Before diving in, it's a good idea to explore background information to place your topic in the context of the broader discipline that you study, reveal useful search terms, and - best of all - stimulate questions that inspire your writing.
Develop & Refine
Important Considerations
The shorter the paper, the more specific the topic.
Is there a specific area within the broader topic that you're curious about or even irked by?
Is there a cause-effect relationship that you're curious about?
Look for unanswered questions.
Are there time periods or groups of people within the discipline that strike a chord for you?
If you think you've got a topic worth writing about, try to explain it informally to a friend. Are there gaps in what you know? Did any questions come up?
Find Materials
Find materials that discuss your topic
Scholarly resources provide verifiable, solid information to inform and support your argument. You'll find these types of resources on the Find Sources page.
Don't forget to grab the citations for the information you've found. It saves time and energy later.
While you're reading, be sure to highlight, copy-and-paste, or otherwise compile the most pertinent information as relates to to your topic. In other words, pull out support material to build your argument. It's probably best to compile all this info in a fresh document because it sets up the next step and makes it easier.
Don't forget to note the sources alongside the points in this document because it saves time and energy during the documentation step (not pictured) later.
Write & Document
Organize the Info You've Found, Your Ideas, What You Think It All Means, & Write!
If you've followed along so far, you should have a sandbox document full of paraphrases and direct quotes. Now it is time to sort those (already cited) facts & quotes into an argument or outline to guide and shape your writing. Sometimes a computer document is too big and messy. If so, try printing out your mess, cutting out the individual points, and spreading them out on a table.
Anyway, once you've arranged these points in a progression that makes sense to you, all that's left to do is to connect the dots with your own words.
Includes not just lists of resources, but discussions of the ways to search within them: how to find the best search terms, how to combine the terms, and how to make the databases (and other sources) show relevant material even when you don't know how to specify the best search terms in advance