Even when my notes are more about one or two specific ideas, the process of copying them and developing them into complete sentences helps me think of ideas for introducing those ideas and for developing subsequent parts of the essay.
The third obstacle that I have identified is the difference between writer's block that has to do with my writing process and writer's block that is less about my writing and more about trying to write before devoting time to thinking about the assignment first. Like everyone else, I also find some subjects are interesting to me while others are not because they are assigned courses. This was much more true before college, when all my courses were assigned, but it also applies to writing assignments in assigned college courses.
I have learned that it is important for me to spend time thinking about the subject matter without worrying about the writing assignment. Naturally, this is easier when the subject is something interesting to me, especially if I have already thought about the material even before it came up in an academic setting. In terms of my writing process, this is even more important when the subject matter is not particularly interesting to me. In those cases, I have learned that it is important to read the relevant material first, also without thinking about the writing portion of the assignment. Whether writing...
Before I recognized them for what they are, I had come to believe that I was incapable of writing. This completely undermined any confidence and resulted in my belief that I could not improve my essay writing abilities.
I am still in the process of developing a consistent essay writing process, but I believe that I have overcome significant obstacles in that regard. First, instead of trying to force myself to write on a schedule, I try to catch the mood when t hits by jotting my thoughts down on paper whenever they occur to me. Second, I use my collected notes to form the basis of an outline instead of trying to free-write a complete essay from start to finish. Finally, I purposely devote time to thinking about the subject matter of writing assignments without worrying about the writing, long before I put pen to paper. This course has been the main motivation for thinking about my writing as a process instead of as a chore that I dread having to complete.
