Pwn That Paper: How to Get Through a Major Paper in a Weekend (or Less)

So you were going to start on Monday. Really, you were. But then you had that meeting and by the time you got out it was so late you figured you’d just start on Tuesday. Really, you would. And then Wednesday. Well, maybe Thursday… And now it’s Friday night. And you’re staring at a blank Word document wondering where your week went. But don’t stress! You can write an awesome paper in a weekend (or less). Here’s how.

Friday night: 

Friday night is the time to solidify your topic. If you’ve been given some suggestions, start running the ones that interest you through HOLLIS or through the e-resources on the library website and see what comes up. Since you’re starting late, you’re obviously going to want to pick a topic with lots of readily-available sources. The more online sources you can find the better since you won’t have to deal with trying to recall books at the last minute. If you haven’t been given any suggestions to work with, start flipping through your lecture notes and see if anything strikes your interest. Most professors’ lectures touch on lots of topics that they don’t explore in depth—instant paper topic. Again, at this point, you should go for the one with the most sources available to you. (But make sure you’re at least semi-interested as well or the process will be awful!) You might want to take some preliminary notes on sources Friday night and you should write down the names of the sources you think you’re going to use for sure, but don’t worry about starting the actual writing yet.

Saturday night: 

 First of all, note that if you’re just starting on Saturday and you skipped the Friday night stuff, now’s obviously the time to do it! Won’t put you too behind because Saturday is going to be your research day anyway, but it can help to get the topic set Friday night so Saturday goes more quickly. If you’re writing an English paper on one novel (or any paper that’s basically based on one source), this is when you should go through gathering evidence for your argument. If you need to gather sources, this is when the serious researching should take place. Get online and find your source material.

By the end of Saturday, you should have all your notes/evidence/whatever you will need for writing completely ready and your argument should be pretty solidly outlined in your mind (or even on paper, if you like). If you’re going to write 8-12 pages in a day, you’re going to want to go in with some structure already thought out as much as possible!

Sunday:

Right. Here it is. Writing day. At this point, you should be pretty well set to go with your notes and your evidence should be ready. Realistically, this is going to be a long day, so make sure that you take breaks from writing to recharge, especially if you get to a point where you feel like the words just aren’t coming to you anymore. Meals are good for this. Don’t take your laptop. Don’t take your notes. Go chill with your friends for lunch and dinner for at least a good half hour each so you can come back to writing refreshed. And there you are. Paper finished in a weekend in fairly low-stress steps.

But what if you only have a day? 

This may end up being an all-nighter, but it can definitely be done. Go for a topic that you can find at least 10-15 sources on so that those sources can easily be narrowed down to 5 or so without too much time spent reading through each individual source super thoroughly. If you can develop a topic that draws on what you’ve already read for the course, so much the better!

Also, even if you’re only writing in a day, still keep your research and evidence gathering phase separate from your writing phase. Trying to find the information you want while you’re writing can make the whole process take much longer. And the last thing you want is to write half a paper and then find a source that completely destroys everything you’ve written!

And still take breaks. Powering through might seem more productive but breaks can often make writing go faster long term, so at least get up and stretch now and then, watch an episode of your favourite TV show when you start getting stressed, and then go back to writing your paper afterwards.

No matter how much time you have, remember to stay positive! You’ll get it done. (You always do!)