Paper writing help

As hard as it may seem, the first thing you need to do is quit searching the web. Stop googling ‘help me write a paper’ and pick up your pen. You’re going to write!

“Help me write my paper” – stop and write!

It’s a misconception that students have all the time, but you don’t have to write perfectly to start with! It’s likely that you’ve read finished essays and thought “wow” but around half of your time on the paper will actually be spent tweaking and improving it. Don’t worry about sounding great on your first draft, just start writing and get the ideas flowing. Quality comes later.

By freewriting with no structure or worries, you will actually start a dialogue with yourself and begin to figure out how you’re going to approach the paper. Remember: ideas first, tweak after.

Start earlier

This might be too late for some people reading this (but we can help with that too), but you should always start writing way in advance of your deadline. If you only have one day left to write a ten-page essay, you won’t have time to process everything.

“I need help writing a paper” – feeling stuck

Even if you’ve taken this approach, sometimes you still might feel stuck – this is quite common, don’t worry. Even professional authors go through writer’s block from time to time.

If you’ve been writing on a computer screen, swap to handwriting for a while. Choose a nice pen, somewhere comfortable to write and the change of place might just get the ideas flowing.

Another solution to feeling stuck is to stop working for a while. While this might sound counter-productive, it can actually help to clear your mind. So, instead of staring at your screen or paper, take the dog for a walk, go outside in the fresh air, or have a coffee. Even a five-minute chat with a friend will be enough.

Whenever you feel stuck, you should also draw on the help of others. Just by talking to a family member or friend about your paper might help to clarify something in your mind or the person might say something you’ve not thought of that really helps!

Remember that getting “unstuck” will take some patience, and hopefully you’ve started your paper in enough time to have breaks from writing. Sometimes it will take lots of time to get your thoughts and ideas ready.

Lacking motivation? Try these tips

1. Break your paper down into small, manageable chunks. When you’ve done this, schedule a time when you’re going to address each one. This will make it feel less overwhelming and more manageable. You’ll also be able to tick them off your to-do list as you go!
2. Try the Pomodoro technique. This technique, the Italian word for ‘tomato’, means that you work for 25 minutes then have a five-minute break, work 25 minutes, break for 5, etc. When you’ve done four lots of 25 minutes, you can take a twenty-minute break.
3. Look after your health. Working all night on a paper will do more harm than good. Recognize that you’ll perform better after a decent amount of sleep. Two hours of writing after eight hours of sleep will produce a much better paper than eight hours of writing after two hours of sleep!