Some people were born to write. It just came naturally, and they can do things with words most us can only dream about. You may never be able to write like a gifted writer, but you can become a good writer. Like any other skill, writing takes practice. History classes usually provide plenty of practice. To write a good history paper, answer the question, organize your paper and keep it simple.

There are many kinds of questions in a history class. You may be asked to compare and contrast two events or people. For instance, "Compare and contrast the foreign policy of the Nixon and Bush administrations. There are cause and effect questions which require you to explain how an event started and what the impact of it was later. An example could be, "What caused Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and how did effect the Civil War?". You can be asked to evaluate an historical quote such as; "As not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." What domestic policies did President Kennedy intact that demonstrate the intent of this quote? Of course, there are many more kinds of questions that could be asked.

One of the biggest problems with papers in my classes is that the question was never answered. Even if your paper demonstrates a good deal of knowledge of the topic, if you did not answer the question that was asked you will be scored down. Looking at the previous questions as examples, if you compared the domestic policies of the Nixon and Bush administrations you did not answer the question. Or, if were to only explain the causes for issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation then half of the question is not being answered. In the last example if you gave a summary of President Kennedy's domestic policies but never explained how they related to the quote, the question was not adequately answered. Make sure all aspects of the question have been answered and you should be in pretty good shape. Focusing on the question will also help you organize your paper.

Good organization is vital to a good paper. Do not make the reader work to figure out where ideas are, and what examples go with what points. Start with a clear thesis that makes a statement and outlines the paper. A simple thesis statement could look like this, "The Vietnam War is the most important event in post-WWII United States history because it was the first war the U.S. lost, it divided the country and helped end two presidencies." This simple sentence lets the reader know what the writer believes to be the most important event of the post-WWII era and the three main points that will be used to defend this claim.

From there you just need to explain each of the points you laid out in the thesis. It is much easier to keep information and quotes that belong together this way because you can refer back to the thesis to check yourself. The length of the paper will determine how much detail you need to go into for each point. If you are writing a two to three page paper, one paragraph per main point should be enough. A five or six page paper probably needs two or three paragraphs per main point. The structure can be the same regardless of the length of the paper. To help out further, write an outline before hand so you already know the order of things when you sit down to write the final copy.

Lastly, keep it simple. If you get to determine what the paper is about, choose a specific topic or question to write about. The more specific the topic and narrower the focus the easier the paper will be to write. For instance, it is much easier to write about how television affected people's lives in the 1950s than it is to write about the effects of television.

When you are writing follow the basic concept, less is more. Say what you want to say, clearly and with vocabulary that you are comfortable with. You do not need to have two or more adjectives for each thing you describe. Instead of saying, "Albert Einstein was very extremely intelligent", just say, "Albert Einstein was highly intelligent." Many times when a writer tries to make things seem more important it has the opposite effect. Do not try to make yourself seem more important by using words you are not comfortable with. It is usually pretty easy to see when someone is not using their normal vocabulary. If you make your points clearly, with good examples the extra stuff will not be needed.

Writing a good history paper is not as hard as people often make it out to be. Follow the steps of answering the question, good organization, and keep it simple and your paper should be pretty good.