According to a research study, three out of every five students lack proficiency in writing – a number that cannot be ignored.
If you are also struggling with essay writing, you are not the only student facing this problem. To some students, writing comes very naturally. They have words flowing into sentences and paragraphs into an essay or dissertation.
However, for many students, writing is quite challenging. So, it’s important to understand the reasons why they struggle and fail to put their academic life back on track.
Reasons Why Students Struggle with Essay Writing
Here are the main reasons why students struggle with essay writing:
Reason 1: Lack of a clear understanding of the assignment
One of the main reasons why students struggle to write their essays is misinterpreting the requirements of their assignment. Many students might begin writing before fully understanding what their instructors are asking for.
For instance, they may choose the wrong essay type, like argumentative, expository, descriptive, or narrative. They might ignore the key instructions about length, referencing style, or structure. Moreover, they might miss the central research question or thesis statement. So, due to all these misunderstandings, they end up writing off-topic text in their essays.
Always break down your essay question into smaller parts and make a checklist to stay focused and motivated to write your essay.
What are the types of an essay?
Four types of essays are:
- Argumentative
- Expository
- Descriptive
- Narrative
Reason 2: Poor time management
Poor time management is also a prominent reason why students find it challenging to write their essays. It all happens due to procrastination, which is every student’s enemy. When students delay their writing, they get little time for research, drafting, and revisions.
Consequently, a rushed essay turns out to have weak and broken arguments, grammar and spelling errors, and no time for editing or improving clarity.
So, students must always break down their essay tasks into different stages like research, essay outline, writing, revisions, and set their mini deadlines. It will significantly help them focus on wrapping up their work as quickly as possible.
Reason 3: Have no idea how to conduct research
Students also struggle to write their essays because they have no clue how to conduct research, which is crucial to present strong evidence and construct convincing arguments.
Many students struggle to find reliable, relevant, and credible sources. Instead of leading journals or databases, they rely on random websites. It consequently leads them to face the inability to distinguish between credible and non-credible sources. They also face issues in assessing the sources to use and where.
So, to conduct research, students must familiarise themselves with online databases like JSTOR, Google Scholar, or PubMed. They should learn how to skim abstracts, use proper keywords, and take structured research notes.
How does reading improve essay writing?
If you read regularly enough, your writing will improve by leaps and bounds. Likewise, your writing improves your reading significantly. Many students understand the importance of this relationship as they read complex texts and transcripts to improve their writing abilities.
But not all students can comprehend this relationship between reading and writing, and eventually, writing becomes a continuous struggle for them.
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Reason 4: Poor academic and creative writing skills
Students with poor academic and creative writing skills often struggle with essay writing. Content writing skills are essential for any student to be good at writing, which include the following:
- Expressing ideas
- Organising ideas
- Punctuation
- Capitalisation
- Basic Spelling & Vocabulary
- Automatic Letter Formation
- Clarity of Expression
- Speed
- Use of appropriate grammar in an essay
- Different styles of essay writing
- Flexibility in the writing process
They might also lack noteworthy processing skills like fluent development of ideas, language formulation, ideation, and active working memory. When you consider all of the above underlying skills that students should master to become proficient writers, you can understand how frustrating it can be.
What are the components of writing?
Expressing ideas, organising ideas, punctuation, capitalisation, basic spelling & vocabulary, and automatic letter formation are some of the components of writing.
Reason 5: No right answers due to Inexperience
Some students might also struggle to find the right answer to a particular research problem. They end up scratching their heads around the basic question they must answer as part of their essay or dissertation assignment.
It can be hard to figure out the correct way to answer a research question because most of us approach writing naturally and emotionally. Answering a question can be challenging if your supervisor or tutor is not teaching the essay writing structures for different types of essays, dissertations, and research papers. This leads to a lack of confidence needed to jump into an essay writing task.
To produce a high-quality essay, you need to learn to be good at brainstorming, writing the essay outline, and developing the rough draft and the final copy because that is how you will improve your writing skills.
Reason 6: Difficulty structuring an argument
Writing an essay is not about tying all the information together; it’s about structuring an argument.
Another main reason why students struggle in essay writing is not being able to structure their arguments. They face various issues in ensuring smooth essay flow, ultimately leading to disorganised paragraphs, weak thesis statements, a lack of transitions, and random points without evidence. Without proper structure, essays lose their persuasiveness.
So, in order to structure an argument efficiently, follow the PEEL or TEEL paragraph structure. It always begins with a clear thesis statement in the introduction, supports it with body paragraphs, and ties it together in the conclusion.
What is a PEEL or TEEL paragraph structure?
PEEL stands for Point, Evidence, Explain, and Link, while TEEL stands for Topic, Evidence, Explain, and Link. They are paragraph writing structures in essays to present clear, persuasive arguments.
Reason 7: Fear of failure and imposter syndrome
Fear of failure or not getting the desired grades also restricts students from writing their essays efficiently.
Have so many questions in mind before writing even a word of your assignment? What is the question I need to address? What is the objective of this assignment? Which academic sources should I use as reference material? What should be the sentence structure of the essay? What writing style must I follow?
These questions and many more could swarm around in your mind. Don’t Be Overwhelmed! It’s normal to have so many questions. It’s completely normal to fear failure, especially if you haven’t had much writing experience in your previous academic years.
If you haven’t been taught about the writing and structuring processes, it can be pretty hard to get going. The fear of failure will stay with students if they do not work on mastering creative writing rules and various essay structures.
Reason 8: Unfocused due to social media
The world we are living in is changing rapidly. With texts, tweets, posts, snaps, and Instagram around us, it’s no wonder students don’t want to struggle with writing. Social media has negatively impacted attention spans, leading students to face issues with focus during essay writing.
This is particularly frustrating for teachers and students alike, as students struggle to express their thoughts and views clearly in the traditional fashion their schools expect them to.
As the world has digitally evolved, the world of academia has remained pretty much unchanged over centuries, with universities expecting students to become good researchers and capable writers. They will never replace essays, assignments, research, dissertations, and analysis with tweets, Instagram posts, and Facebook stories in universities.
What are the reasons students struggle with essay writing?
- Lack of a clear understanding of the assignment
- Poor time management
- Have no idea how to conduct research
- Poor academic and creative writing skills
- No right answers due to Inexperience
- Difficulty structuring an argument
- Fear of failure and imposter syndrome
- Unfocused due to social media
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Frequently Asked Questions
Many students face challenges with essay writing due to a lack of effective strategies, time management issues, language barriers, and unfamiliarity with academic conventions.
To improve your essay writing skills, practice regularly, use outlines, read academic texts, and seek feedback from teachers or peers.
The most common mistake is not being able to answer the question directly or going off-topic. Weak thesis statements and a lack of structure are also frequent issues.
Yes, essay writing services significantly help with guidance, drafts, and proofreading. However, AI tools are helpful to some extent, and overreliance can compromise originality and risk plagiarism.
Proofreading holds utmost importance in academics. It ensures clarity, eliminates errors, and strengthens the overall quality of the essays, assignments, and papers.
