Let me start by admitting that being a student is challenging. There are countless deadlines, assignments, group projects, and more. But that’s just the academic requirements. I haven’t even mentioned that students also have to try to maintain a healthy social life, drink a decent amount of water, exercise, and call home (if you’re not home now).
Yet, as someone who writes for a living now, the academic thing I remember struggling with the most with as a student was writer’s block. This was primarily driven by a lack of motivation. Whenever I had an assigned paper, I could not figure out where to start. Even if it was a topic that I was particularly passionate about. Often times, not being able to get started meant that I had not done enough research or that the research I had done was not relevant enough to get my creativity flowing. This meant that I would often find myself struggling with writer’s block.
“The first step is always the hardest” – Sarah Dessen
What do you do when you’ve been given an essay assignment and have no idea where to begin?
When I had to do an essay, I would often spend way too much time stressing about the vague essay guidelines. Hours later, I still would have nothing to show for it. Afterward, I would hit Google Scholar a number of times. There, I would try keyword after keyword. I would get a preview of an article or a book, but often it wouldn’t be enough. Or worse, it wouldn’t be relevant for the assignment. Finally, I’d find myself wondering what my GPA would be if you forgot about the essay altogether. A common refrain was “C’s get degrees!”
Years later, I found out that there were services out there that exist to empower students to study better, increase their motivation and creativity, and make their lives easier. Never again does a student need to struggle with writer’s block.
What can students do about writer’s block?
The most effective way I found to get an essay started? Talk to a friend and see how they were thinking about it. I always found that when I engaged with my friends on the content or material, my own ideas became more clear. But now more than ever, students don’t always have access to a friend as more students are studying virtually or socially distanced from others. This means that the spark that comes from engaging with other ideas to better form your own is now missing.
Studentshare.org aims to be the spark that gets your brain moving again. We all get stuck, especially when writing essays. But StudentShare offers unique and independent research and essays to get you inspired and motivated. Not only do they have essay writing resources, but they have the largest database of essays written in English. The essay database can not only help you become a better and more creative writer, but it can also help you take your study skills to the next level.
Students have a lot on their plate. Writer’s block shouldn’t be one of them.
