How to Write Brilliant Psychology Essays. Paul Dickerson

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СКАЧАТЬ that you will refer to, or drafting a conclusion, your word count will probably increase quite slowly and counting numbers of words can be disheartening.

      Another alternative is to see your essay in terms of several discrete tasks, for example: writing a plan, reading up on the topic, checking your notes, writing an introduction, drafting the main body, writing a conclusion, completing citations and references, and editing your draft. This is very output-orientated and usefully maps onto what needs to be done, so we feel that we can measure our progress. However, taking this approach does run the risk of being discouraging when we are working on a task that we find difficult. We might work for a considerable time on our conclusion and feel that we have little to show for it, whereas if we were just working for a fixed time, for example a target of 60 minutes work, we can feel that we have accomplished our task.

      Working for a (realistic) fixed time can be good for building a ritual, removing an output target that you might not reach and allowing for the uneven nature of academic writing and reading. However, working for a fixed time may involve a certain degree of faith that we are making progress, even when we haven’t some clear evidence (for example, in words written or tasks achieved) that we have done so. Having some sense of how we are progressing can be reassuring.

      It may well be that a mixture of these approaches works best. Early on, when we are putting down thoughts and ideas, reading around the topic, writing our initial plans and questions, having a time or an achievable task target may work best. Once we are into our draft essay, we may find an awareness of words works best, and in some cases identifying the discrete parts of an essay to be written (for example, the introduction) may also help. Working on our conclusion and detailed editing may be harder to measure in terms of words written (editing often removes words), so switching to time and/or a task focus may help.

      It is best to see time, text and task focus as slightly different orientations to be used at different times so that they encourage and inspire you in your essay writing. When the words are flowing well, having a sense of word output can be really encouraging. When we have a sense of what is needed to finish a section of our essay, a task focus can work well and give a satisfying sense of progress. When we need to get started with plans and ideas or finish with final editing, sometimes it can be helpful to commit ourselves to spending a certain amount of time. Time, text and task of course constantly interweave with one another, so use them sympathetically as an encouragement, and not as a rod to beat yourself with.

      Do the other things I have to do

      This is usually not just an excuse, as there are many, really valid and important demands on our time. It is sometimes helpful to write down rather than simply mentally recycle all of the different pulls on your time that you experience. In some cases, being honest about the amount of time required for your academic work and the other things you have and/or want to do, and acknowledging how flexible or inflexible they are and when they occur, can be helpful. Taking time to do this can help you schedule your work to some extent.

      A second factor to bear in mind is that it is easy for us to tell ourselves – and others – that we need a clear morning, or afternoon, or a whole day to be able to devote ourselves to our academic work, or, more specifically, to writing our essay. This can lead to us under-valuing those smaller pockets of time that we could potentially use, perhaps especially in the earlier phases of writing. Anthony Trollope wrote 250 words every 15 minutes as he sat at his desk from 5:30 to 8:30 each morning – before going to his day job with the postal service. We might not be as systematic and disciplined as Trollope, but we could be missing lots of opportunities for good writing if we are thinking that we need an uninterrupted stretch of a day or a half-day in order to achieve anything.

      Sometimes we may actually need to attend to other matters and then come back to our writing. This could be better than being in a state of tense inactivity where we feel unable to get anything done because of the competing demands we face. If there is something else that is time sensitive to do, then perhaps doing that is the right thing, although often we do not need to see our day, or part-day, in either/or terms. We might do that and this as well.

      How can I get started?

       Write down some of the things that you need to do – don’t let the list become oppressive.

       Where meaningful, schedule these other activities.

       You may find that having a reasonable minimum number of words or time period for writing each day really helps.

       If you are able to write even a little towards your essay in the morning, it can often be easier to continue – even just dipping into it – later on in the day.

       Sometimes doing the duty or fulfilling the obligation that is on your mind might free you to do other things, such as writing your essay.

       Keep a look out for realistic pockets of time that you can schedule in advance or just identify in the moment. It can be really surprising how minutes scattered across a day or week can become meaningful opportunities for your writing.

      Exercise

      Which of these apply to you?

       Looking after others, perhaps younger or older relatives.

       Paid employment.

       Medical appointments.

       Voluntary work.

       Sporting and other recreational commitments.

       Societies and clubs that you belong to.

       Relationships.

       Other friendships.

       Other time commitments – please specify.

      Have fun now

      We don’t only have lots of duties, we have lots of distractions. Wherever we are, most of us carry a device that can enable us to connect ourselves, entertain ourselves and lose ourselves in hundreds of ways at just two or three clicks. A small minority of phones and some simplifying apps are now designed so that we experience less distraction, bright colours are muted, functionality streamlined and, in some cases, the user is required to specify what they are intending to do when they pick up their phone. But it isn’t just the conspicuous encroachment of distracting technology, we can readily find and externalise distraction whatever our digital footprint. Perhaps this is a key point – we tell ourselves that distraction is being done to us, but often we are choosing to go from the relative discomfort of feeling we should write our essay to some other place, the more immersive, the better. At the end of a month it is us who have decided to give four days to social media and a day and a half to League of Legends, Subway Surfers or Fortnite, even if it didn’t feel like a decision at the time.

      We may have to discover what works for us here. Perhaps we should acknowledge the distraction and go ahead with the essay. If we can use this approach it can be really empowering. We might find that some sort of deal works best: for example, we could have a deal that we will be distracted in 10 minutes’ time, rather than right now (this is an easier deal to stick to than going for 10 minutes of distraction first, followed by our work).

      A key thing to bear in mind СКАЧАТЬ