Trouble writing

[iprocrastinate]

So it's almost the end of year 11, and my English skills are not up to standard... I have no trouble coming up with ideas for essays, I just can't put my thoughts onto paper! I'm just generally a slow person so when it comes to writing the essay I get so muddled up to the point where my writing isn't clear and I go off topic. Has anyone else experienced this?

Help!!

[heids]

So it's almost the end of year 11, and my English skills are not up to standard... I have no trouble coming up with ideas for essays, I just can't put my thoughts onto paper! I'm just generally a slow person so when it comes to writing the essay I get so muddled up to the point where my writing isn't clear and I go off topic. Has anyone else experienced this?

Help!!

Yep, it's pretty tough issue   Be glad though, you honestly do have time, if you're willing to attack the issue head-on

Maybe try this!  Make a dot-point plan like normal; you say you have ideas, so you can put them down in any words even if it sounds stupid.  Then order it, and then make it more and more detailed, by adding in quotes, ideas, etc., until you have one brief dot point for each sentence that you'd write in a final essay.  Because it's a 'dot-point plan', you don't have to stress at ALL about how it's written, if it's written in a grammatical full sentence, or anything.  Then, turn each dot-point into a full, proper, flowing, sophisticated sentence, one at a time.  Don't expect perfection, either.

It's very time-consuming, but after a couple you'll be able to get from a slightly shorter plan (e.g. one dot point per 2 sentences) into a full essay, and so on, until with practice, you'll hopefully be able to write off a normal brief para-by-para plan!

Just doing this will really help you get used to expressing your thoughts without you getting lost, and you can gradually build up confidence. 

(NB Since you can't do this in exam conditions, it won't help you with y11 exams or SACs, but in between, e.g. over the huuugggeee holidays, you really will have time for an occasional bit of practice so you're more prepared come year 12 SACs).

[iprocrastinate]

Yep, it's pretty tough issue   Be glad though, you honestly do have time, if you're willing to attack the issue head-on

Maybe try this!  Make a dot-point plan like normal; you say you have ideas, so you can put them down in any words even if it sounds stupid.  Then order it, and then make it more and more detailed, by adding in quotes, ideas, etc., until you have one brief dot point for each sentence that you'd write in a final essay.  Because it's a 'dot-point plan', you don't have to stress at ALL about how it's written, if it's written in a grammatical full sentence, or anything.  Then, turn each dot-point into a full, proper, flowing, sophisticated sentence, one at a time.  Don't expect perfection, either.

It's very time-consuming, but after a couple you'll be able to get from a slightly shorter plan (e.g. one dot point per 2 sentences) into a full essay, and so on, until with practice, you'll hopefully be able to write off a normal brief para-by-para plan!

Just doing this will really help you get used to expressing your thoughts without you getting lost, and you can gradually build up confidence. 

(NB Since you can't do this in exam conditions, it won't help you with y11 exams or SACs, but in between, e.g. over the huuugggeee holidays, you really will have time for an occasional bit of practice so you're more prepared come year 12 SACs).

Thanks I'll start doing that! How do you manage your time when it comes to exams or sacs?

[Orson]

I've been having the same problem as you...but you're still in year 11, you've got plenty of time! I only started writing proper essays this year...I only understood what VCE English is a few months ago!

Anyway, on Sunday (today is Thursday, SAC day!) I started really studying for my Stasiland SAC.

Sunday: I started with choosing quotes and consolidating my understanding of the characters stories. I chose maybe 30 quotes by going through my study guide, handouts, and the good people's notes from AN.

Monday: I started writing my first full essay. It took me an hour to do my intro, and a few more hours for my body paragraphs and conclusion (I didn't bother timing it because I knew I needed practice to get my fluency up). I proudly placed it neatly on my Teacher's desk for her to mark.

Tuesday: I wait all day to get feedback (6^th period English sesh), I eagerly wait her response. She comes over and gives it back to me with one of those weird critiquing rubriks on it. Not helpful at all...I ask her why she marked it that way. Anyways...she gave me a Medium.

Later that night I wrote another one, this time I timed it. It took me 2 and a half hours to complete.

Wednesday: Rinsed and repeated. She upped my mark to a Medium +. Improving I guess...I wrote another one, taking everything she said into consideration! I didn't have enough time to write a whole essay, so I just wrote an intro and 2 paragraphs, and the plans for my 3rd and 4th.

Thursday: The SACs from outer space: My teacher says there's not enough to mark, but she said that my analysis has improved significantly. I go into my SAC, and I feel that I did pretty well (Gauging from previous results, I'm gonna have to say it's around a High, which is like an 8 (but who knows with English)...

The moral of the story: What I did differently for this SAC compared to my others was frequent writing, and also doing a slightly more detailed plan, so I don't forget stuff. Also, It helps me to write random words that I think I might use later during my SAC, or even a practice. Sorry if that is kinda irrelevant...But, practice is all you need. You've got plenty of time!

-Orson