A few years ago another academic and I were walking with a student (“Kiki”) who said that she always handed in essay assignments two weeks after they are due — the last day before she would receive a 0. Each time she lost 20% of the total possible points due to an automatic penalty of 2% per work day late. Over the long run she was ruining her chances of going on to postgraduate study. The other academic walking with us started to tell Kiki that the university had now extended the penalty period to three weeks with a maximum penalty of 30%, but I elbowed him right away and shook my head. I knew that if Kiki heard this news she would change to submitting three weeks late and suffer an extra 10% penalty. I knew that because I understand phobias, and Kiki had one — essay-writing phobia.
This phobia involves fear and avoidance of writing an assigned essay and/or submitting the essay. In addition to lateness penalties, the avoidance can lead to last-minute writing with its attendant stress, poor quality, and low marks. This phobia is more common than you might think.
What causes essay-writing phobia? The causes are similar for all types of phobias. The main factors likely to contribute here are genetic, biological predispositions to feel anxious, perfectionism in general, setting an unrealistically high goal for the essay, low self-efficacy for writing in general or for the specific essay, and low levels of self-control. Two other possible factors: Avoidance helps the person feel much better in the short run by reducing anxiety, and avoidance with frantic last-minute writing gives the person an ego-protecting excuse for earning a low mark.
So what is the way out of essay-writing phobia? I’ll suggest 10 strategies in order of value for most individuals:
1. Change your goal to something realistic and valuable, like doing your best under the circumstances or submitting on time or ending your avoidance. Put aside goals of being perfect and impressing the heck out of someone.
2. Gradually expose yourself to what you fear. Write the easiest part of the essay first — start with your name or the title. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Then write the next easiest part and so on, all the way to submitting. Praise yourself for courage at each step. Use my favorite definition of courage: Doing the right thing even tho scared. There is a great deal of research evidence that gradual exposure helps eliminate phobias.
3. Discuss your fears with someone who cares about your welfare or write in a journal about your fears. Bringing them out in the open will help you deal with them.
4. Calm yourself thru deep breathing, meditation, or some other means.
5. Focus on the task at hand — tell yourself what to do next on the assignment. Think that you are writing a draft that you will improve later, if necessary. Positive thoughts often lead to positive behavior.
6. Challenge self-defeating thoughts such as “Ï can’t do this” by thinking clearly about what “this” is and by looking for evidence from the past about whether you can do it.
7. Think of times you have written good essays and submitted on time.
8. Think of how you overcame some fear before in your life.
9. Think of individuals you admire who acted bravely.
10. Write in a new location or using a different method, e.g., paper rather than laptop. The change of procedure might give you a new perspective or expectation.
Those are my thoughts. For a case study describing treatment of essay-writing phobia, see http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0005796786900422.
What helps you reduce essay writing fear and avoidance?
John Malouff, PhD,
Associate Professor of Psychology
I never liked writing papers, stories were easy, essays were always hard. It didn’t help that we were never really taught how to write a paper and I never had encouraging peers to help me. My best friend through part of high school helped me on my first essay of the year for a teacher and I got a B, but when I asked for her help again she refused and I got a D. Plus this teacher didn’t like me or my family, our grades were lower by default. No matter what we did. My cousin once switched the names on two papers, his and another student who always got A’s in her class, and the paper the other kid wrote with my cousin’s name on it received a D and the one my cousin wrote with the other student’s name on it received an A. But still, I am always scared about my papers, maybe that teacher was right and I am terrible at writing papers. My college career has suffered terribly because some part of me in convinced that I’ll never get better and that no one can help me. I haven’t told my school’s counselor yet, due to fear of judgement and I endlessly skip classes after a paper is due because of fear of judgement too. I really want to end the fear but it just feels like it’s eaten me alive and biting down on me.
Hi Kim. A counselor or psychologist might help you change your thinking and reduce your suffering. Those of us who work in mental health (and who are competent) do not judge clients. Our goal is to understand them and help them.
