How to Write a 10-page Paper: Not as Terrifying as It May Seem

Not everyone can honestly say that they enjoy writing assignments. However, it’s quite OK for us to deal with common-sized papers, state our thoughts and sometimes become involved in the writing process to the point of exceeding the page or word limit. But in some cases, the 10-page assignment can make us really depressed, and it may depend on the paper’s topic or even your mood whether you can cope with this challenge.

The first thought you may have after being given the task to write a 10-page research paper/essay/thesis/outline or any other type of an assignment is that this task will overwhelm you and make you suffer. At least, this kind of paper won’t have the same structure as other shorter pieces of writing. The first thing you are to understand before getting down to the actual writing is that such a complex document will require a lot more patience, forethought, skills and, of course, time.

There are at least two main questions about writing the ten-page paper.

The first one is: ‘how many words is a 10-page paper?’ Normally, if you use 12 Times New Roman font, a double-spaced page will contain 250 worlds, while a single-spaced one — 500 words. It is a good rule of thumb that is often used by students while writing papers. Of course, there can be some peculiarities about the form of your work, so you’d better ask your professor about it. The second question students that are struggling with deadlines often ask sounds like this: how long does it take to write a 10-page paper? It depends entirely on you. By starting well in advance, you are guaranteed to be saved from struggling with deadlines. The more time you have, the more thoughtful and well-grounded your paper will be. Anyway, it is better to start considering a possible topic and content for your 10-page paper right on the day you’ve received the task. It will preserve all your thoughts about the matter and ease your life. However, if you do your best, it is quite possible to cope with such a large assignment even in one or two days!

Successful Preparation for Writing a 10-page Paper

Everything starts with choosing the right topic. It should be something quite well-known to you or be a part of an area you are interested in. If you are wondering how to write a 10-page paper, make sure that its subject deals with aspects, phenomenon or just things that excite you. Once you’ve identified the topic, it is time to collect some information. Try to pick only relevant materials, and be sure to use only up-to-date information sources. Pay attention to crucial problems or issues that can be included in your paper, provide reliable background and prove your points. When you deal with the ten-page paper, sticking to the “the more, the better” rule may seem like a good idea, but you’d better be careful with it. Of course, the more information sources you have, the more facts and analysis you can include in your paper. Try not to overdo it and make sure that the chosen sources are interconnected, because an enormous amount of references, books or websites can easily confuse you and create much more problems than solutions.

One more thing you can do is create an outline for your paper, which will undoubtedly show the structure of your paper and highlight its main points. Having an outline will help you not to deviate from the topic and preserve the main goal of your paper. Apart from the outline, be sure to create a schedule of processing your paper. You may also divide the whole assignment into several parts and work on it step by step. If you write different parts of your paper at different intervals, it will give you some rest and an opportunity to proofread your paper with a clear mind.

The Process of Writing a 10-page Paper

Now that you have collected all the necessary materials, it’s time to start writing! The main thing you should do is preserve a specific structure of the ten-page paper. As mentioned earlier, dealing with large documents you cannot rely solely on the common 5-paragraph structure.

If the average per-page word count is 250 words, you are to write about 2,500 words to meet the required length of 10 pages (or. 12-16 paragraphs). Your paper may be structured as follows:

  • Introduction (1-2 paragraphs)
  1. State the central theme of your paper
  2. Explain the relevance of the problem
  3. Briefly describe in what way you are going to solve the problem
  • Body (~10 paragraphs)
  1. Based on the collected data, provide more details about the problem,
  2. Use critical thinking, analyze facts or argue some information by proving your point
  3. Tip: Don’t present someone else’s thoughts as your own. Indicate the source or the author. Expressing and explaining your ideas and theories is much more productive, anyway.
  • Conclusion (2 paragraphs)
  1. Deal with large papers n the same way you do with the smaller ones.
  2. Provide a detailed explanation of your solution to the problem based on the argument in the Body part
  3. State whether your ideas may influence future studies

Emergency: Main Tips to Write a 10-page Paper in One Night

If you failed to write the 10-page paper on time, and the deadline expires tomorrow, the following steps may rescue you:

  • Create an outline for your paper
  • Do research (online databases, Google Scholar)
  • Stay on topic

By following these simple and yet important tips, you’ll be able to write the 10-page paper even in one night.