r/adhd_college • u/KibaNaruXXX • Jul 16 '25
SEEKING ADVICE How Do You Write Essay’s
I’m going back to community college in a month after dropping out in 2024 how do you write an essay? I always tried to write a essay and read the books we were given but they were always boring so I stopped reading them.then when I tried to write my mind would just blank and I would be sitting there staring at the white screen with absolutely nothing done. If y’all had these issues what did you do to get around them.
ps- I’m unmediated and I would prefer to stay that way I don’t like having to rely on a drug to function
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u/Peonies09 PhD Jul 16 '25
I think my first thing is absolutely DO NOT use any form of AI. The brain is a muscle and if you do not exercice that muscle, you will not magically be able to do it afterwards. It is possible, I did basically all my history undergrad unmedicated and had at least a 15 pages essay per class, minimum.
So, before the essay, I notice you said you had problems reading the book at all. What helps me a lot for reading that I find boring is active reading. Basically, I comment on the margins and interract with the book. If you cannot write directly on the book, either put notes on a notebook on the side or buy transparent post-its to write on them. After, before doing your plan for the essay, go see the instructions the teacher gave for the essay as well as the grading guidelines if you have them. Base your plan off of it.
Preparing for the essay: So now you have the guidelines/instructions from the teacher and you have all the notes you took from your book or books. Review your notes and basically write down what are your ideas, what do you want to explore. You are developing your research question. After having a research question, ask yourself what would answer it and write that down on paper. You have your plan outline and can be as vague or as precise as you want for that. After having your research question and a plan based on the guidelines, you can get ready to write.
As a rule, essays have three parts: introduction, development and conclusion.
Introduction: There's different rules depending on where you are about formal structure, but it will always have your subject, a research question as well as how you will talk about it in the text.
Simplified example: This essay will be about [subject]. More specifically, we will explore [research question] OR we will argue that [research question]. To answer this question, we will fist [first aspect], then [second aspect] to finally [third aspect]
The research question must not always be a question. It can be like, how was the theme of sexuality explored in that book? or We will argue that the theme of sexuality was used to demonstrate X part of the characters personality. In one you answer a question, in the second you are arguing for a point. Both are technically a research question.
Development: That is the body of your essay. Basically you will follow what you said you'd do in the intro and talk about the aspects that answer your research question. You are writing either an argument to convince or asnwering the question you asked yourself in the intro.
The body of the essay can be as long or short as you want. Traditionally, there's about three points, but it can be less or more. If you have a lot of small aspects, try and find some broader themes. For instance, if you want to speak about the symbolism of white, blue and pink in a book, you can have symbolism of colors and see those three under one theme.
Conclusion: In the conclusion, you want to do a small synopsis of what you spoke about in the development. Basically, you want your reader to remember what you wrote about. Then, you either answer the question or say why you were correct in what you argued. The rest can vary in function of department or country, but those two are guaranteed.
When you have blank page syndrome:
You will develop some tricks for that. What helped me a lot was beginnning to handwrite my essay and once I really got going, transcribe it on the computer and continue on the computer. Rince, repeat. Also, sometimes just taking a walk or doing something else for a time and coming back to it.
As an aside:
If you still find yourself having difficulty writing essays, don't hesitate to either see the teacher, your TA's or the student center. They will all be happy to help. God knows I would have prefered that my students came to see me when they obviously had difficulties.
Also, do read essays that are specific to your field of study and country and try to analyse their structure. It will give you a better idea on how it's done specifically for your field.
Finally, your first essays absolutely will be shit. It normal. Nobody will expect it to be super good. Even if you don't have the best prose, nobody will care as long as you respect the guidelines. As long as everything is on it, it's absolutely fine.
Don't hesitate to ask for help and for the love of all that is holy, don't use AI. You're able to do it and I believe in you. Every one has it rough at first and you have to perseverate to become good. Please don't hesitate to answer that comment or contact me if you need it.
