Writing Well: Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

You don't have enough time to do the laundry (how does it pile up so fast?), so how are you going to find the time to write your research paper? Here's the brutal truth: You won't have the time you need. No one ever does, so why should you be different? Nonetheless, the task has to get done—and within a set time frame. That's why it's especially important that you plan the task from the get-go. So let's get going.

Here are the steps you'll complete as you write a research paper:

1. Select a topic
2. Narrow the topic
3. Write the thesis statement
4. Research material
5. Take notes on material
6. Outline paper
7. Draft rough copies
8. Find more sources, if necessary
9. Integrate source materials
10. Document sources
11. Do Works Cited page
12. Write frontmatter, backmatter, title page
13. Revise, edit, proofread
14. Keyboard
15. Deal with catastrophes

That last step is a dilly, so it's crucial that you build in time to deal with it. Computers crash; the dog eats your rough draft. Sometimes the one book you really need isn't available from the library; more than one Web site has been known to mysteriously vanish into the Bermuda Triangle of cyberspace.

I've worked out some time allocation plans you can follow as you prepare your research paper. Each plan includes some “air,” that crucial extra time, so your back won't be up against the wall as the deadline looms.

In the following spaces provided, note the day you started and completed each step. You may want to photocopy these plans so you can use them again as you write different research papers.

A Month in the Country

If you have one month (20 days) in which to complete a research paper, allocate your time this way:

See Results in Six Weeks!

If you have six weeks (30 days) in which to complete a research paper, allocate your time this way:

Forty Days (but Not Forty Nights)

If you have eight weeks (40 days) in which to complete a research paper, allocate your time this way:

Around the Library in Sixty Days

If you have two months in which to write a research paper, don't get too comfortable. With that much time, it's human nature to get a little complacent. “This paper will be a walk in the park,” you might think. Not so fast, friend.

With a long lead time, it's tempting to leave the assignment to the last minute. After all, you do have plenty of time. But “plenty of time” is relative, like “losing a little hair.” Time, like hair, goes faster than you think.

Now that you've been warned, if you have two months in which to write a research paper, why not use it this way:

Now that we have our timetable in place, let's move on to the first step in the process of writing a research paper, selecting a subject.

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Well © 2000 by Laurie Rozakis, Ph.D.. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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