Hey, students and former students. I have serious issues with writing papers. Getting started actually writing is difficult for me.
It’s not that I don’t have ideas or arguments, or that I lack faith in my writing abilities - honestly, I’m even a titch arrogant about them. But when it comes to actually beginning a paper, I freeze up. I just can’t get started.
Does anyone have similar issues? I’d like to get a handle on it.
I have no problem writing papers, but when I used to be good at writing rap lyrics (like 4-5 years ago) I would always struggle with the first line. So I would use an Unoriginal lyric as my first line. For example “You gotta go through hell to get to heaven” and then I would just build off of it and the rest came easy. Maybe you can use someone elses quote to start a paper? I actually once heard it’s a good strategy (of course depends on the papers context) but if you quote someone relevant to the topic it may spark creative processes. Just my thoughts based on my experiences. Good luck.
I had problems with the opening of papers also…I had to tell myself it doesn’t have to be epic…I don’t need to win everyone over in the first line or paragraph… I don’t know if that’s the issue your having…just sounded kinda similar…
When I had difficulty starting an essay, or whatever I was writing, I would write “I have no idea what to write to begin this essay. I wish I could think of something to immediately capture the reader’s attention, but my mind is blank. Maybe I should write about this, or maybe I should write about that, but, like I said, I cannot think of anything to write.”
Lol I dunno if that’s the best strategy!!! My 7th grade English teacher always said “NIKE!!!” when we wrote essays. She would write “NIKE” at the top of our papers. Because Nike’s slogan was “Just do it” rather than explaining what you’re gonna write about. Just write it!!! That always stuck with me.
@chew
That wouldn’t be the real beginning. I just think the best way to get over writer’s block is start writing.
These are all good perspectives! It’s my method to write a paper straight through, opening to conclusion, and if I can’t see the opening, I can’t get started. I’d just started trying to write other sections that I see more clearly first, but it isn’t working for me.
Just writing something down for the opening might help, even just “this is a paper about wastewater management in Detroit.”
That’s actually excellent. I think I’m going to try this. It’s like brainstorming with yourself, but it takes care of brainstorming and actually starting to write at the same time.
When I was young I would put off easy things until they became more difficult. I’ve heard that’s a common trait among depressives - putting off ordinary things until they loom up as towering threats. It would probably be a lot easier for you if you just made yourself begin writing. It might even be a relief.
100% me right here. My first go round with school, it was enough that I ended up convincing myself I was incapable and dropping out.
I just turned in a paper very late, and this is dumb, but I’m proud of myself for that? Because in the past I would have just decided to give up, but this time I worked hard on it anyway, wrote the best paper I could, and turned it in, even though I had missed the deadline by a significant margin.
I get that this is a terrible story from most people’s perspective, but for me, it was a big step forward.
I can totally relate, and I think you did show character by finishing the paper, even if it was late. Maybe now you can see how much easier it would be not to put the paper off until it was causing you massive stress.
“My first love” there was a time when we had a project for our class and she called me up and I didn’t answer. So I called her right back and she didn’t answer. Well she was calling me because she wanted to know about the project. But she was an evil woman and thought it would be better to play games with me by not answering my call literally 30 seconds later to mess with my head (because that’s what she did) but then we were talking a week later and she’s like “Howd you do on the project” and I’m like “I got a 60 but it’s okay” and she felt really bad and she told me how to do the project correctly and told me to email the professor without fore-notice. So I did and I got 100 and she averaged the 2 grades and I got an 80 for it. That was probably the only nice thing that girl ever did for me… But in the future I should remember that if I mess up really badly on a project or essay or something, then just re-do it and hand it in and say “I know it was due last week, but I re-did the project and this is what I did” and maybe they’ll give you some extra points and if not screw them!!! 
Sometimes I’d get my moms help with writing papers and thank you letters, she’d always have a point of origin you know? I even did a report in highschool on Henry David Thorough or however you spell his name and used the hard report of trying to explain transcendentalism to a high school english teacher. I think you should maybe start from your opinion and fact check from the beginning to end in that order. You can always try a self help writing video on youtube I used to always use self help audio books and I even played them at night while I slept!! Could you imagine?
What would REALLY help is knowing what the paper is about, and how to organize your data from pre to post in an orderly timeline. What is your paper about rhubot?
I listened to a girl in my class tell about how she wrote a 20 page final research paper and her professor failed her, saying it didn’t meet the requirements of the assignment. I almost had a panic attack listening to her, worrying that every paper I had written (I had 4 I was waiting for grades on) was going to be judged similarly and I was going to fail all my classes.
This is a good tip to keep in mind, even if it doesn’t help the grade. It’s important to me to be able to do the assignments correctly, no matter what the grade is.
You most certainly don’t need a 20 page paper for this project do you?? Comon talk to me rhubot.
It actually is about wastewater management in Detroit 
it’s about using rain gardens, wetlands and bioswales to filter stormwater runoff before it hits the Detroit and Rouge rivers. It’s also about how to make a project like that pertinent to citizens of a city that’s facing a lot of other challenges and doesn’t have a lot of money to play around with.
I have the outline and the argument and the research all put together. I just gave a 15 minute talk on it yesterday. But actually writing the paper is difficult for me.
No, it’s really short, six to eight pages. I’m getting ideas about how to start it just by talking to you, actually.
Try speaking out loud as you type the words down perhaps? If you gave a sermon on this stuff just a few days ago you should be able to talk to yourself like you were talking to the class and get it in. I’d talk first, then type-because you communicate very well but getting the report can always be a challenge-I wish you the best. And I love your kitties.
I think that you should extend the time if need be…like if you don’t get in at least three pages tonight…call up the professor and use your diagnosis as your learning disability profit and get an extra 3 or 4 days.