Essay Writing Troubles
Smart Way Outs When You Hate Writing Essays
I have a friend who hated writing essays in his freshman and junior years of university life… To tell you the truth, he had huge academic problems, as written compositions comprised a significant part of the studying process. He frequently told me that High School was completely different, as essays were more opinion-based and you could demonstrate your creative thinking instead of lengthy tedious investigations of scholarly publications. He also liked the way he could express himself during seminars. The boy was allowed to talk during lessons, sharing his ideas with his classmates and teachers. However, university seemed to take it all. You have to visit lectures, silently comprehend information, and the rest of your learning is about independent research. Indeed, as a college or university student, it is logical that you should be more independent, but why does everything reduce itself to INCESSANT ESSAY WRITING?!
Warning: Linguaphiles Will not Understand You
I was listening to the complaints of my young acquaintance, struggling with contrasting emotions… It was awkward that he was about to reject a wonderful opportunity of studying at one of the most prospective international universities merely because of essay writing. However, as a striving author myself, I knew how difficult it may be to find your perfect Muse or to catch at least a miraculous feather of an invisible pencraft phoenix, a whimsical bird of inspiration. That’s my sly comparison to evoke eloquent flow of thoughts in your struggling-to-write mind. Even those desperate linguaphiles who claim that writing of any kind is the love of their life immerse in little lies, as they also have writer’s blocks from time to time.
I was listening to my friends’ complaints about essay writing attentively, and tried to give him reasonable advice. I do hope he will stay in his university and will continue writing essays more successfully owing to the following tips. If your situation is similar, read them carefully as well!
Fake it Until You Make It
Even if you are dealing with the most boring topic in the world, try to pretend that it is engaging, captivating, and of utmost interest to you. Fake the state of being inspired in the process of writing. Show engagement and dedication as if you are an author discovering a new thrilling realm. You can even imagine a positive reception of your written work by your audience.
Do it To the End Even if You Have Doubts
It is always better to write at least something instead of postponing the essay until the last minute when completing it is practically impossible because the deadline never waits. Confess, procrastination is a vicious frenemy that looks like searching for inspiration only at its initial stage of “sweet relaxation”. The main advice for writing haters sounds like a paradox: simply stop hating it, treat it easily, not like it’s a burden. Yes, writing essays is a usual duty, but think how diverse it is because topics for research papers constantly change. Perceive it as an intellectual challenge each time. The main advantage is gaining new knowledge and becoming more erudite in the process of writing. Yet, not every time your Muse comes and writes all the paragraphs diligently. Thus, do your best to get rid of the procrastination beast.
Write Regularly, Even When It is Your Diary
Yes, you probably hate this advice, as you evidently hate writing. Just evaluate this situation in terms of professionalism. For instance, a professional athlete does not procrastinate and trains on a regular basis. Sometimes, sportsmen use a motto “Hurt or succeed”. As hard as it sounds, it actually works if you start putting at least some effort. Write small chunks of texts daily, experiment with vocabulary, train your eloquence and critical thinking. Insignificant imaginative writing will create a habit of expressing yourself in a written form. It will surely prepare you for subsequent academic compositions.
Reading is not Outdated Even in the Digital Age. Absorb Books Delightfully!
It has been an old truth - a decent reader is a decent writer. Stephen King repeats all the time that reading is quintessential. Constant reading will bring you an amazing bonus - you will start hating writing less! As for me, it still matters what you read, although some people think differently. I suggest that you learn from the greatest classical authors at first, and then… read silly pulp fiction. :) I am kidding here. The funny fact is that you will unlikely want to read ridiculous amateur literature after you get acquainted with the wittiest ouvres of world writers. Anyway, I do not intend to say that classic literature is devoid of boring works, especially for a modern reader. Besides books, you can immerse in well-written blog posts and mass media articles of famous periodicals. Reading will enrich your vocabulary and show you separate dimensions of linguistics you have not encountered before.
Do Not Imitate Others
You already heard the advice: use your own voice. However, it is challenging not to indulge in imitation when you are not experienced in expressing your own opinions. Anyway, I think that it is useful to remember the following tip: initially, write for yourself, and then for someone else. Indeed, your project has to be handed in to your professor, and you do your best to please your strict mentor. Thus, you create a composition aimed to satisfy certain academic demands along with your teacher’s perception. I will disappoint you. Your professor expects to see Your original opinion. He will be pleased only if he sees that you have a unique viewpoint and critical arguments related to it. Creative writing is especially focused on brainstorming and generation of individual ideas. One more beneficial practice would be to record your insights on your phone, and then listen to them and write every essential idea down.
Write Whenever You Feel the Urge to Express Yourself
Yes, this advice is about the state of being inspired. Apparently, you are not inspired every day. Yet, sometimes, your thoughts flow much better, they are compelling and appropriate. whenever you have the inspiration to express yourself, jot your thoughts down in the stream of consciousness mode. If you rarely get such a feeling “Oh I want to write down this idea!”, you should not worry about it. Then, the advice should be transformed a little bit: search for your inspiration in the most favorable nooks for creative activities. More extroverted individuals tend to be more productive among people, so they choose cafes, parks, public libraries to work and create. Others, of more introverted type, prefer secluded places, such as beautiful private rooms with doors closed or crowdless sections of more cozy and small libraries.
Make a List of Brain-stimulating Songs
Some people are excessive music lovers and it seems that they cannot produce a meaningful word without listening to their favorite songs in the process of writing. If you never tried writing an essay or even a poem while listening to the encouraging music, try it! What if it was the only riddle you needed to guess to start writing with pleasure! However, do not give up too early if music and writing seem not to work for you. Try listening to different music genres, from classical music to rock and modern incarnations of electronic music. Also, write when listening to songs with lyrics as well as instrumentals. It is likely you will find your best music to instigate the creative process. Even if you think you write better in silence, you still are surrounded with various natural and artificial sounds, but you just do not notice them. Thus, alternatively, you can download audio tracks with sounds of birds, rain, cracking woods in the fireplace, floating sea waves, etc.
Master it or Leave it, but Better Work with Tutor
This final advice is the most risky one, but the truth is – not everyone can become a good writer. Of course, if you plan to graduate from the chosen college or university, this advice is not for you at all. Essay writing is an integral part of your educational development and you cannot skip it just because you hate it. Hence, if all the above-mentioned recommendations do not work with you after you tried to tackle them several times, writing tutorship is the only option. It is perfectly normal to pay a tutor in order to improve your writing skills.
There is always hope that you will start loving writing essays and anything else you can imagine. Perhaps, you just need more time to discover your inner wordsmith.
