A term paper is a paper that you write at the end of a term, which summarizes a specific idea or research project you’ve been working on. Although term papers are specific papers, you will have different guidelines, such as the page length, the subject matter, and the writing format, depending on your school and the class, as well as your grade level.

Read and make sure you understand the parameters of the term paper. A term paper, like a research paper or a thesis, is a paper for which a teacher or school can create any guidelines for that they wish. You should figure out how long it should be, what your topic should be, and what format you should write in, from what your teacher or syllabus says.

Decide on a topic for your term paper, if one was not assigned to you. The topic should be something that you are interested in, as well as something you know has a lot of information available. Try to choose something that will be easy to research with the resources that you have, as well.

Come up with an angle for your term paper. Writing about the Civil War is an idea, but you’ll need an angle, such as the particular battles of the war, or the outcome of the war, or the impact the war has today.

Research your paper based on the criteria that you were given — if you need five sources, find five and use them. Find good sources of research according to what your school or teacher considers to be appropriate, and according to the assignment — if you need a specific number of Internet or book sources, be sure to find and include them.

Come up with a thesis statement, or main idea, for your paper. This should be the overall main idea that you want to get across in your writing. After you’ve found that, you can come up with several proofs or points to support that main idea. Research your proofs or points and take notes on what you find.

Write a rough draft of your paper. Be sure that you include your thesis statement and points, and that you give information and details for your points. Then you can edit your rough draft and move on to a final draft.

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As with anything that you can practice, the more you practice the more your essay writing will improve. However, while you are practicing, some specific areas exist on which you should be concentrating to achieve optimum results.

Maintain Clarity in Your Thesis and Arguments

First, have a clear idea of what you want to write about and sum up this topic in a single statement (your thesis). You can have this idea from the very start of the essay writing process, or you can start your research into a topic or brainstorm to help you to get an idea for your essay. The best way to practice writing your thesis clearly is to write and rewrite your thesis statement and arguments until they can be clearly understood by somebody else (a friend, a colleague, etc.) who does not know much about your topic.

Concentrate Your Preparation

After you have created a clear and easily understandable thesis and arguments, you also need to be able to keep your essay writing preparation focused on that thesis and those arguments. If you are writing a research essay, concentrate your research on your thesis and arguments because otherwise you run the risk of being overwhelmed or distracted by all of the information that may be available to you. If you are writing an essay that is supposed to be more personal, then make sure that your outline is written so that you concentrate it around your thesis and arguments. The best way to practice this skill is to review your notes or outline after having taken a break from writing them. Then highlight the points that are the most relevant to your topic.

Think Laterally

Think laterally. This kind of thinking means that instead of approaching your topic directly you approach it from a related topic or point of view. For example, if you are writing about Shakespeare’s writing, then you could start your essay with a section on Chaucer’s influence on Shakespeare’s writing. Thinking laterally will help you to write things that your reader will not expect, and this will help to keep your reader interested in what you have to say.

Write Concisely

Writing concisely requires you to have a careful plan in place before you start writing your essay. Having a strong, clear idea of what you want to write from point to point will help you to avoid writing sentences and sections that are not relevant to your topic. A good way to practice this skill is to plan and to subplan (that is, plan your sections, and then plan out how you will write the points that you have made for each section).

Closely Scrutinize Your Own Writing

To practice closely editing your own writing, take your time while editing your papers to build a working understanding of grammar and style and read the work of others, whether this means reading published collections of essays or helping your friends, relatives or others edit their essays.

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High school students are expected to write essays in most content areas. Their essays may be descriptive, expository, persuasive, or essays designed for specific classes such as science. Whatever the essay assignment, some fundamental parts of an essay are applicable, regardless of the type. There are also some basic steps needed to start an essay in order to keep the essay focused, organized and manageable.

Pick a topic. Most likely, your teacher will give you a list of subjects. Choose a topic that you have some familiarity with and something that interests you. If you enjoy the topic, you will be more apt to understand the research and have a desire to learn about the subject. Research and then narrow the topic. If you choose dogs, what is it that you want to talk about? Make a list of three to five possible subtopics: how to choose a dog, the best kind of dog, or how to buy a crate for a dog. From your list, you will choose one narrowed topic.

Write a preliminary thesis. The thesis statement is a statement of position. It directs the paper by stating what the content is. The thesis is not a question, but one statement that should be positioned at the end of the introductory paragraph. If you decide to write about choosing a dog, you may choose a preliminary statement as follows: When choosing a dog, consider the costs, size, and needs of the dog. The thesis organizes the paper. The paper may be about the costs of raising a dog, the size of the space required for the dog, and the attention the dog will need. Notice the thesis is general. You will make the thesis more specific once you have written the paper and know exactly what you want to discuss under costs, size and needs.

Visualize an upside-down triangle. This may sound strange, but a good introduction will drive the rest of the paper. The paper will fall into place because it’s organized, focused, and manageable. Begin with a general statement and slowly narrow that statement to the thesis, which is the tip of the upside-down triangle. If you’re writing about choosing a dog, begin with a general statement about the benefits of owning a dog. From there, discuss benefits and why it’s important to choose a dog carefully. End with your thesis. The introduction will be about seven sentences in length, or half of a page.

Include transition. As you visualize the upside-down triangle, you need to make each sentence of the introduction transition to the next sentence in order to narrow the material. Your goal is to narrow the broad introductory sentence down to the thesis. Use transitional devices such as transitional words: therefore, however, since, finally. Transitional words will help your writing flow to the thesis statement.

Review the introduction and thesis statement. Ask yourself the following: Does this introduction lead into the topic I really want to write about? Do I need to rewrite the thesis to make it more specific to my topic? Can I develop an essay based on this introduction? Do I need to lengthen or shorten the introduction? Is my writing clear and focused? Once you are satisfied with the introduction, you have a start to writing an essay.

Read more: How to Start an Essay | eHow.com

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