Writing is an integral part of a student’s life and there are many students who in fact hate writing texts at all. But, there is simply no escape from it. You have to write notes, exams, and yes, essays.
Essays are quite a crucial part of college life. You are writing essays all the time when in college. All is good if you like writing them but there is always a group of students who simply hate this process. So, do you need to suffer from low grades if you are one of this group?
Why do students hate writing essays?
Well, if we were to conduct a survey and ask students to list down the reasons why they loathe essays, the most common answer would be that it is really boring or some would say, writing essays eat up all their free time.Â
Few might even cite the research work that needs to be taken up to write an essay as a reason for their dislike and few might find the entire process of essay writing futile and worthless.
We have to agree that many students are not particularly enjoying essay writing. Based on various surveys, the above-mentioned reasons are the most common.
Additionally, the students have a round the clock schedule which includes other subjects and the added burden of writing essays seems daunting to them.
They need to catch up with many subjects, finish their homework, and prepare for exams. All these, essays included, leave no time for socializing.
Also, students feel that the essays that they are asked to write are just for grades and have no relevance in the real world.
The essays submitted are graded and stored away in the files, not to be seen ever. Why spend time and resources?
What to do about it?
As a student
Well, writing can be tedious for students and the reasoning for not being willing to write an essay or instead buying it may be valid but as students, taking shortcuts every time something seems difficult and tedious is not a good life lesson.
Avoiding the task of finding a shortcut cannot be done every time, similarly, writing essays too.
Here are a few tips to help you write essays and make the process less painful and tedious.
- Write how you talk
It is not necessary to always use formal language in your writing. The best way to make the writing task easier is to write how you talk (no swearing and rude words, please).
Try your first draft to be simple and casual. Let the words simply flow. Once the first draft is done, go back and get the essay clean and maybe include the words that will make your essay look smart and college-y.
- First draft on paper
Using a pen and paper helps in jotting down your thoughts and allow words to flow. Also, thoughts are more definite rather than when typing on a computer. You tend to delete and rewrite more often when using a computer, which doesn’t happen much when using paper.
Of course it’s not for everyone as the majority of students are probably now too used to technologies over paper, but you can try.
- Planning is the key
Having a plan ready can make the daunting task of writing an essay a little easier. When you have an outline, you know where to start and where to go from each step you have completed. You can alter the plan if needed, as you go.
Many essay services offer planning an essay for you. They make a research and prepare an outline for you, and you do the rest, which is much easier when you have a plan.
So, basically, you don’t get an essay for sale, you get a base for creating your own work. It may be useful for those who don’t know how to plan and outline.
- Go as you like
There is no definite rule in the essay rulebook on how to write an essay. You don’t have to start at the beginning. You can write the body first, move to the introduction and come to a conclusion last. Do it at your pace and at your liking.
- Create deadlines
Students are the greatest procrastinators. They keep putting off the essay writing until the very last minute. To overcome this, you can create a false deadline, set a date prior to the actual submission date.
This will help you start in advance and finish on time. Also, you will get additional time to revise and edit your essays and also, make any changes if needed.
As a teacher
It is understood that some students hate writing, creative writing, paragraph writing, formal and informal writing, essay writing, well, in general, any writing.
And we have also understood their reasons for the aversion to writing but what can be done to change that on the teacher side?
For starters, teachers need to train children to write from a young age. Writing essays is not all about grading and marks but about teaching students to communicate and improve their confidence through writing.
Also, writing essays help them in voicing out their opinions and putting forth their suggestions and ideas that cannot be otherwise presented vocally by many. Teachers need to educate students about the importance of writing versus just completing the task.
Once students understand why they are made to write essays, they may take an actual interest in writing and exercising it would also not seem daunting.
Teachers should make the task more fun and enjoyable for students by letting them chose their own topics and use language that is not too formal or difficult for them.
Forcing students to write essays puts them off writing forever, which is not a good thing. Writing is often required later in life, at post-graduation level and in work, too.
Project reports, presentations and such are asked from an employee and if a person detests writing, he or she will not be able to perform nicely in the work scenario.
All in all, writing is not for everybody, some people don’t enjoy it at all. However, if you are one of those people, you may learn to make this process more bearable by being good at it.
If you know very well how to outline, how to conduct a research, how to support your points with arguments and how to make a reference list, the writing process will take less time and effort and maybe you will even enjoy it at the end.