Share your research paper nightmare story

Please share your research paper nightmare story for other NMCC students.

The NMCC students in English 227 did just that.  Read their comments below:



I have not really had any researching nightmares as of yet, but I fully expect to by the end of the semester.

The worst time I can remember having with a research paper was when I had to write about a cultural issue.  It wasn’t finding the information that was difficult, but simply the paper itself.  In some cases, a personal connection with a topic may either hinder or help your ability to write about it.  I came into it thinking, “This was my lifestyle.  I can write about that.”  However, I found it was harder to find the right words—especially when time is against you.

I have had many nightmare stories, even to the point of having nightmares while sleeping.  The most common nightmare is the time it takes me to type a paper and not being able to collect what I  would like to write about off of websites.  I feel that more needs to be taught to students concerning the methods to collect materials off the Internet.

My idea of a research paper nightmare is not being able to pick a thesis.  I started out writing about the Grimm Brothers and how their work related to their personal lives.  I could not think of a thesis that really stood out to me.  I  thought about it for a couple days.  I decided to do some research on Paul Bunyan instead and was able to plan out my whole paper in less than 5 minutes.  When you have reached this point you know you have a good thing going.

Doing a research paper on Japan’s side of World War II. 

The worst paper I had ever written was a topic that was hard to find proof.  Just trying to find sources that backed up my point of view was a nightmare.  Try to pick topics that are proven and have accessible sources to support your thesis. This will only make your life easier. 

The biggest nightmare for me when writing a paper is realizing that I had left out some vital information that would tie the entire paper together and it’s the day that the paper is due so I am quickly going back into the computer having to find that area that I needed to add the information only to realize that the paper wasn’t fully saved so I had to retype the entire paper with only an hour before class starts. 

Using “I” is my nightmare story. I continue to put “I” just out of habit.

Losing a paper the day before it was due and not having a draft printed or saved.  I had to redo it from scratch. Nightmare!

My nightmare research paper would have to be freshman year high school, a whole 5 page paper on the simple machine A Screw.  This paper took lots of information to find uses and history on such a simple device.

Be extra careful when saving your work.  Save often and make sure you save it to a USB thumb drive or to the L drive.  I’ve lost over half a paper because I didn’t save often or saved to the wrong place.


My nightmare story was not giving myself enough time to finish my papers and logically think about them.  Also not having enough research has made my papers sound flaky and unsure of me and I did not get the point across in my paper that I was trying so hard to say.