What to do when going round in circles writing essay?

Snow_Angel

Ok - not MSE I realise but you may be able to help.

Normally I'm really good at writing essays. Consistently get between 65 and 80% for them.
But this time it's different! I am part way through and planning to stay up all night to write it (It doesn't have to be in until next week but I want to go visit my boyfriend tomorrow - when I get back on Monday, i want to just re-read it through and make minor alterations). But every time I look at it as I'm writing it looks wrong and i keep getting confused with my points as they are all so interlinked. I'm also struggling with the word count as it's such a technical essay that i have to explain the theory before I can critique the evidence and then suggest further points! I've done 500 words and have only 1000 left, but I have so much left to include. please advise!!! :eek:

pavlovs_dog

i know your pain!

given the submission date, i would say finish it so that it is 'done', go away, relax with your boyf, and come back to it with a fresh set of eyes next week.

you can relax in the knowledge that the bulk of the work is done, and you just have to fine tune and tweak :beer:

Moon~Shadow

Could you try looking at the structure so it all follows smoothly? I've used cut up pieces of paper with the descriptions on and jiggled them about and it has helped me.

At my Uni we are allowed to go 10% over. I've just got a guide in front of me and it says (sorry bit long)

Intro (give some idea of a response to the question & mention some evidence the essay will discuss).

Connect with

Argument 1 (state and amplify)
Back up with firm evidence, explaining its relevance to the question.

connect with

Arg 2 (S & A)
Back up with evidence, use critical judgements, evaluate the critics & respond to them. Relate this to the question.

connect with

Arg 3 (S & A)
Back up with evidence, use techniques of close analysis to explain your position on the evidence & how it relates to your argument & the question.

connect with

Arg 4 (S & A)
Back up with evidence, indicate opposing args in relation to question, explain why you disagree with these.

connect with

Arg 5 (S & A)
back up with evidence, connect to some prev args and begin to summarise.

lead to

Conclusion (briefly sum up & indicate wider implications of your arguments)

Hope this helps.

kittiwoz

When I was debating I used to jot down my arguments as bullet points and assign them letters. Then I would make spider diagrams to show how they connected up. I would have the key ideas as offshoots of the title with other more detailled points as offshoots of them and I would draw arrows to show where ideas were linked, one referenced another etc. I would also sometimes draw rings around groups of connected ideas. Then I would use the spider diagram to write out a linear structure and again draw lines to remind myself where one idea was connected to another so I could refer back or say that my debating partner or myself would expand on the idea later. It probably wouldn't work for everyone depending on how visual you are but I found it a very usefull way of converting a web of ideas in my head into a structured argument.

holstar

I'd be inclined to wrte the essay as you see fit, even if it does go massively over the limit...just get it down. Then, come back on monday and cut down/refine/proof read as necessary.
Good luck with it

melancholly

if it is such a short essay title, then you can't be expected to go into detail on everything, so just make sure everything's covered to a degree, then explain (in a sentence!) why this one area you are going into is so important.

and leave all the cutting down until you've had a break... hard to write it and edit is in the same day!

Snow_Angel

Thanks for all your advice. Even if some of it was things I already know it's good to have them pointed out again! But some different ideas and ones maybe worth trying in the future.
I've pretty much finished it now - have got about 6 hours put aside tomorrow night to work on the final draft, then re-check again Monday before handing in. Actually, my first draft isn't too bad - although compared to my other essays previously, I'm really not happy with it.....maybe that's because I'm putting pressure on myself for it to be great as it's final year.
Anyway, I can only do what I can do!
Thanks again

Ted_Bloke

melancholly said ~ same as this brainstormning contribution but I'll repeat my own offered thoughts. The habit is in uni - not only students but in research - everything you say has to be justified or reasoned or referenced or argued etc.

When you are out of uni the attitude often is: I haven't time for all your detail, just !!!!!! is this all ABOUT ? (something I often had to work hard to screw out of uni ppl in my job); what is the message?; what new are you saying about it?; what use is it?; what else of interest to me or anyone is it connected with; what stage is it in, solid knowledge? cutting edge? speculation? controversial? that sort of thing. Then we might go in to the justifications, qualifications etc.

So if you have to go into fine justifications and arguments, maybe you could put some of them in footnotes? Which you don't hand in if they are over limit, or only if requested. It's a possible idea if the condensation doesn't work

Tallulah22

I have been struggling to write an essay which is due in May but i ahve a lot so i thought i would start now!

I woke up at 7.30am this morning searching frantically for a pen to write all my ideas down for this essay, i must have dreamed about it (sad i know) and woke myself up to write them all down.

Looking back at what i wrote i have the basis of a really strong essay, and i am very pleased indeed..

Karnam

ahhh, im on MSE when i should be working but c'est le vie.

Snow_Angel

I managed to get this essay done as best as I possibly could and handed it in last week :j I get the result in 2 weeks or so, so I'll let you know how I get on :rolleyes: