Frequently Asked Question # 3: Where do I begin with writing?

Putting pen to paper for the first time (or fingertips to keyboard or screen, whatever floats your technological boat!) is both a daunting and exciting moment because it marks the moment that your argument becomes real and more than just a collection of words or disembodied thoughts in your head.

However, beginning is not necessarily a simple matter, particularly if you are a linear thinker and assume that you have to begin...at the beginning.

While there is nothing wrong with beginning at the beginning, it is important to remember that there is no rule that says you have to do so. Begin where you feel most comfortable, whether that be at the beginning, in the middle, with a specific point or reference, or at the end with your overall concluding thought. The simple truth of the matter is that all of these sections will probably move around anyway through the process of editing and re-drafting so it doesn't matter so much if you begin somewhere different.

Beginning somewhere other than the beginning can also help with motivation. If you don't feel like you are making any progress with an assignment simply because you are struggling with the introductory section, then your motivation to write more and belief that you can complete the assignment in time or correctly, declines. If you are able to see something on a page which you are even only partly convinced or satisfied with however, you have some sense of accomplishment and of being somewhat succesful which can be a major boost to energy levels.

This sense of accomplishment is then connnected to another mental barrier which I have observed many students encountering, that being the mental barrier thrown up by word limits. Myself I have never had the problem of too few words (you might be able to tell that from the amount I ramble on), but I have had it asked of me in sessions "how am I supposed to write 2000/2500/3000/5000 words (the up side of this is that once you have written a load of 2500/3000 word essays, 10,000/15,000 words for a research project seems pathetically small, but that comes later!). Having some arbitrary nu

mber lurking about your head can really cloud the thinking process when you have nothing on the page to show for hours and so again we return to the point of just write something, anything, even if it is the most obvious observation on your question or topic, a point which a tutor or colleague made which you thought was useful, write it down, make some observations no matter how ridiculous, just to take some of the pressure of having nothing written, off of your head and you might find that once you have started, a natural flow seems to establish itself.

Another mode of overcoming the mental obstruction caused by a word limit is to not attempt to write the essay as a whole, but rather as several smaller essays or paragraphs which then you stitch together. Just focus on one task at a time, one point, one section and ignore the rest. Again, it is about easing the pressure on your mind and this can be further helped by time management techniques.

Finally, writers block is very much a thing (despite what some people would have you believe). It is completely possible for the words just, not to come (particularly if you have multiple deadlines and other assignments rattling around your head) and it is important to recognise this and just, step away. Go and do something else, a different assignment if you feel like it (again, the art of meeting multiple deadlines goes hand in hand with good time managment), but if not that, then something else you enjoy, an activity or hobby. You are a human, not a computer, never forget that.

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