Term papers constitute an important aspect of a student's career. Rather than treating it as a dry document consisting of merely information, you should concentrate on making it creative, imaginative, interesting and a pleasure to read. To do this, and more, you need to consider a few things before actually beginning the task of writing it down.
First of all, if you haven't already received a specific topic assignment from your instructor, decide upon the topic. While making this decision, consider its relevance, currency, and interest, and also whether you will be able to research it easily. Study and analyze the topic carefully to decide whether the aim of the term paper is to present a report, or review a topic. In some cases the term paper can also be an oral presentation. Analyzing this is important, because, based on the aim, you will need to ensure that you don't end up making any claims that you cannot support with facts and data.
Once you are at home with the topic, concentrate on the next important aspect, which is to decide how much information you actually require. Both too little and too much information will become a problem. Suppose while writing the term paper you realize that your information is not enough, and you also have to meet a deadline. This will create a problem for you because last minute work can ruin your assignment. If you have too much information, you will have the additional task of winnowing it down to your requirement. The point here is that the information researched should definitely be more than you require, but not so much time that it detracts from your ability to complete the paper.
Once your material is in place, create an outline by working out the paragraphs you wish to include and also the points you want to specify in them. At this point you can begin writing your term paper, but before submitting, go through it carefully and edit the work for punctuation and grammar, and style.