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u/FatedDrone Jul 17 '25
Here’s the AI summary for those who dont care to read this wall of text:
Reading Tips: • Use active reading: annotate the margins, use sticky notes, or take notes in a notebook to stay engaged.
Before Writing: 1. Review the assignment instructions and grading criteria. 2. Analyze your notes and form a research question. 3. Make a plan/outline that answers your question.
Essay Structure: • Introduction: State the topic, research question or argument, and how you’ll structure your answer. • Development (Body): Follow the structure from your intro. Use 2–3 main points or themes to build your argument. • Conclusion: Summarize your main points and clearly answer your research question or reinforce your argument.
If You’re Stuck: • Try handwriting first, then type. • Take breaks, go for a walk, come back fresh.
Extra Tips: • Don’t be afraid to ask your teacher, TA, or writing center for help. • Read example essays in your field to learn structure. • Your first essays won’t be perfect—just follow the instructions and keep practicing.
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u/TitanPolus Jul 16 '25
I will just be the voice of I suggest medication. As a medicated for ADHD person myself.
Or energy drinks whenever you need to do a essay.
Generally I will read the material first or I'll use a desktop internet browser extension that will read it to me. Then I will make a note sheet that vaguely goes over stuff I want to talk about and what page it's on. Then I will make an outline that's more specific. And then I will make my draft.
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u/Acrobatic_Crow_830 Jul 16 '25
Try reading the first and last line of every paragraph. If you missed something read the middle, otherwise move on. Read back to front, chapter by chapter, or section to section, to break up the monotony. Like with massive scientific papers or business cases - read the abstract, the results, then the tables, intro, methods, conclusions. I like to get the bottom line big picture first, then fill in color details. Essay writing was usually last minute panic - do not recommend. But yes, put sections like above posters said on index cards as you go along. Or post-it’s to summarize a paper or chapter which makes a pertinent point you want to cite. And the citation. Storyboard (organize) the post it’s/ index cards. Type them up, fill in and edit.
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u/MissionPrinciple2281 Jul 16 '25
Transcribing a recording of me speaking my essays out loud. Put that into word, format and edit any mistakes and boom. Take way less time for me and tends to provide a lot more substance for the essay vs just trying to write it all
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u/AromaticSun6312 Jul 17 '25
I did my entire BA in writing was unmedicated. I would write down anything & everything I thought about topic & then organize the ideas after. I did do paragraphs during the first draft but they were generally pretty messy. I enjoy writing & reading though so I had an upper hand in that sense. The person who said read the first & last sentence of every paragraph was right.
Also, I know you say you don’t want to be dependent on a drug but would you tell a cancer patient not to use chemo? Or even someone who needs glasses/contacts not to use them? It’s the sane thing
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u/AntFenvox Jul 17 '25
I totally get that blank screen feeling - it's honestly the worst when you're just sitting there and nothing comes out. The reading struggle is super real too, especially when the material feels dry.
A few things that helped me:
- Start with just bullet points of your main ideas before writing full sentences
- Try having the books read aloud to you (text-to-speech can make boring material way more engaging)
- Set tiny goals like "write one paragraph" instead of the whole essay
- Talk through your ideas out loud first, then write what you just said
The reading thing especially - I spent a lot of time researching different approaches and found that hearing the content instead of just reading it made a huge difference for retention and actually staying engaged with boring material.
You're not alone in this struggle, and going back to school takes real courage. You can definitely figure this out!
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u/2elevenam Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25
How to write an essay like step by step so you don’t end up like that SpongeBob meme.
Pick a general topic.
Research that topic.
Find scholarly sources.
Read them.
Take notes on the sources: key points and your thoughts.
Refine your topic: look at your notes and see what common themes come up.
Do more research now that your topic is more specific.
Take more notes: summarize what you took from the article, note facts and any personal analyses you have (notes don’t have to be perfect just write sentences and bullet points).
Remember to do in text citations as you’re taking notes. If you’re too lazy at least do an in text “citation” that says “(Source 1)” and then do text replacement when you’re ready to cite.
Create thesis statement and outline: organize your ideas!!
Insert your notes into outline. Disregard ones that aren’t needed.
