If you’re trying to counter our title by saying “I’m not lazy,” we don’t believe you. One way or another, every student is a little bit lazy. It’s probably why you’re here in the first place.
Whether we prefer to watch TV, read a book or go out on a Friday night, it’s obvious that we’d take any other activity in favor of writing on our research paper. It’s in our nature – which is why we don’t even bother to learn the structure of a research paper until we absolutely need to.
Are you in that situation right now? Well, here’s how to write your research paper like a pro:
- Choose the Topic
Don’t choose something fancy just because you think “a smarter topic will get me a better grade.” If you pick a topic and all the time you’ll be “I have no idea what I’m talking about,” the professor will catch on. Choose instead a topic that actually interests you and narrow it down as much as possible. If you select a broad topic, you won’t be able to cover every point in just a few pages.
- Do Your Research
Before you set on writing about that topic, make sure you have something to back up your thesis. It’ll be very awkward to reach the second page of your research paper only to realize that you no longer have any info to add – even though you have 6 pages left to fill.
- State Your Thesis
You should say right from the first paragraph of your paper what you intend to prove in the essay. If you don’t, the professor will be all confused and won’t know what to follow because they will feel you are going all over the place. Write a sentence where you declare your belief; that belief will be the basis of your argument throughout the entire essay.
- Make a General Outline
It’s much easier to finish an essay if you already know what you’re supposed to be writing about. Therefore, before you start on your research paper, outline your major topics and subtopics; it will be easier to keep yourself organized and prevent you from getting sidetracked.
- Keep Your Notes Organized
So you did your research and already know which part is supposed to go where. Now, based on the outline you just made, pull out some notes and organize them in every subchapter. See which fact is the most reliable and which information part will be most helpful to support your theory. This part is crucial when it comes to writing a research paper.
- Write the First Draft
Once you put everything in order, it’s time that you start working on the first draft. It doesn’t matter if you start with the introduction or with chapter two – based on the outline, you already know what’s supposed to go where. Don’t fret if your paper comes out longer than required; you can shorten it later.
- Write the Final Version
Once you have the first draft, go on to your computer and start typing on the “clean print.” Expect that your paper will shorten at this stage since you’re basically editing as you are writing.
- Proofread
NEVER skip the proofreading stage. It’s very easy to misspell words and to write “dork” instead of “fork.” Read through the paper once more and be sure you don’t have such errors.
If you really don’t feel like writing the essay yourself, you can always look for a website that will write a paper for you. They are professionals in the field, and usually, they come with very attractive discounts and promo codes so that you, as a student, won’t have to suffer too much. You may read some reviews to figure out which website gives the best discounts on writing services.