Karen Meteyer '99 writes on The importance of starting early

The best strategy for writing college papers is to start them EARLY. Even if I just create a document on my computer desktop a couple of weeks or ten days ahead, it gets me thinking about the assignment that I will be writing. At this time, I try to jot down a few sentences or even the first paragraph, and a rough outline of ideas. Then, as the days go by before the paper is due, I fill in the blanks, writing a paragraph or two at a time. I find this gradual process lets me write a more well-thought and clear paper. I am continually writing some, setting it aside, and then returning later to revise and write more. Best of all, I avoid last minute panic and those painful all-nighters.

In my revising stages I always print out a hard copy of what I've written so that I can read it out loud to myself. This helps tremendously in both finding errors and in assuring a clear and consistent style throughout the paper. If at all possible, I get someone else to look over the paper as well.