Seriously. It will help. Writing is thinking. If you are really anxious, just stick to getting the essentials down, like the types of assessments in the course and the breakdown of how much they are worth. As you work on this, think about the specific skills and knowledge you wish to measure that are relevant to the course. The sequence of topics for the semester will also be helpful. With core pieces figured out, you can use them to start building the course in Brightspace. If you want a head start on your syllabus, we strongly recommend the USM Syllabus Template which includes the most up-to-date student services and policy boilerplate, along with guidance on writing the course-specific sections of your syllabus.