Writing is a skill, like riding a bike. With good training, practice, and helpful feedback, almost anyone can improve. It helps to set improvement, rather than perfection, as a goal.
Best wishes,
John
So, if writing anxiety is having a debilitating effect on your life, how do you find skilled professionals who can focus on this issue specifically, as opposed to just general anxiety counseling?
Hi Doug. When you go to a psychologist or counselor, state your goal of reducing writing anxiety (and related avoidance, probably). Say you want to focus on that problem alone for now.
You won’t find a mental health professional who specializes in writing phobia, but in a big urban area you could find someone who specializes in anxiety treatment or phobia treatment.
Best wishes,
John
John, thank you for this post. I feel less worthless just being able to formulate my problem to myself. Is it possible to develop an essay writing phobia over time? I am a first year postgrad and I consistently receive good grades, I have even won prizes for my writing and for being top in some of my classes in undergrad. I never had to try very hard in school. Over the years I have procrastinated on essays, but it got worse over time. I started off just doing all-nighters, starting essays the night before they were due but but still handing them in on time, and getting top marks, justifying to myself that I might procrastinate but at least I never miss a deadline. This probably started in mid high school. Then, in my 2nd and 3rd years of university I would start to hand things in after the deadline, counting on the fact that my lecturers knew me and didn’t really care that much about deadlines, as long as I produced top quality work. I would usually get away with it, even though I know I shouldn’t have, but there were a couple times when I’m sure I could have gotten a better grade if I started earlier. And I know I have never produced my personal best work, but only what I deemed the minimum to get the grade I wanted. The thing is I love university, I go to lectures, generally have no difficulty studying for exams, or making presentations, doing readings, other kinds of homework and assignments etc… I remember one friend of mine was puzzled by my behaviour when I missed a deadline for an essay, I told him “I’m just lazy”, but he said he knew that wasn’t the case, because he had seen me do my readings weeks before class had started. However, recently, I had to submit a 4000 word article. It is not particularly difficult at all, and I know it is well within my abilities to do it, I have all the research I need at hand and just need to write, but for some reason I haven’t been able to do it. I am almost a month overdue without a good excuse, and dread even opening the document. When I do, I can barely work for 5 minutes without panicking over how much I have to do and giving up, even when I compartmentalise it. I am constantly filled with guilt and self-loathing. In the morning I over-sleep because I dread getting up, knowing I haven’t finished this article. I feel so bad about it, and I keep telling myself that I will get it done today, but inevitably I never do, and just stay up all night procrastinating.
Hi Jan. You are suffering and not functioning completely as a student. It is time for you to consult a psychologist or counselor at your university. That counseling service is a great free benefit at most universities. Use the benefit now.
Best wishes,
John
Jane’s scenario is similar to mine. I started college in 2006 and now 2018 I’m still struggling. I’ve taken multiple breaks, dismissed twice, failed the course 4 or 5 times thinking it would be different but it’s always the same result…. nothing to submitted after staying up all night trying to write it. I have so many papers incomplete because of not being able to finish them. I really would love to get over this phobia, it’s ruining my life.
Hi Tammi. You have had it tough. Is it time for you to consult a psychologist? If you are enrolled at a university, free counselling is likely available.
Dear John,
First of all thank you, as have others I encountered the writer’s block. I have taken into account your advice and it really helped to find my own way of overcoming this problem. The trick I came up with is to change who I had in mind when writing my essay. I initially have to write a 20 page-long essay that sums up my year of research. So I wanted to write the way I thought my teacher would expect me to write. But nothing came to mind, and I was left feeling deprived of the ideas that had crossed my mind during my research. And then I thought about the perfectionism, it came with the idea that my teacher would read my essay and I kept thinking about what was expected instead of what I wanted to say. So I decided to write as if my sister was the one I explained my work to. She doesn’t speak english and would in actuality not understand a word of my essay, but she would hypotheticaly not know anything of the subject (this helps to develop the arguments, as if I were teaching her about the subject) and it easied my mind to picture her as the reader of my piece, someone that I don’t associate with grades and judgment.
