Formulate a general topic that interests you. This is very important. You will be spending many hours reading and writing about this topic and it will be much more do-able (even enjoyable) if you choose something in which you are genuinely interested.
Look at reference sources that will provide you with some background on your topic. When you do this, you gain just enough knowledge to think about your topic in more depth. Some good places to start are specialized reference books and encyclopedias. Avoid the general encyclopedias used by younger students and ask a librarian for help finding specialized reference sources for your discipline. Use these to familiarize yourself with background information so you know how to move forward with the more specialized research.
Narrow your topic to a specific research question. Ask yourself, what exactly do I want to know about this topic? For example, if your topic is green energy, are you interested in how individuals can reduce global warming, how nations can, what steps people can take, or what laws should be passed? And what about the history of the problem?
Find out what other researchers have already learned about this topic. You do this by looking at published scholarly research. Even if your topic is unique, it is still part of a larger conversation about an issue and you need to be familiar with the issue in order to offer a solution to a problem or an answer to your question(s). Ask a librarian for help if you do not know how to find scholarly articles published in peer-reviewed journals on your topic.
Look over your research. Does it answer your question? Does it enable you to write a thesis statement? Where are the gaps in your research? What type of research do you still need to find? Address these questions and go back to finding more research if you still need it.
Begin to write your paper. You will be doing multiple revisions, but with your first draft your job is to clearly state your thesis, introduce and summarize the scholarly conversation about that topic, and explain your own thesis using evidence you have gathered in your research.
Edit your paper and ask for help. Once you have formulated your thesis and have a draft of your paper that includes everything mentioned in the step above, you will want to clean up your writing. Oftentimes the best way to do this is by asking someone else to read your paper and discuss it with you. A colleague or staff member of an on-campus writing center will be especially helpful at this stage.