If you are a high school, college or university student, chances are high that you may face challenges of essay writing. They differ from one student to another, but often they are more or less the same. Essay writing can be a tedious and complicated task, especially for those who have little experience and skills in it. Probably every student has faced this in life: you take a pen and a piece of paper, look at that blank sheet, and freeze in the not-knowing what to do next. At some point, you simply do not know how to start writing and may search for writing companies to order essays. In other cases, you may lack ideas and creativity concerning how to move on with it. Both of these troubles may signify some kind of a writer’s block. Thus, if you are stuck with your essay writing or have some problems developing the topic, try to seek professional help and guidance with it.
Writers of different academic levels can face a variety of problems, so check out some of them:
- no idea how to start the paper;
- lack of strong and catchy arguments;
- excessive usage of clichés;
- inability to establish relevant and appropriate writing tone;
- the fear of failure;
- mistakes in formatting quotations and citations;
- problems in time management throughout the whole process.
Some of the basic causes of writing difficulties are as follows:
Fear of Getting a Poor Grade
When a student focuses on the end result, it may be particularly hard to concentrate on the process. If you bother too much about your essay grading or any other rewards you may get, you may miss a lot in the process. That is exactly the point that makes your writing complicated and tough. On the contrary, if you focus on the process, you will be more likely to derive pleasure from it and get more fun from writing.
Inability to Concentrate
It is hard to handle one assignment if you have plenty of others to cope with simultaneously. If you have numerous assignments, try to write down a plan of what you have to do and prioritize the tasks accordingly. When it comes to outside distractors, try to eliminate them: switch off your phone, stop listening to music or podcasts while writing, block social media on your gadgets, etc.
Difficulties in Writing a Thesis Statement
This is a common problem for students of different academic levels: when they cannot formulate a strong and clear thesis statement. It is essential to have it in any essay type. Besides, it should be understandable and appealing to the audience. If you have no idea how to write it, check out some tips online or try to find a few samples or templates.
Insufficient Writing Skills
Although some students do not worry about encountering a writer’s block or lacking creativity or ideas for producing a worthy piece of writing. Yet, if they lack fluency in writing and proficiency in language, their essay will hardly be impressive. Poor papers stem from using improper language, illogical structures, misplaced modifiers and phrases, as well as spelling and punctuation mistakes. Sometimes, a student’s strong urge to impress the professor and use flowery and sophisticated language may also result in poor grades.
Awkward Sentence Structures
This fallacy usually concerns lack of coherence and clarity in the ways of expressing ideas. Keep in mind that the sentences and paragraphs should be logical, readable and clear. Your target audience should understand the main idea of what you write about. Also, the arguments and supporting evidence you provide should relate to the topic.
Plagiarism
The content should be original and written from scratch. Still, presenting authentic ideas is not enough – you need to properly cite ideas that you have extracted from the outside sources. When cited improperly, the ideas taken even from peer-reviewed sources may be regarded as plagiarism. So, pay attention to formatting and citation academic standards.
Paraphrasing the Introduction into Conclusion
There is a common misconception that a conclusion is really easy to write – all you have to do is paraphrase ideas from the introduction. However, it is a mistake. You only need to reiterate the thesis statement and further focus the conclusion on summarizing the key ideas expressed in the whole paper. Try to come up with a closing idea, a call to action or some food for thought depending on the type of essay.
What to Do if You Face Difficulties with Your Essay?
If you have read the above mentioned information and then got the feeling that those facts are about you, why not search for some tips on how to solve the problem?
Check out what you need to do if you your essay becomes a challenge:
- Read a lot in your free time. When reading literary works of different genres, you can enrich your vocabulary and improve the way you express your ideas.
- Ask for opinions from other people: share your work with your friends or classmates for reviewing. They may provide you with some valuable feedback.
- Practice writing. No wonder that practice makes perfect. It really does. So, write drafts, essays, and give yourself the right to make mistakes and improve.
- Get rid of distractors, such as phones, gadgets, and social networks. Try to maintain focus only on writing when you are working on your paper.
- Provide gratification for yourself. Promise yourself something rewarding and enjoyable after you complete the assignment. It can be a walk with friends, a movie or an episode of your favorite series, etc.
Conclusion
So, the above-mentioned points are the most frequent problems encountered by students of different academic levels. Before starting your assignment, keep in mind that academic essay writing is not some natural ability that students have. Thus, give yourself enough time to practice, make mistakes, and improve. In case you are stuck in the process, do not hesitate to seek professional guidance and custom writing assistance. Keep in mind that the best way not to make mistakes is not to be afraid of them or avoid them but to notice them and correct afterwards.
