Everyone deals with the fear of some kind. A lot of students fear assignments and exams. And unfortunately, there’s no way to avoid them if you don’t want your grades to suffer. Indeed, essay writing gives many students quite a few sleepless nights.
A lot of students don’t even realize that they have a fear of essay writing. Think about it. When you are given an essay to write, do you feel depressed? Do you spend a lot of time dreading about writing? If yes, you have a fear, and you need to do something about it.
For a lot of students, essay writing is a burden. They view it as something incredibly hard and challenging. However, they fail to realize how vital this writing skill will prove to be for the rest of their lives.
Not everyone with a fear of essay writing is bad at it. Indeed, a lot of scholars too break into a sweat when they realize they have to write a paper. This fear can become so severe that it compromises productivity.
The thing is, you cannot avoid writing forever. This skill will play a pivotal role in every walk of your life. But how to overcome this fear?
Overcoming The Fear Of Writing: What You Must Know
The first step to overcoming any fear is acknowledging its existence, and essay writing is no exception. You have to accept that you dread essay writing, which triggers anxiety. Indeed, for a lot of people, even this admission can be enough to manage the fear. For others, a bit of more effort has to be put into it.
An excellent way to overcome your fear of essay writing is practice. Don’t only write when you are given an assignment. Instead, write regularly. Give yourself some time to develop an interest in the topic. Write as much as you can, especially when you are in a good mood.
Don’t associate essay writing with merely homework. You shouldn’t be writing only for your teacher or tutor. Instead, write to understand the topic in a better way.
Believe In Your Ability
If you don’t believe you can do something, you will others trust your abilities. As cliché as it might sound, it’s actually a reality. If you want to overcome your fear, you have to instil confidence within yourself. If you believe you can create a well-written paper, nothing will be able to stop you.
You are in charge of your emotions. Hence, you have the power to influence the type of emotions that take over your mind. Whenever you realize that the fear is paralyzing you, engross yourself in something that brings satisfaction. Associate writing with positive memories, and soon enough, you will seize dreading it.
Find Out The Cause
If you don’t reach the root of the matter, you will never be able to put an end to it. Every fear has a deep-rooted cause that you have to unearth. If you want to overcome your essay writing fear, you have to find out what caused it.
Perhaps one of your previous essays got a poor grade. Maybe you were scolded by your teacher for your paper. Coming to terms with what happened will make it easier for you to get past it.
Use Relaxing Techniques
A lot of factors might be contributing to your essay writing fear. You must give yourself some time to relax. Break the pattern.
Also Read More: How to write a thesis for a speech
For one thing, make sure that you have enough time to complete the work. And when it’s time to write the essay, don’t adhere to your regular routine. Instead, retreat to a quiet and secluded area to give yourself some time to relax. Once you are at ease, you can start working on the paper.
Get On With It
Don’t let the fear prevent you from doing anything. It’s alright if you feel intimidated with essay writing. You still have to tackle the paper. Don’t let the fear stop you from going ahead. Instead, manifest confidence and believe in yourself.
You might have noticed that your body gets used to a particular routine. If this routine is broken, your body feels the difference and enters the defense mode. Fear is part of this defense mechanism. If you focus on putting your mind at ease before essay writing, you will be able to handle it much more efficiently. A systematic approach might take some of the burden off your shoulders.
- Start by understanding the essay question. You should have a clear idea about the topic. Usually, you will find the answer in the essay prompt. You can then determine what kind of research sources will give you the required material.
- Once you have collected the material and completed your research, you can start writing a thesis statement. Keep in mind that the thesis statement should be concise and lead the way in your argument.
- It’s now time to create an outline. This outline will help you build the overall structure for your essay. You will get time to organize your ideas and think about what you want to write. If you prepare an outline, you will find it much easier to organize your paper. You can use the overview to elaborate on the crucial points.
- Instead of writing the essay on your first try, create a rough draft first. This will help you articulate your thoughts better. Gather evidence to back all your claims in this outline, and don’t forget about citation. Once your draft is ready, polish your work and look for spelling and grammatical errors that have to be corrected.
- Finally, always leave time for proofreading. You have to read your essay multiple times to make sure you haven’t missed out on anything.
Give Yourself Time To Tackle The Fear
One of the major reasons that students don’t manage to overcome their writing fear is that they don’t give themselves enough time to address the issue.
Don’t leave things until the last possible minute. Make sure you have enough time to complete your work and avoid overburdening yourself.
