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Another crumpled sheet of paper is thrown into the paper basket, your thoughts are rushing around in your head, but none seems to be worthy to open your essay - you are in despair. You ask yourself: "Why should I torture myself with all these useless attempts to force a cohesive sentence. I just cannot write and that's it." You decide to quit this hopeless pastime and do something much more pleasant. It is easy, I agree. But this way you will never know whether you can write or not. We learn a thing just by doing it - it is obvious.

Only because you don't know how to start the essay - does not mean you cannot write. Everyone experiences these problems even the experienced writers. They have scrupulously worked on every word in their texts and put so much effort into every sentence so that you can read elegant and crystal clear lines of their works. It is a myth that writing comes involuntarily just out of nothing. If it were so simple and effortless, there would not be so many freelance writer wanted ads. We do admit that writing essays is really an undertaking. First, because you are scared with requirements to it, with deadlines, with the topic. Second, the idea of writing for a professor who is so clever also makes you feel uncomfortable and diffident. An article by G.M. Smith "Building Writing Confidence "(You can read it at writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/confidence.html) shows how to overcome these feelings and concentrate on writing itself rather than on your personal emotions. You will see how these simple steps will improve your writing efficiency.

Essay writing differs from writing a friendly letter, a composition, a short story. It is not just another "assignment "you have to submit by the deadline. Composing essays is usually the most important skill you acquire in a course. Later, you will remember your essay topic better than anything else you have learnt during the classes. The necessity to express ideas I writing makes you think carefully about the topic. You accumulate everything you have learnt through reading and attending lectures and thus it provides for a deeper understanding of the subject. Essay is your opportunity to analyse information, to express your point of view, supported with valid facts, to think systematically, to develop your logical thinking, etc. Essay writing is not about connecting words together. It is more about providing a well- founded opinion on the issue. You will hardly produce a good essay if you write it in single session. Essays require preparing, researching, revising, proofreading, editing and rewriting, rewriting, rewriting. I liken essay writing with a struggle and you best weapon in it is your knowledge of all the intricacies and details of the process. Take time and study how you can compose a winning essay. This practical knowledge will facilitate the overall writing process and make it more fulfilling.