How to Write a Paper Through Stress, Imminent Mental Breakdowns, and Writer’s Block

            After hours and days and months of research, after compiling tons of notes and sources, it’s finally time to start the actual research paper.

            But where do I begin?

            Well, if the notes that I took were well-organized into a chart or outline, as I mentioned in a previous post, and I have a literature review done as well, then I have a starting point. Most people think that you have to start your essay with your thesis. This is perfectly fine if you want to go in order, but it has always been easier for me to just begin with my reasons and then go back to write an introduction. I feel that once most of my paper is done, the intro that I write will better encompass the rest of my research. Do whatever works best for you.

            Remember, it’s okay if at first your paper doesn’t come out the way you planned. You can always move things around, add and subtract phrases, and check for errors later. Just don’t procrastinate like I (and many others) tend to do.

            But knowing the information is only one part. Stay healthy—get some sleep and eat a snack. If you feel stressed, or you have writer’s block, take a break. Take a break between making corrections, too. Remember, this paper may be an important, but so is your health. And trust me, you won’t be writing anything coherently when you’re exhausted or panicking; mental breakdowns can be avoided if you remember this!

            Again, if you want to be able to have a reference to help you with your paper, make an outline. Nothing is final until you hand it in, so improve your rough draft until you’re happy with it. That way, no matter what your grade, you know you’ve done your best.

Who Are You Writing For?

            All of this time has been spent researching the topic to understand and develop it. However, sometimes you need to read non-scholarly sources, such as biased web articles, or watch videos on the topic. Now that you have a solid background of your topic after reading many scholarly sources without bias, you will not be easily swayed by biased and powerful advertising or websites.

            But why read through these sources? Can they even be used for your research paper?

            Many will probably not be useful for your paper. So why bother? Well, while researching scholarly sources is important, looking at biased videos by Novartis advertising animal research or skimming through PETA’s website helps me to get an idea of how my topic applies in the real world, and what I want to write about or include in my paper. It helps to see what people think and what I should keep in mind for my readers. This is important in understanding the readers’ various viewpoints. (To view the mentioned examples, click here for the Novartis video and here for PETA's website.)

(For the original source, click here.)

            In the video above, for example, many people are interviewed and asked about their opinions on animal research. While many have very different opinions as to whether or not animal experimentation should continue, many of them also agree that it is still very important in medical research. For example, one French woman says that she doesn’t much like the idea of animal experimentation, but agrees that it will slow down research if banned, unless they can find an alternative. Watching this video helps me to understand part of my audience and what points will be important to get across.

            So try watching a video on your topic, or skim through a biased source; it is just as important to understand your readers’ views and the modern aspect of your topic as it is to research it thoroughly through case studies and scientific journal articles.        

Helpful Critics

            Many sources that are peer-reviewed are considered scholarly sources. Researchers have their peers review their work before it can be published. Even if you are an expert at the top of your field, having your paper peer-reviewed by fellow researchers helps you in more than one way— both in getting your research published and making sure it is well-written and presented.

            Many of us don’t like it when we are criticized. We get defensive about our work or uncomfortable about our mistakes. However, constructive criticism is good for us. If we never let anyone criticize our work, we would never learn and be able to get better.

            So whenever you write a paper, see if you can’t find a peer to review it for you. They might catch something you didn’t see, or have you rewrite something to make it clearer for your audience to understand. It’s important to remember your audience. You may find that you understand what you wrote, but the reader would not understand without a simpler or clearer explanation. Remember, when writing a research paper, it’s not written for you; you know what you’re talking about. Your research is written for your audience, so that they can see the importance of your research.

            If research is the way to spread your knowledge and new ideas, then having it peer reviewed is the way to make sure your ideas are getting across to your readers correctly. Take advantage of constructive criticism; having an outsider’s perspective can be very helpful.

Outline Your Ideas

Taking hundreds of notes, slipping sticky notes into books to tag pages, highlighting important quotes on an online document— these are all ways to organize your sources and their arguments. But what’s a better way to start understanding how your sources can be used?

Well, one way is to write a literature review.

A literature review allows you to summarize your sources, compare them to other sources, and decide how they will be used in your final research paper— if they will be. It helps you to establish a background for your paper, although it can be a little difficult to understand how to begin to write one.

Speaking from experience, I’ve always had trouble finding a way to best present and articulate my information. I researched it all, I knew what I was talking about, but I found it difficult to organize a way in which it all fit together nicely so that my jumbled notes would make sense to others.

So, what’s the best way to start?

Make an outline. This is good advice for any essay or paper or report. An outline gives you a basis from where to start and can help you organize your notes and thoughts. It can also help you to organize your sources in a way that helps them flow. Then, decide which sources fit into the certain categories/sections on your outline, and from there add your notes.

Also, as a final tip, when you begin to write your literature review, you don’t need to strictly stick to the outline. If you find something that works better as you are writing, then use it. Don’t be afraid to change your outline over and over again; sometimes reorganizing your thoughts helps you to write better than before.

Pros and Cons: Putting Information into Perspective

Taking notes as you read is important in research. Arguing with your sources and writing reminders of pages to review on sticky notes are both excellent ways to better understand your sources and the different aspects of your topic. However, after a accumulating an abundance of sources, one way to begin to organize all of the information is making a pro and con chart.

