Having trouble coming up with new ideas for your essay? We’ll help you overcome your writer’s block!
Creating an essay may seem like the most challenging writing assignment. It requires not only in-depth knowledge of the learned material but also creativity, objectiveness, and experience. Every year, thousands of students worldwide struggle to come up with an essay, but not all of them manage to cope with the task successfully.
You are probably wondering why essays are so important, aren’t you? Well, the answer is simple — while tests and ordinary tasks aim to test your overall knowledge, essays are meant to test your critical thinking skills and creativity. This way admission officers make sure that you are mature enough and ready for life after school.
If you are struggling to come up with an idea for your paper without hiring an expert essay writer, you should think of it as the acid test of your maturity level. It should convey a unique experience, so you’d better avoid subjects lots of people have already written about. Share something personal with your readers. An interesting event in your life or an unusual situation you’ve been in to grab their attention.
Keep in mind that your essay should make the admission officer single you out from amongst other applicants. They go through dozens of them every day, and they are unlikely to pay attention to yours unless it evokes some emotions and feelings.
Try using as many emotional words and descriptions as possible, but be careful not to overdo it. Be natural. Pay attention to every little detail and even dialog. All these techniques will let you establish an emotional connection with your readers.
Tip #1 — Think About Crucial Moments in Your Life
Well, this is not really difficult. Try recalling an event or a person that has had a profound impact on your life. If you have trouble doing it, you can answer the following questions:
- What is the most memorable thing you’ve ever done? Why did you do it? What made you do that? What was the result of it? What did others say?
- What has been the saddest moment of your life? Why did it happen? Who was to blame? What did you get out of it?
- What has been your biggest challenge? Why did you take it on? Do you regret accepting it now? Why didn’t you refuse?
- What has been your greatest achievement? Are you proud of it? Why? How did you benefit from it?
- What was the scariest thing in your life? Why? How did you overcome your fear?
This list can go on and on. Pick similar situations from your own life and write about them in as much detail as you can.
Tip #2 — Ask Thought-Provoking Questions
It is always a good idea to write about something that gets people thinking and analyzing. Just take a look at the below suggestions:
- What if one of your most valued traits of character was missing? What would you do about it? Would the people you know treat you differently?
- What if there was no such thing as gender equality? Would we all be equal? Would it cause a war?
- If you could change something about yourself, what would it be? Would it be difficult to do? Why haven’t you changed it yet?
- How would you describe yourself if you were a completely different person?
Tip #3 — Go Abstract
This approach implies picking one abstract notion and developing it into a real-life experience (e.g., hope, belief, anger, love, fear, greed, etc.). If you are writing about an event, show your readers how faith or love affected its outcome.
Tip #4 — Reflect on Influential Personalities
Think about someone who has influenced your life a lot. It can also be an imaginary person who you’ve never met before. What would you ask them and what ideas would they share with you? For example:
- Who would you invite to your birthday party? Why? What would you ask them and what present do you suppose they would give you?
- Who is the biggest inspiration for you? Why?
- What famous historical figure would you like to speak to? Why them?
Once you have finished writing your essay, you should check it for mistakes and overall readability. Make sure it reflects your persona and contains a unique idea.
It is also advisable to put your essay aside for a day or two and get back to it with a clear mind. That way you’ll be able to spot mistakes you overlooked before or add something to it you didn’t think about before.
You can also have someone (e.g., your teacher or friend) read your story and share their thoughts with you. Good luck!
