How to Write a Paper that’s Due Tomorrow

Do you have a paper due tomorrow but still need to write it?

Don't beat yourself up for waiting until the last minute. It’s not helpful, plus the reason why you have a paper due soon but haven't written it yet has little do with being an incompetent graduate student and everything to do with prioritizing other work or life events or needing more information or not knowing how to structure your paper or not really wanting to write the darn paper in the first place.

Whatever the reason, if you have a paper due tomorrow or soon and need a little help getting started, use the checklist.

You can also download a printable for writing essays here.

This tip sheet is for writing comprehensive exams, but it works for term papers, too.

Ready? Let’s go.

O N E

Find and read the assignment.

Remind yourself of the big three: What is this paper supposed to be about? What structure do you need to use? How detailed (how long) does it need to be?

T W O

Make a list.

Write down what you need to do before you can begin writing.

Do you have the data you need to report? Have you analyzed it? Made a graph? Have you finished your literature review? What else do you need to do?

T H R E E

Categorize.

Put like things together.

If you are organizing your entire project, put findings with findings and literature review articles with other articles. Put notes about your findings with other notes.

If you are working on your literature review, go through each article/book chapter/report and assign it to a category. Use the categories to organize your literature review.

F O U R

Write a strong introduction with a strong controlling purpose.

Write strong first and last sentences of each paragraph in your paper. Then, fill in the details of each paragraph.

F I V E

Format your paper using the structure required for the course and applying the appropriate formatting style, as described in the APA, IEEE, MLA, or other style manual

Review your citations and edit them.

S I X

Proofread last.

If you can, try to write your paper without editing as you go. Then, when you are finished, go back and edit. You may find that you save a lot of time