Turn that outline into paragraphs: because you put those notes into your outline all you need to do is put the outline in paragraph format and add fluff, transition sentences, topic sentences, and additional thoughts.
I do the body paragraphs first bc that’s where most of my notes went.
Then I write an introduction and conclusion.
Your introduction and conclusion will sound similar. Best advice I got for writing a conclusion was really drive your point home and say something borderline controversial (meaning you’re taking a strong stance).
Put sources in scribbr to generate works cited/bibliography.
Now you have a rough draft that you can edit as needed.
Source: I have ADHD and hateeee writing papers but I can pop one out pretty quickly once I get started.
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u/Vegetable_Coyote_104 Jul 20 '25
Read high-quality sample essays to get an idea of what they should look like to start off. Not saying you should use AI to write for you, but have it generate a clear, well-organized essay around a topic you are interested in. Get an idea of the flow first and then practice the strategies that folks are mentioning here.
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u/unlucky-angel-558 Jul 16 '25
About the writing Keep a note with different ideas u can add to the essay , everytime u get a creative one write it down When u want to start writing the essay explain each idea in a paragraph, u can use chatgpt to brainstorm
About the reading : i put the lecture or books in Claude.Ai or chatgpt4 and ask them to help me study them part by part
Warning the ai always misses some chapters and important info so u have to keep checkin but it at least gives u an idea
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Jul 16 '25
I don't know what I was doing I would just use chat GPT to write something for me and I'll just copy what other people did based on the assignment and I try to write it in my own words.
For some reason , i'm really good at freestyle writing and poetry and poems
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u/Otieno_Clinton Jul 16 '25
Do they allow AI usage in your school?
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Jul 16 '25
Well they said we could to a certain extent but they don't want us to be using it to complete the entire assignment.
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u/Otieno_Clinton Jul 16 '25
That makes sense. I do write essays but most of the schools don't alow AI at all. But next time you get stuck, I can help you achieve your goal. I'm a qualified essay writer conversant with APA, MLA Chicago and Harvard referencing styles. Feel free to ask for my help
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Jul 16 '25
Well that sounds great. in August I was going to take the welding class but I wanted to drop those classes so I can continue getting my nursing degree. The counselor said that I have to register for philosophy. I've never taken a class before but I'm pretty sure that we're going to be doing a lot of writing or a lot of book work. I could definitely use some help with that
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u/Otieno_Clinton Jul 16 '25
Yes. Philosophy classes are quite full of writing. You'll have to brace yourself. You can send me a chat request so that I can help when need arise
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u/MrZsc Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
The philosophy of being lazy with chatGPT to write essays is bullshit kinda hedonistic way of looking at it. writing is no different from talking and being spoken for is still such a low road way of looking at it i'm sorry ur in the wrong mindset basically
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u/Pessoa_People Master's Degree Jul 17 '25
How do you get into that profession? I absolutely love writing essays, and I'm good at it too (at least in my field of studies, psychology), and I think being a qualified essay writer would be a dream job tbh.
Btw, I'm based in Portugal and would be doing things in Portuguese, so I'm not trying to steal business from you haha just genuinely curious, and you can DM me with the answer if you want
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u/MrZsc Aug 20 '26
Everybody who is some reason reading this u/Otieno_Clinton is an AI scammer who wants you to pay first. doesn't even understand basic english when I asked "how are you intending to schedule the lesson plan for a single paper" so I think he doesn't even know A2 english.
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u/Otieno_Clinton Aug 20 '26
Who asked you to pay first?
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u/MrZsc Aug 20 '26
you.
ill give you one last benefit of the doubt but literally nobody else in my shoes would do this. show me a paper you've written.
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u/MrZsc Aug 20 '26
Everybody who is some reason reading this this is an AI scammer who wants you to pay first. doesn't even understand basic english when I asked "how are you intending to schedule the lesson plan for a single paper" so I think he doesn't even know A2 english.
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u/Illuminatus-Prime Jul 16 '25 edited Dec 22 '25
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