Rethinking the Research Paper

To understand our world! that statement packs quite the load believe me I know. 7 billion people, hundreds of political opinions, thousands of religions, and a countless number of fascinating facts and 'tid' bits of knowledge. With all that In mind how in Gods green earth can we possibly understand all of it!? My brain is seizing up just thinking about it. But wait! before you join me in the endless void of intellectual burnout I may have a solution to fix all our problems. Brace yourselves, for what I am about to propose has been called crazy, purely mental even! One word...Research.

In todays world I like to call a "well oiled machine of instant information uploads" we assume if it doesn't appear on the first page of Google or that "dude" down the street who you talk to during his daily dog walking's doesn't know that it must not exist. The incredible reality of it all is in this vast world we live in there is so much to learn and ponder. One hour a day exploring a topic that peaks your interest or even simply ten minutes in the morning to peruse your local paper may just blow your mind. Who knows what you'l be asking that trustworthy dog walker tomorrow. Now that your intellectual fire is stoked what do you do with all that stored up information ready to burst? Well, The answer is simple, let it burst!

A brilliant teacher of mine in my small town high school once told me "write for the sake of words and all for those who want to hear them". This statement hit me like a load of bricks and in my amazement engraved itself into my very soul. So, I did just that, I sat down with a mind full of goodies and I thought, thought how can I pull all this together and format it perfectly. Quickly I would find the information would slip away and the desire to write it would fade into the void. Now I realize, I was doing it wrong. In school most of us were taught to think before we pick up the pens but what if we tried letting the words lead us instead of leading the words? Let the thoughts write themselves. Fast-writing, as its commonly called and weirdly enough it works! Just write for the sake of the words. So all this sounds great on print right? but fear of the mere enormity of the task probably has you quivering? Asking how formal should this be? should it sound dry? should I have opinions in my essay? the answer to all of these is fear not! and let it be you! Unless your reading this as a Harvard grad in Law you don't have to sound like a Harvard grad. Most of us, by far the majority really, are just average Joes. College majors maybe or just everyday workers with bright ideas and the drive to learn. The fact of the matter is that's okay. Be yourself and let the words flow. They will show your readers all they need to know. If your opinionated give us your opinions on the truck load of information spilling out on paper. After all that's what great conversations start with isn't it? We all can be intellectuals and aspiring scholars. All it takes is the passion for understanding the world around us and the courage to face the fiery fear of the research paper.

Explore on!