This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SMU chapter.
It’s September. College is starting to wind up. Gone is the relative peace of Mustang Corral and syllabus week, and here comes perhaps the most dreaded of college assignments: the paper. You may be panicking as you sit looking at a blank computer screen, but never fear! Her Campus is here to walk you through writing the best college paper you can possibly write.
- Begin by getting yourself in the right frame of mind – you can’t write an essay with a million other things racing through your brain. It all starts with your health. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s true. If you do not drink enough water, eat your vegetables, and (perhaps most importantly) get enough sleep, it will be nearly impossible to stay focused and alert while writing your essay. Trust me – I’m an expert on exhausted 3 a.m. essays. They’re hard. Another important way to get yourself ready to write is to find an appropriate writing space. I recommend any of the libraries on campus, but anywhere quiet where you can sit up straight will do. The quiet will keep you focused on the task at hand – picking a topic.
- Speaking of picking a topic, that’s next on your to-do list. Most professors will assign you a topic, but on the off chance that you are allowed to choose your own I recommend picking one you are passionate about. Chances are that if you are passionate about the topic you will already have a stance on the matter (step one complete!) and will have already thought about arguments for your side. So pick that topic and leave no room for interpretation.
- Now that you have picked your topic it’s onto the most important part (in my opinion) of an essay: the outline. An outline is like a roadmap in that it helps you to know where to go, thereby giving your essay structure. Remember those high school essays you wrote without a clue as to where your thoughts were going? Chances are that if you had written an outline they would have been much more controlled, polished, and concise.
- With your outline complete you can begin writing your rough draft. Start by writing a stellar introduction. You can use a story to illustrate your point or you could jump straight into your thesis; you could use multiple paragraphs or less than one. Whatever you do, introduce your topic well and with as few words as possible. Concision is smiled upon by nearly every professor.
- Now write your body paragraphs. Your outline should help with this, but the ALEC is always available if it doesn’t.
- After your introduction and body paragraphs have been written it’s time for that conclusion. The only advice we have for you is this: if you can’t imagine yourself dropping the mic after you’ve written your conclusion, you need to write it again.
- After your rough draft is finished it’s time to get polishing. You should look over the essay yourself several times to look for grammatical and spelling errors as well as argumentative fallacies, but you should also hand it over to someone you trust to see if they spot anything you were unable to. The ALEC is a wonderful source to use at any part of the writing process, especially at this stage. You can even contact your DISC professor for more tips about your essay.
Congratulations! You have completed your essay! Now you can sit back, relax, read some more Her Campus SMU, and watch as all your classmates scramble to complete it the night before in a caffeine-fueled rage. You can thank us later.