In the previous two posts, I shared with you new information that I learned while researching my topic. The first talked about the importance of animals, specifically in the case of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research, while the second discussed alternatives to using animals.

So, how would I organize this information into a pro and con chart, for example?

Pro

Con

·    There are regulations to follow when using animals as experimental models. ·    Animal testing allows researchers to understand how a drug will affect an organism as a whole. ·    There are no other tests that can replace animal testing when full-body testing is needed. ·    Animal testing gives us insight into certain diseases that are not fully understood or for which there is no cure. ·    Animals have played an important part in medical research.

·    Animal testing can be cruel and inhumane (especially when protocols are not followed). ·    There are many alternatives to test how a drug may affect different cells. ·    Animal testing is not always accurate because of the differences in structure compared to humans. ·    Animal testing is very expensive; other alternatives, such as in vitro testing, are much more cost-effective. ·    Alternatives have also furthered medical research.

Although you can jump back and forth between the two, it is not always the best method. The best way to organize is to begin by writing down all of the pros you know off of the top of your head, and then do the same for the cons. Then, you can go back into your sources and look for any other pros and cons you missed and add that as well.

In addition to the pro-con chart, I also take notes next to each bullet point or write down relevant and useful quotes from my sources to use later on. This is just one useful way to make research easier to interpret and use. Write down the sources you want to use for each side, too, so that it is easier to follow your notes.

For example, I would put the article “Animal Experimentation is Unscientific,” (from Animal Experimentation: Opposing Viewpoints) under Con, and write notes about it. This article specifically talks about how animal models are inadequate because they are different from us on a molecular and cellular level. It also states that they challenge the idea that animals have been responsible for major scientific breakthroughs.

I disagree, as although we may be different from animals, there is a lot of similarities that make animal models helpful in research. In addition, it is wrong to say that animals have not been responsible for major discoveries; they have played such a large role that many developments, such as the smallpox vaccine that was created by studying cowpox, would not have been possible without it. I would write all of this under Pro. In this way, my notes stay organized and I can find my arguments easily.

Research with a Grain of Salt

            There is a lot of bias to be aware of as you begin your research. As you learn more about your topic, you may start agreeing with one opinion and leaning towards their side.

            Don’t fall into that trap.

            One of the hardest parts of research, especially when you first start browsing and learning more about your topic, is the risk of developing a bias, whether based on the facts you read or the opinions and reviews of others. Remaining impartial is important in starting out, as reviewing all sides of the story allows you to better understand your topic and have a better grasp of what you want to write about. So what can you do?

            Take everything you read with a grain of salt.

            Write notes, challenge the ideas in the articles you read, question the author’s views— these are all helpful ways to avoid falling onto one side early on. There’s always a backstory to each side, so it’s important to understand the topic and all arguments before making any judgments.

           The first thing I did was read (and skim) as many articles about the pros and cons of animal experimentation. One article, Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?, stood out to me specifically, (the link of which can be found here). It compared both sides of the argument and tried to remain impartial in order to relay the facts that built the pros and cons.

  

            What I found most helpful was writing down questions and notes next to each argument. I asked questions such as: What are the long-term or overall effects? How does animal use in research compare to alternative methods? Why are there instances of animal cruelty in labs if it is more conductive for research to keep lab animals safe and healthy? Are there specific benefits of animal experimentation that allow it to remain an important part of research in modern scientific society? Question what you read; it helps to build the basis of the knowledge on your topic and opens up new inquiries and ideas.

            And this has also helped me to finally form my research question: What are the benefits and drawbacks of animal experimentation in research, and are there better alternatives?

Forming New Ideas

            Research is something that everyone does, more often than one would think. Research doesn’t just mean sitting in a lab or making a new discovery that will revolutionize science and technology— it can be much simpler. Research is when you look up different colleges and majors to decide where you want to apply. It’s when you look up new coupons and sales for a trip to the mall, or when you check the stock market statistics to make a decision on whether or not to buy a certain stock.

            Research serves the basis for a lot in our lives, even the small things. But for extended research, like writing a paper on a specific topic, it can be a daunting task. Researching and compiling what you find to put it into words is always a challenge. If you want to start a research process, the best way to begin is to choose a topic that you love and go with it.

            But how do you know what you want to research? What are you willing to learn about and devote your time to? If you can’t think of a topic to start with, start by looking up a broad topic that interests you, or read some articles in a magazine or journal that you find intriguing. Take notes and free write. Write down as many ideas as you have, and from there you’ll be able to narrow it down. This part isn’t always simple, and isn’t always easy, but once you clear this hurdle and have your beginning, it will drive you forward.

            And so this is where I stand now, trying hard to search for a question that intrigues me. There are many broad topics that draw my attention, such as cancer research, new scientific discoveries, and even controversial topics like animal experimentation in research. However, narrowing it down is where I am stuck. But as I explore different possible questions and topics, such as the role of animals in cancer research, or perhaps how training helper animals is similar and/or different to what is done in animal experimentation, I can unravel new ideas that will help me to embark on my path towards beginning my research.