After that, it was simply a matter of time and patience and I have already writen 8 pages that I would be proud of.
I leave that here so that someone might use it as a clue to find their own trick, or simply replicate it. (Forgive me if someone already mentioned this trick in the previous commentaries, I haven’t read them all :))
Excellent, Alix!
Hi Alex,
As is so very common, “essay writing phobia” is presented as an individual pathology whereas it is actually largely a response to structural and cultural problems in the Academy. One problem is that universities (and psychology departments are esp. guilty of this) do not allow students enough leeway to develop their own voice (as you have done). I am shocked by how often students in social science degrees are told not to write in the first person. That prescription is about 20 years out of date!
Cheers,
tjarlz
Thank you so much forthis article and all sharing. I am in tears with a ‘serious’ meeting due with the principle…having missed yet another deadline & extension for a research report that would see me complete my course. I have procrastinated ‘trying to fix everything else in my life’ befire getting down to starting and now I feel paralysed with anxiety, and still avoidance in getting a 2000 word research report done for much of what has been mentioned in the comments before. I am going to do my best to get it done for myself though, even though I think it may be the ‘end’ of my time trying to finish my course at my establishment. The thought of going to this meeting has me so upset to the point I don’t even want to show up at all. The article and your sharing has helped the hurting and worry. Thank you and all the best everyone. I’ll try to give it my best shot and get some help and support from here.
Yes, do the best you can. Then consider what you have learned from the experience.
I’m a 30-year-old software engineer who has had writing anxiety for…well since I was 7 and first had to write a 5-sentence summary of a book that I read. I’ve tried very hard to find a solution to it because it has caused me a great deal of suffering over the years and definitely caused me to be fired at least once. However, while I’ve found academic work on the subject, I’ve not yet succeeded in finding anyone who treats Writing Anxiety or who does Writing Process Training. Do you know of a way to find a professional who has experience in helping people overcome Writing Anxiety? I live in London but would probably want to work with someone over videochat so that I can do so outside of work hours.
Hi Alex. I don’t know any experts on treating writing phobia. I am an expert on treating phobias, but not specifically writing phobias. I could try to help you over Skype, but the times might not be inconvenient.
Hi John. Thanks for writing about this. I was about to send this on to one of my students who’s not handed in an essay but then stopped as I can’t send students something asking them to get naked. An edited version of this would happily go up as a link on my essay-advice page on our intranet. Cheers.
At your request, I changed strategy 10. Also, I added an image to suit the altered strategy, and I added meta-tags to help individuals find the suggestions.
Writing on a mountain, I like it. Looks like it might be Aotearoa New Zealand too, which is even better. Thank you.
I feel exactly like Jtxz! My goodness, I just don’t understand where this resistance comes from! I can do exams, class presentations, case studies etc etc… really well and without any stress… – but not essays! As the end of every semester looms nearer and due dates approach, I seriously think that I spiral into depression as a result of the essays. I can write really good essays, so for me it’s not even about the planning or structure, but I am overcome by the massive internal resistance, anxiety and stress as it comes time to doing them! I have finished my undergraduate degree and am now studying masters and so far it has been almost 10 years of tertiary study. But for the whole time I’ve been constantly docked marks over and over again – some times I’ve even had to repeat subjects because I’ve lost so many marks on papers that would have otherwise been distinctions. I feel like a failure the fact that although I’ve obviously learned the subject content well enough to get distinction level quality papers, I can’t seem to hand them in timely enough to prevent failing the subject.
No idea what to do. What I find even crazier is that the course I am doing has nothing to do with writing essays, so why use this method of assessment at all?!?!? I feel like the field i’m studying is where my future purpose lies, but the journey to get there requires strengths that are outside of the skillset required for the field I wish to get into.
