In middle school and high school, you have and will write many papers. These can range from analysis paper and history reports to research papers and college admission essays. No matter what stage you are at, it can be challenging to start, organize, and even format your paper. If you are looking for some guidance, join me as I share my writing advice I have gathered from writing many papers through my education.
Starting
For some, the hardest part of writing a paper is just starting it. Though it can depend on
the restrictions of the assignment, it is important to create a complete plan of the paper before doing any writing. If not, you may become dissatisfied with your paper after it is too late.
Choosing a Prompt/Topic
For most of your secondary education, a teacher will likely assign a class prompt for everyone to write one. As you enter higher grades, however, you will get to select from a list of prompts. You may also have the same prompt, but get to choose what topic you wish to write about fulfilling that prompt. As you consider your options, you should never immediately piece the easiest subject. Find the subject which you are most interested and feel could write a fulfilling paper. You could also seek to writing about something you are curious about, providing an opportunity to learn more. If not, you may not enjoy writing it and the end project could end up uninteresting to the teacher themself.
Select Your Main Points
After selecting a topic, you will need to choose the main points of your paper. Depending on the type of paper, these could be paragraph or only sentence long responses. Consider which points you think are will provide a cohesive message. For example, if you were writing about the symbolism of a book, your points could be the main symbols of the novel. Also decide any minor point you will add to support these main points. In our example, these minor points would be an explanation of the symbol and how it impacts the story.
Creating an Outline
With these ideas, you can now map out your complete paper through the use of an outline. These outlines (example to the right) allow you to write brief statements on each section of the paper to guide you during the actual paper. Most papers will start an introduction. This generally includes your opening statement, main themes, thesis statement, and statement of organization. Afterward, you will share the main points, or the body, of the paper. This section can be split into multiple paragraph as your support your introduction through your main points. Within these points will be your minor points and citations to support your claims. Then, the paper will end with a conclusion. This includes a brief review of the main points and a final argument/emphasize.
Researching
With your structure in mind, you will need information and sources to support your claims. This could be as simple as quotes from a novel or complex as specialized information from an editorial.
Finding Sources
There are many methods you can use to discover credible sources. For my, I recommend Google Scholar as one of the best resources. Accessed simply by going to scholar.google.com, Google Scholars allows you to search for credible sources and provides easy access to them. Also always check "All # versions" if a PDF link is not appear to see if one is available. If you are looking for more concise results, you can use Advanced Search tool. They will allow you to further define your sources by setting limits such as date and document type. This type of tool is usually provided by educational institutions, such as NC Live or SPCC.
Reviewing Sources
Once you have your sources, it is important to ensure their credibility and understand how you will use them in the paper. Though most sources from databases like Google Scholar should be credible, it is still important to check all sources. This includes researching the author and determining if the source is bias. Afterward, you can begin taking notes and information important for your paper. I personally recommend first skimming through the source and then going back through to take notes and save any quotes. If you are looking for a resource to take these notes, I would recommend using RemNote. RemNote can provide a variety of feature, but I particularly enjoy its amazing organization for notetaking.
Formatting
As you write your paper, you need to make sure you are following the formatting guidelines. If not, it can be time consuming when you have to go back and fixed the whole paper. Though there are many formatting styles, I will only review MLA and APA.
MLA
MLA (Modern Language Association) is the most common style you will use. You will start with a heading in the top right corner. This heading will include your name, teacher's name, class name, and assignment due date, each on a separate line. Afterward, have your title centered below your heading but above your introduction. Alongside this, make
sure to include your name and page number on each paper. The paragraphs themselves are written to follow into one another. This will require you to utilize the last sentence of most paragraphs to lead into the next one. Then, MLA possesses its own citation style and Works
Cited. Due to the complexity of MLA citing rules, I would recommend reviewing an online guide such as the Purdue Online Writing Lab for MLA. I would warn, however, to not completely trust citing resources such as Citation Machine. They can be very helpful in finding the aspects of a source, but will likely miss a few things or incorrectly format it. Lastly, make sure the paper is 12-point, Times New Roman font, and Double-Spaced unless you are told otherwise.
APA
APA (American Psychological Association) is an additional formatting style that is more common in research papers. You will start with a title paper that includes your bolded essay title and additional information about you, such as school, class, and teacher. Make sure to also include the appropriate spacing between each entry on this page. On the second page, reenter your bolded title and you can begin the introduction. Unlike with MLA, however, you do not always need to transition between paragraphs. This is because you will have heading for each section of the paper. These section each have their
own heading which is located within the paper depending on the "level" of the section. For citing and References, I would once again recommend an online guide such as the Purdue Online Writing Lab for APA. The citing style is very similar to MLA, but make sure you are not blending the two methods. Lastly, once again make sure the paper is 12-point, Times New Roman font, and Double-Spaced unless you are told otherwise.
Final Tips
Now, all of that information can be helpful, but maybe you looking more for advice on just writing. If that is the case, I want to provide some general advice (in no particular order) you may be looking for!
Work Ahead
Do not wait until the last minute to complete a rough draft. Plan ahead and write your paper over multiple days. You will feel less stress and may even have new ideas along the way.
Ask for Help
There is nothing wrong in going up to a teacher or peer for additional guidance. If you ask, most will be willing to help you on the citing, grammar, or the flow of the paper. Sometimes they may even be willing to review and proofread your whole paper and provide feedback.
Find Your Writing Application
There are many tools you can use to write a paper. It is important to become consistent on what you how to use and where to find it in the future. For example, I prefer using Microsoft Word, but you may like Google Docs better.
Utilize the Shortcuts
Within your preferred writing application, learn ways you can make writing easier. This includes automatically inserting page numbers and doing double spacing. These small features can help save you time and stress knowing you do not need to fix them later.
Avoid Transition Words
As you learn to write, you likely will be required to utilize words and phrases such as "In conclusion, ...., "First, ..., and "To being, ...". As you advance, however, you should move away and present more in-depth transitions. This will allow your paper to sound much better and more organic.
Papers can be hard to write, but you will enjoy them much more when you understand how to effectively write them. As with everything in literature, there is no objective way to write, so my advice may not word for you. I do recommend you try it out though to see if it improves your writing!