College Writing: I Can’t Write My Essay What Should I Do?

tips to write an essay

Some students feel so excited when they are assigned an academic paper, while others start to worry. The latter group is young people who can’t stand writing activities due to a variety of reasons. Still, all students, despite their desire, are expected to craft lots of academic assignments in different disciplines during the whole period of study. If you find yourself to be in the second group, and writing a college essay or any other type makes you shaking and feeling desperate, then consider tips on the request “I can’t write my essay, what should I do?”.

Why is Writing So Challenging?

Do not get upset if you find writing too difficult a task, as you are not alone. Many other students can’t stand creating an essay. The following reasons may explain such a tendency:

  • You have more interesting activities in your personal list, for example, checking social networking;
  • You want to finish writing the paper as soon as possible;
  • You are too focused on the grade instead of crafting something really good;
  • You are trying to write a paper that your teacher will surely like.

All in all, the major reason why writing an academic assignment is so hard is the person’s focus on external rewards that include the tutor’s approval, a high grade, etc. As a result, writing becomes not a way to develop available skills, find out something interesting and efficient, but a real challenge. 

This is explained easily. Thinking only about external praise, you are closing the subconscious part that is responsible for creativity. In other words, you are trying to do your best to write stunning sentences and instead come up with messy content. 

All you need to do to overcome these difficulties is to stop. Stop trying to be a great writer to get a high grade or impress your teacher. Start from yourself. Of course, if the teacher wants you to create a 5-paragraph essay, then you must do it. But apart from that, there is a lot of space for your imagination to work out great ideas. Just learn how you can do it.

Tips to Cope with Difficulties While Writing a Paper

Are you ready to overcome the challenge of “I can’t write my essay what should I do?”. Remember these tips, and have fun while preparing an essay. Believe that after changing your personal approach, the results will be fantastic.

Take essay just as one more story

You probably have noticed that all stories are about change and conflict. Actually, essays are not an exception as well. The only thing that you should mind is that essays reveal the conflict between various ideas, and the change means that we need to perceive suggested ideas in another way. In simpler words, the greatest essays are about surprises, so you should start taking advantage of this fact.

Wonder How You May Have Fun

It is common even for professional writers to feel exhausted and lack motivation and inspiration. It is especially ordinary when the person has to write on request. Still, there is a great trick. You can awaken your subconscious by answering something like “How can I have fun while writing this essay”. You will hardly believe, but the subconscious will give you a few strategies to consider for achieving the purpose.

Initiate Having Surprises

A common temptation for most students is to write an essay that their tutor will like. You’d better avoid this trap. It’s necessary to understand what you find the most interesting about the definite issue. What may surprise you? If no ideas come to your mind, that means you are performing bad research. The reason is simple. Science, history, literature, and other fields come up with millions of surprises. While researching the topic of your essay, you should start exactly with finding a surprise. It is not recommended to write the paper until you are not lucky to find a relevant surprise.

Craft 5 Original Sentences

Actually, a traditional 3-point essay contains only 5 original sentences. The rest are just surrounding them, giving arguments. If you are stuck with writing, then create 5 sentences. For instance:

  1. Thesis: Writing an essay may be quite an enjoyable activity even though many students consider it to be boring and time-consuming.
  2. Body 1: Some young people find essay writing tedious due to the wrong focus on outside awards.
  3. Body 2: Students need to prioritize internal fulfillment while crafting an essay.
  4. Body 3: Having the right focus, let young people have fun.
  5. Conclusion: Preparing an essay must not aim only to get a good grade but to have a nice time as well.

Once you have these 5 sentences, it would be easier for you to fill the paragraphs with relevant information that must always back the readers to these key sentences.

Consider “Source Heavy” Technique

Being a really powerful trick, it may not be efficient with some tutors, so you should use it wisely and with caution. “Source heavy” technique means you need to include quotes from the original work, but of course, after paraphrasing. It will help you get rid of the constant feeling that you can say better and stop looking for proper words.

Follow the “Body-Introduction-Conclusion” Formula

It is well-known that writing a catchy introduction is the hardest thing about the entire crafting process. Give yourself some space, and write the body first. It would help you understand the main essay focus and the way how you should present it to the readers. The conclusion goes last and aims to sum up all mentioned thoughts and ideas.

Make Your Essay to Answer the Question “How?”

If you look at the students’ essays, you will understand that most of them are tending to answer the question “What?”. Another group of academic works is answering the “Why” question. If you want to do your best, then you should focus your work on the “How”-question. For instance:

How did the world manage to cover after WWII?

With such an approach, you will always have what to write about.

Don’t Worry About Jumping Around

Writing an essay may be similar to dancing. It is not necessary to remain in one place constantly. Move and look around. Change arguments and back to edit-ready content. Here only your rules matter. That’s why make sure that the written lines are relevant to your inner thoughts.  

Avoid Certain Phrases and Words

There are some words that it is better to avoid while writing an essay. The first one is “You”. Traditionally, the second person is not welcomed. Among others are things, some,‘’ to be ” verbs, as well as cliches. Even though some tutors do not want the students to use “I”, the personal pronoun is recognized as an irreplaceable element of academic papers. It is widely used in introductions. For example, I believe…

Using Wikipedia is not a Shame

Most teachers and professors do not take Wikipedia as a valid source of information. However, being one of the five top websites worldwide, it can be useful for your essay. This is how you can take advantage of Wikipedia:

  • In case you have a topic that you know nothing about, you can check Wikipedia for some background information. It will help you get an overall idea of the subject and determine the direction to move on further. Such an approach is a great starting point.
  • Perhaps you know, every Wikipedia article has a reference section at the very end. You can use it to find relevant sources to mention in your essay. Then you are allowed to take them as a source of links or just learn more on a definite issue.

Final Thoughts

The main mistake of most students is that they find writing an essay a must, rather than try to look at it from another angle. If you sit still and tell yourself, “Yes, I want to do it because it is so beneficial for me in many ways, and I definitely can have fun,” the overall process would not be so difficult.

Actually, education comes with so many opportunities, but most students do not see them. It is a real gift instead of the worst challenge. It is highly recommended to start using them without waiting for when this life stage will end. So the answer to your primary question, “I can’t write my essay what should I do?” is simple: change the angle of view and have fun while writing the paper. 

Also, consider the above-mentioned tips and practice as much as possible. Soon you will see the first positive results. If this strategy will not work out exactly for you due to some reason, or you have not enough time, then consider getting in touch with a professional writing company and receive a quick academic solution easily.