It's the end of the semester and you have an 8 page term paper on genre theory coming up. You haven't put it off (of course not, who does that?) but somehow the due date is tomorrow and you haven't started writing it yet. It's two o'clock in the afternoon and your class is tomorrow at 6. What do you do?
Recipe for an Awesome Term Paper in 28 Hours:
1. You need at least one comfortable work space in which to spread out all your papers. Ideally several in a close vicinity so that as you get bored of a certain position or vantage point, you can move to a more interesting one. Work spaces must be close to food/water and a washroom. They must not be in places where you will be easily distracted. I prefer my own apartment but cafes such as Waves that stay open 24/7 may be a good option as well.
2. Laptop computer. Important for quick writing and editing.
3. Printer. I've only recently got one and have found that they're such a luxurious luxury. I love printing out drafts of essays that need to be edited so that I can cover them in black ink, input my corrections into the laptop and print off an improved draft. There's just something about doing it by hand. The ability to circle and scribble more easily perhaps?
4. Two pots of tea (Earl grey, hot). That's eight mugs of essay writing power. Essential for Awesome term papers.
It is now 5:49 am and birds are starting to sing outside my window. I can just see a tiny hint of a light in the sky somewhere in the east. I think it's going to be a beautiful day. Just two more drafts to go!
Ahh, I remember those days. Staying up all night (minus the tea, of course) to finish a paper I had managed to forget until then. Struggling to write as if I'm actually awake, thinking, instead of half (or more than half) asleep. Kind of exhilerating in a very exhausting sort of way.
ReplyDelete