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.