It's paper writing season! I want to get an idea for how you all go about writing papers, because from what I see in my classes, people just say "eh, I wrote it last night" which blows my mind.

Maybe they're just trying to be cool?

Just to get some discussion going on our sub, how long do you spend writing a paper? Let's assume it's a major paper, for a 200 level or above class. I'd also like to get the view of different majors so try to bring that into the conversation as well. What kind of things get you off track (reddit, video games, friends, etc) ?

For me, I am a political science major. I have this creeping sensation that most people give very few fucks in poli sci. Maybe it's just the people I have met, I don't know. I feel like I could (and have) turned in a mediocre paper and gotten an A on it. I feel like I am being graded in relation to other people in my class and not on abstract criteria. This has led me to want to distance myself from these people as far as studying goes. Does anyone else feel like that? I have had to learn to write papers for myself because if I write at the level I could get away with, I'm not challenging myself. This might also be due to the fact that I have taken a lot of 200 levels, and no 400 levels (yet!) Anyway.

I usually try to stay on top of my readings, so by the time the paper comes around, I can say something somewhat intelligent about the topic at hand (which was not the case in my classes, either very few want to talk or very few know anything). Then I sort out my notes into "topic piles". One thing I never do is an outline. I don't know why, but it just does not work for me. Then I write the paper. This takes anywhere from a couple days to a week. I go back over it several times and try to fix things and make it more coherent.

What gets me off track: video games (at the moment, Guild Wars 2), reddit of course, and Facebook. I often spend more time on reddit during my "break" than I spend writing the paper, which is why it takes me so long.

Your turn UIC!

PS, what paper are you supposed to be writng right now? I'm supposed to be writing one about culture.