If you’re in college, then you will have to write a term paper at one point before graduation. For some students, they will discover that writing in college is quite different from writing in high school. Certainly, the methods students learn in high school will be carried over to the college level, but one cannot rely on the five-paragraph method to hit that 10-page requirement.

For those who have just started their career in academic writing or who need to be refreshed, here are some tips to help you survive and refrain from endangering your grade.

First, keep up with your readings and attend every class. Sometimes there are hiccups in the game of life, and we cannot accomplish everything on our plate like we plan. However, that does not mean it is okay to slack off. One of my own professors constantly reminds us to never accumulate our readings, and she has good reason. If left to pile up, the reading becomes overbearing and hard to retain. How does that help when you have to sit down and write about the topic?

Second, write about something that sparks your interest. Figure out a link between the material you are covering in class and your educational goals or interests. For instance, I’m enrolled in a theatre history course with a term paper of my own to write, which needs to focus on an area of world theatre we will not be covering in class. I have a deep appreciation for the culture and nation of Japan, so I decided to write about the history of Japanese theatre. Two things I love rolled into one.

After selecting a topic, you may want to come up with a strong thesis. This is your statement of intent, or what you intend to prove in your paper. There are different types of theses, such as challenging a misconception, finding unlikely connections or connecting modern day to classical times. What would Shakespeare really think of Bella Swan as a female protagonist?

Once you have come up with your thesis, you need to construct an informed argument in order to support your point of view. To do this, ask  yourself three questions: what do or don’t I know about my topic, what points would I focus on and how will this topic help readers understand it in new ways? Once those questions are answered, make the plunge into conducting your research.

You need to know how to utilize your resources. Spend time with the Sims Memorial Library, both online as well as offline. The librarians are there to help you if you hit a bump in the road with finding research, so take advantage of having them there to help you.

Before beginning to write, make a schedule of milestones you want to achieve and stick to them, such as ‘I will finish my research by Sept. 20′ or ‘I will have my first draft written by Oct. 8.’ Pace yourself and don’t procrastinate. There are students out there who will wait until the night before their paper is due and write all the way until their deadline. They are only deceiving themselves into thinking they will do well and may also pack on tons of unneeded stress. A bad grade and undue stress? Yuck. Take advantage of the fact that you have time. Set aside times to write a little bit each day, such as a word count of 500 words after working on other homework.

Do not plagiarize. This could not only cost you your grade, but also your entire academic career. Plagiarism doesn’t refer to just copying someone else’s work word for word. It also means taking another’s idea and changing words or phrases to make it seem as if it were your own. Never do this. It is better to write your paper in your own words and include sources to back it up. Don’t forget to properly cite your sources because that can also count as plagiarism.

This might be a simple rule to some, but pay attention to the rules and your professor’s standards for grammar and style. I have heard experiences from others who let that aspect of their papers slide and were surprised when they discovered a lot of points were taken off for it. To avoid this, proofread, proofread and proofread. This should be the last thing you do before your paper is considered finished. This also means not to rely on the spellchecker alone. Certainly, it will point out misspelled words, but it won’t catch spell checking misses, such as “their” versus “there.” A neat thing I like to do when writing is to proofread my papers backwards. I start with the last word, then the second to last and so on. I catch a lot more errors that way. If you are apprehensive about your own proofreading skills, schedule a visit with the Writing Center, where the workers can sit down and go over your paper with you and point out how to make your paper stronger.

The tips I’ve given will help steer you in the right direction, but it goes without saying that in order to improve your writing, you have to write. And, before I close this, do yourself a favor: avoid Wikipedia, like the plague.