In order to write a good essay and to have a good experience writing it, you need to take it one step at a time. The flow chart in Chapter 10: One Writer's Process shows you how to move step-by-step from understanding the assignment to submitting a finished, polished essay.

Those steps are included here in a calendar that you generate by typing in a due date. The calendar will show you exactly what you need to do on each day leading up to the due date.

The calendar only works if you choose NOT to churn out the whole paper the night before (or even worse, the morning of) the due date. Ideally you will have some time-at least a few days--to work on the essay. If you do not have a few days, break down the steps in the calendar into a.m. and p.m. tasks, or set aside the draft-as the calendar suggests you do before you revise--for a few hours rather than an entire day.

You should also realize that sometimes you will go back and forth between steps as you write. Having the steps in front of you will give you a general plan, and as you move through them, you will discover more about your own writing process. Print out a calendar for each of your essays, and adapt them to your own needs as you learn more about them.