Totally feel like giving up – the only reason I haven’t is because I am stubborn. But it’s at the point now, where it’s not just affecting me, its affecting my wife,my son, my friendships etc.
They seriously are the bane of my life!
You and many others are in the same boat. Try all the methods I suggest in the blog entry. Best wishes.
This is what i’m exactly experiencing and i am happy to find articke like this and made me realize that there is really a condition like this. I thought this was a weird to have a problem like this… I have this phobia in essays when i read my essays and essay of my smart cousin, ive realized how lacking i am in putting ideas, the grammars , etc. My esteem on making essays became really low.. I feel like at suck at doing it and my ideas are too shallow etc, i think of things like that. when my prof gives us essay tasks, i dont have the motivation to do it and i ended up cramming and becoming stress.
Elle, I hope you keep writing. Strive not for perfection or for superiority but for competence and timely completion.
I have struggled unsuccessfully with this problem for years. I have consulted an educational psychologist and counsellors and explained the irrational feelings of fear and terror that spring up and pounce at random periods in the writing process. I have either been told that there is no problem or that it is too complex to solve. I weep in shame and I am distraught at not being able to identify the cause. I have always had good grades and years ago I had a couple of articles published in peer-reviewed journals. I have lost confidence in all aspects of writing and I no longer am able to judge what is good or bad in anything I compose. Thus I am plagued with doubt and my writing is stymied. I would like to hope that someone has further suggestions about how to tackle this problem when it strikes. I do want to write and to enjoy writing again.
Hi. I am sorry that you have suffered so much for so long. Try the methods in the blog. If none helps, consult a beahvioral psychologist. You may benefit from gradual-exposure treatment.
I can definitely relate to the essay writing anxiety when I first started university it took a me a while to understand how to write a university essay with the whole citing and referencing system I of course fail my way through essay. I did get some good grades and passed a few of my essay however now I get so much built up anxiety before writing an essay that it does take me two weeks after the due date to hand it in (if I even do that) then of course I get a low grade because of that and so the cycle continues. I have the same thoughts running through my head when I begin to write such as your gunna fail anyway why bother, your not good enough to be at uni, your a failure so why even try, your just wasting everyone time etc I’ve tried to start my assignments early but I just get anxious and end avoiding it then I freak out near the due try to start but end up not finishing it and then I fail which makes me feel worst
Hi there. You are struggling and suffering. Your self-doubt and procrastination are self-defeating. Time to make changes! I suggest facing your fear and taking one or more writing courses. Aim to improve your writing every day. Learn writing rules and apply them Then go on with your usual education — always facing fear like a soldier. If you do not make good progress, consult a psychologist.
One of the things that always helped me personally when it came to research papers/thesis papers was to go through one book at a time, take a TON of notes for what might be relevant (noting page numbers in case I had to go back and quote or clarify context), and then sort my notes by where they might belong: introduction, supporting arguments for idea 1, idea 2, etc., or closing. Then I’d repeat the process with the next book, and keep going until I’d used all of the possible sources. From there, I could then sort the ideas and place them in a more sensible order, and then link the ideas with a narrative. Sometimes I’d toss out certain ideas or notes completely, because they didn’t belong anymore. Another helpful tool for me was to write down an outline of the different ideas I wanted to discuss, and that helped to keep me on track and focus on which parts needed more support or where I didn’t have to keep looking. There were also at least two re-writes – 3 if I could get someone else to look at it for feedback!
Thank you so much for this article! I used to be scared of essays and long answers; the longer the assignment to be written, the greater my fear. Fortunately, we have essays only in languages ( I mean like narrative essays, descriptive, picture composition etc.)
