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TheTrueMayhem
Deinonychus
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17 Mar 2015, 11:42 am

I'm not sure if I'll be any help, but I will say that I relate to your issue.

I'm a writer myself. Not to toot my own horn here, but people say that what I write is quite descriptive and articulate. But the problem for me is that gosh-darn writers' block. And it's not that I don't have any ideas, if anything it's probably the opposite problem in which I can't choose which one I like best! I have writers' block more often than not.

I find that I have barely any motivation to do jack diddly squat when it comes to my priorities, whether I'm lazy or preoccupied with other things, or executive functioning as it's called. Even the things I would like to accomplish seem daunting.

I find that having a specific prompt laid out for me gives me motivation to write. Coming up with my own prompt for my own writing is often what gets me stuck, as it's often too vague or too narrow to work with.

My only advice for your current issue is to understand what they're asking. A main idea? That's something that's broad and more general, and goes in the introduction. And as for the three supporting ideas, they can and should be aspects of the main idea that are relevant. Those would go in the body of the paper. And the conclusion would be a summary of what you just argued. Try and end the paper by relating your argument to a broader, more significant point to really wow them.

Sorry if it seems like I'm not helping all too much, but that's what I got. Out of my own personal experience writing essays, I grew up with a good foundation in my elementary school career as far as what comprises a cohesive paper, so maybe I'm a little biased. But if I can share with you my experience, then I think you'll be better for it.

Let me know how it works out.


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akama101092
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17 Mar 2015, 10:27 pm

I am a creative writing major. I mostly write fanfiction related to stuff I like. Yet that the literature class is so hard because no matter how hard I try to get everything inside my head, I still don't understand anything about it.

Most of my problems are ESL issues, syntax, grammar and more. Nor that I cannot understand metaphors, personification and anything that is too hard to understand when reading literature because I usually just brush the surface, and never really understand the deep meaning of all the stuff. That's why I always flunk my quizzes and essays.

I always fear that my grades would not be satisfied, and since I got an F for plagiarizing (you should say shame on me because this is my fault.) last semester. I keep having fear that I would not pass all of my literature classes without giving more extra effort and some tutoring support and any resources that my university have.



Waterfalls
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17 Mar 2015, 10:57 pm

I don't know that everyone else gets it, some people are good at pretending. Your professor has office hours, and there's probably a writing center, since you're having trouble I think you're best off looking at this as a skill you need help learning. But you're not alone, that's what office hours and writing centers are for. Because a lot of students do need some help.



SilverProteus
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29 Mar 2015, 7:28 pm

Prof_Pretorius wrote:
Perhaps it would be best if you took several courses in grammar and spelling.
Then you could start learning about creative writing.


Creative writing is about content and not form. While it certainly helps to be able to spell properly and have proper grammar, being able to argue a point is not contingent on them.


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physicsnut42
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30 Mar 2015, 5:16 pm

SilverProteus wrote:
Prof_Pretorius wrote:
Perhaps it would be best if you took several courses in grammar and spelling.
Then you could start learning about creative writing.


Creative writing is about content and not form. While it certainly helps to be able to spell properly and have proper grammar, being able to argue a point is not contingent on them.


I agree. That's what editors are for, right?


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