, and most professors have no problem with you using them. Another source is Google Books. Though the whole book may not be online, you don't need to read the whole thing to find information to source! There are also online Encyclopedias. About Wikipedia, you want to stay away from it like the plague, except in one case and one case only. If you know nothing at all about the topic, a quick glance at the Wikipedia entry will help. This is a good place to start looking for research ideas, but never, ever cite or reference Wikipedia! Professors hate it.
4. Fill in the blanks. Look again at the outline and figure out what information is needed to back up your arguments. Now grab what you need from your sources and plug 'em in. Be sure to cite as you go, even if you're doing footnotes. I like using the MLA style (Author, P#), then if the paper calls for Chicago Style or whatever, I get rid of the citation and do the footnote later. This way, you never lose track of where you got what, and nobody can nail you with plagiarism.
Note: a thesis statement should be pretty easy to think up after you've got your arguments, research, and supporting facts all done. You know, by this point, what your paper is arguing. Are puppies the best, cutest little things ever? A great thesis might be, "Puppies, although mischeivous, make great additions to the family because they come in many varieties to suit everyone's individual lifestyles."
5. Flesh it out! Now look at what you've got, almost a whole paper! Except, it's in bullet points. Flesh out all of your points into full sentences. After that, de-bullet everything, then re-read and make sure that everything makes sense. If you need to add connecting sentences, just put them in, and make the paper flow together nicely.
6. Add the finishing touches. You need things like a bibliography or works cited page (be sure to use the proper style, whether it's MLA, Chicago, APA, or something else), a cover sheet (if required - never include one if it's not!), and so on. Make sure everything's properly formatted and cited. I won't go on about how to format papers here. Just type in the Google search bar "Write Chicago Style" and choose a guide from there.
7. Spell-check! Run a spell-check. If you're a pro like me, check for things like passive sentences, too. That's the difference between a B and an A right there, y'know. See if you can't quickly spot some simple grammatical stuff like "you're" versus "your." Only when you're sure that everything's straight, print. See the reason is, your paper may be rushed, but the professor is less likely to notice if your writing style is nice and tight. At least don't leave every other word mispelled, or the professor will be on high alert looking for every error he or she can find!
Well, that's a last-minute paper. It's rushed, it's limited, and a lot of it depends on whether your writing quality can make up for lack of research quality, even if it's just a little bit. You may not learn all you should, but you will get more than a big, fat F for the grade.
PS - If you have extra time, print out a copy and red-pen it like a teacher, then go back and edit. This sounds tedious, and it is, yet it really does help out a lot. Or get a buddy and red-pen each other's papers, which is a lot more fun! You can make a game out of it and write each other really harsh comments. Oh yeah, and good luck writing!