Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Avoid Stress by Starting Early

Much of the time people think about how to start papers and worry if they will meet professor’s expectations and the like. Writing rough drafts is very important and an aspect of writing a paper that doesn’t get as much of attention as it should, especially when you’re just starting out in the college experience. My advice, draft!

The idea of drafting can be very daunting and quite scary. It does involve starting early, brainstorming in advance, and doing research right off the bat. All of this combined can be really overwhelming. This is something that your professors understand. So most of the time, you’ll get assignments for bigger papers early. Once that happens, it’s all in your hands from there.

Once you get an assignment, do whatever form of brainstorming that works for you. Whether it is actually writing a draft, composing bullet points, cubing, or another brainstorming method, starting this process early will help your final draft down the road.

Once you have done some brainstorming, take the time to actually outline and plan out a draft. If starting on a rough draft right away works, then do that first.

After drafting, if time allows, step away from the draft. Work on other homework and do something relaxing before revisiting the draft for editing or adding to the paper. Before you feel like you have your finished product, make sure and go through the process of editing and revising. 

Hopefully the idea of creating multiple drafts of your paper before it is due will help with the process of solidifying the paper and making sure that you follow the assignment. My best advice is START EARLY!

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