I realise this is horribly behind the last person who submitted a comment, but I thought it might help me to respond, even though no one may read it. I have been out of fulltime study for many years now and so am very out of practice. But 9 months ago I enrolled on a Masters course and am so far floundering badly. My first essay, I confidently approached it, the same way I remember constructing essays when I was at Uni the first time, and I submitted well before the due date and I was confident I had done well. But! (And this is the crux really) the feedback I received was awful. I had just finished a very bad job where I was under ridiculous amounts of stress and used as a scapegoat and my confidence was already shaky. The comments I received from my tutor destroyed me and each essay I have handed in since have been received just as badly that now the anxiety is so great that I can’t even bring myself to begin. How can I get over the crippling anxiety I feel whenever I think about submitting another essay with the knowledge that I will get back, not just a disappointing grade, but a lot of nasty feedback which I am scared to read. I didn’t open my last email to see what my grade was for over a week because I was far too scared to do so, and when I did, it was not at all a pleasant experience.
Hi. You are having an unpleasant return to education! You may need to take a writing course before you take any other courses. For the time being, aim to get as many points as you can. Read the comments and try to improve your writing. Keep in mind that writing is a complicated skill but one that a person can improve with training, practice and feedback. Do the best you can under the circumstances.
As for nasty comments, they have no place in education. You might want to rethink where you are studying.
Best wishes!
I’ve this problem in my whole life. It’s not only caused my bad assignment, but also caused my inability.
So whenever my Turkish language teacher gave an assignment, I felt like I was drowning while writing in middle school. More interesting that I wrote more realistic than figurative but this time it caused fault of grade, so I hate literature and writing, but I was a strict reader that times interestingly.
As a result:
In my situation, couldn’t write perfect article with great imagination drive me avoiding writing.
I want to write again. Thank you
I am reading this page and I know the last comment was 2017, but I still feel the urge to comment!
I am a fourth-year university student, I have six months left of my course and I am in the middle of writing my last essay before my dissertation! I made a detailed plan weeks ago, and I have the resources I need for it, but yet I cannot start. I can relate to a lot of these comments and some of them made me cry because I can relate! I have cried for days because I have felt such an intense fear about this essay. I feel it like a burning sensation in my chest, and one day I felt paralyzed with fear over it and fought to even get out of my bed, I felt so low that these feelings were back again.
This is something I have dealt with for as long as I can remember. As a child, I grew up in an abusive home and my father would yell at me if I got the answer to a homework question wrong, and would often call me stupid. One time he shouted at me so much, I blacked out, he was in my face shouting at me and calling me names for not knowing the answer, and when the rest of my family came home, he made me lie about it and tell them I passed out because I sniffed tipex (which was untrue but saved him from telling the truth). I believe this is why I have such a phobia of writing! I often am afraid for others to read my work for fear of them laughing at me or not being smart as others.
I have this fear even though I have been to university twice and even have written reports to the sheriff, without any complaints about my writing, yet the fear remains. I have a psychologist and do not see her until 1st Dec, so I am currently trying techniques I hope will help me finish this essay.
This post has helped me feel like I am not alone, thank you to the writer and everyone who commented. Much love to everyone, we are not alone in this!
Hello. You had a damaging childhood. Your’s father’s abuse may have damaged your self-confidence so much that you doubt yourself. Freud would say that you have introjected your father’s view of you. See: https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/introjection
Now would be a good time to break free of his negative influence and to write. You have nothing practical to lose and much to gain. Write one word. Then perhaps you will write a sentence. Freedom could be your reward.
Best wishes,
John
Thank you so much for this article, John. Your tips and reading all of the comments have really helped me feel less alone in this post-graduate essay writing phobia hellscape I’ve found myself in. I’m having trouble thinking about something (emotionally) worse than not being able to execute something that is supposed to be your bread and butter- for me, writing has always come naturally, but deadlines have made me want to, well, die. They are called DEADlines after all. Anyway, thank you for this article and this space to engage with others who have this experience. I learned that my procrastination doesn’t come from perfectionism but from avoiding the fear/anxiety that comes with a task.
Thanks again,
M.
Feeling alone when completing a challenging task is something to avoid. You could talk with your supervisor/teacher or with someone who provides counselling to students — a free service too few students use.