Writing that college/HS paper helpful tips from an English Major.
Well, seeing as how my scripting abilities are sub-par and I want to try to contribute to this community, I figured I'd focus on my area of expertise. This is a brief guide (mainly tips) to help with all sorts of writing, be it a College or highschool paper or just recreational writing.
I. The Brainstorm. For academic papers with prompts, set a timer for one minute and in that minute jot down all of your ideas that come to mind. When that minute is up, take another minute to marvel at all of the possibilities you have created. Now throw them away, don't use any of them, chances are that if you came up with those ideas in a minute your entire class is going to touch upon the same ideas.
II. The Introduction. Once you have figured out what you are going to say (which should not be anything on that list you have created) it's time for perhaps the hardest part; starting the paper. I try to start mine with a catchy line, for example;
" Humanity has been on a constant search for the meaning of life; adding its own levels that travel to the depths of human purpose, and from this, many people develop their own speculations, be it the belief in an omniscient higher intelligence that we must serve, pursuing happiness through virtue, or even that there is no meaning at all as with thorough nihilists."
Creating this catchy opener can be difficult and may be a skill gained through experience, so if it's not your style just start simple and make your first sentence your Thesis. If throughout this you are struggling to make a substantial introduction, just leave it at the thesis, you can come back to it later after the paper is typed out.
III. The Body Paragraph. Moving on to the body paragraphs, arrange each body paragraphs topic as you see fit, just pick whatever seems most logical. Try to avoid generic transitions such as "Firstly, Secondly, Lastly," instead, pick up an essay from an established writer (Nietzsche, Kant, Joseph Campbell are good examples) and observe how they transition. You don't need to limit yourself to the standard 3 points = 3 body paragraph format.
TIPS FOR BODY PARAGRAPHS! : If you have a few days to complete the project, you are in luck when it comes to struggling to find the words of what you want to say. All you have to do is ramble; rant to your hearts content ignoring grammar/english rules, heck Dnt evn wrry abt spelin, you can always come back to it later. A personal tool I use is alcohol. Yes, that sounds bad, but people that are slightly inebriated tend to go on and on about things and don't stop talking, if you are able and legal to, have a beer or so (don't get smashed, that's counter-productive) and just type away. Afterwords in a more sober state, you should go back and clarify everything and make it proper
IV. Making Your Argument Good. What a lot of people do while writing is they assume the reader knows what they are talking about. You may have done this in day to day communication and you'll realize it leaves the receiver confused or misguided. To combat this, give an example and clarify EVERYTHING. Entertain counter-arguments that could be used to against you and try to dispel them in your paper.
EXAMPLE: "The fact that a great number of early civilizations built pyramid-like structures may lead one to believe in a collective-subconscious. At first this may sound absurd, and one may argue that it is because triangles are the most structurally sound form of architecture, but if a multitude of plastic cups are placed on a table and one is asked to simply "do something" with them, chances are a pyramid will be built...."
With that being said, every moment of writing should be spend arguing with oneself, that is, viewing everything you write as something you are strongly against. This will help you form a stronger argument.
V. The Conclusion. Now that your golden gift to mankind is completed, it's time to appeal to short-term memory and remind them of what they just read! The brain, when done reading, is most likely going to remember the last thing that was read, with that being said, your conclusion should be a re-cap of everything you argued, and should in turn, tie everything together.
VI. Misc. Tips.
1)Try to pick a consistent place where you write, this will help you get back in the mindset when you're trying to write again. Make sure it is a comfortable, stress-free environment.
2) When given the choice between two sides of a single argument (and if you don't care for or can understand both sides) choose the side you think your teacher will not agree with. I say this because psychologically, most teachers will recognize they don't agree with you, and to avoid grading with bias, will subconsciously grade you higher than they would have if they agreed with you.
3) If you're having trouble getting the ball rolling on an idea, just start a sentence about it, don't finish it, just start it. Jot down the key word somewhere. The brain doesn't like to leave things unfinished, so when you leave a sentence unfinished, it's going to be working on that while you're doing other things. Remember, you can always come back to your paper.
4) Try listening to classical music. It's proven that listening to unfamiliar music (especially classical) you're brain goes into creative overdrive. My personal favorites are; Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Mozart.
5) Take breaks, walk around and leave your writing area when you start getting frazzled.
That concludes this little guide, I hope at least someone can find this helpful. If anyone has questions feel free to pm me.
Last edited by Nietszche; 02-04-2012 at 11:53 PM.
"Do not attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
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