High School Term Papers Can Be Written Overnight

Are you an overwhelmed high school student working under a tight deadline? Did you intend to start your term paper days or even weeks ago, but couldn’t quite find the time? If you’re in this situation, you might be in a minor panic the night before your term paper is due.

But do not fear! If you properly manage your time and work efficiently, you can still finish your term paper in time and earn high marks for your efforts. Here’s how to write your term paper overnight.

Be Organized

Don’t embark on the writing process without organizing all the information and materials necessary to write your draft. Before you begin, gather up your class syllabus, your text book, your class notes, any sources you have collected or read, and any information your instructor has given you on the assignment. If you have a grading rubric for the assignment or any lecture notes on your teacher’s expectations, have these hand as well. Find a desk or table that allows you to spread out all your materials, and organize everything in a neat stack. You don’t want to waste time searching for background info halfway through your paper.

Banish Distractions

Find a quiet, bare place to write, preferably an office, library study carrel, or even just a bedroom with a door that locks. Use earplugs or headphones, and listen to music with a fast beat and no lyrics (such as house music, techno, electronica, or even nature sounds). If possible, hang a note on your door or tell your family not to distract you, and turn your cell phone off. Use an internet blocker to temporarily keep yourself from using the internet to procrastinate.

Do A Word Sprint

After reviewing your materials briefly and thinking about the assignment, open your text editor, put in your earphones, and set a timer of one and a half or two hours. During this period, write continuously. Fight the urge to stop writing or edit your words, and commit to getting as much on the page as possible. You will go back and fix errors and spelling problems later. For now, just write continuously on the topic as rapidly as you can, using the information you already have in your head about the topic.

Sleep, Wake, and Edit

When you have finished this very rough draft, take a nap or a break and do something that relaxes you. Do not think about the assignment at all during this time. Then come back to your draft and edit. Spend an hour or two cleaning up grammatical errors, fixing awkward wording, and inserting citations as necessary. Then you are ready to turn the assignment in!