GCSE English

Hi, I'm not sure this will be of any help but I have a few ideas. I really don't like writing and struggled with it at school (to the point of once even just handing in a blank piece of paper in an English test where we were meant to write an essay in class under timed conditions). I also regularly struggle to get things on paper even when I have ideas. I think the issue with writing is that involves many decisions. There are so many different ways that something could be formulated and this gets me stuck as I get paralysed or just cannot pick between the options. The other issue is that in my head ideas are often linked in a non-linear way- so I really struggle to then write them down in a linear fashion. Lack of confidence is another one- do any of these resonate with your son? If he understands the reasons why he is struggling to get ideas down in writing, it will be easier to come up with strategies. 

What happens if he has to talk about the essay question rather than write it down? I realised that I often do better when I talk about something out loud so I sometimes end up doing that whilst recording myself. I can then type up part of my recording and that helps me get something down on paper.

Does typing help? For me this is a mixed one. I really struggled with handwriting especially if I had to do it in pen as I felt like there was even more pressure to get it right the first time around as it is not so easy to change or rearrange things. I therefore much prefer writing in pencil. When I type that removes the pressure of not being able to change things but that causes new issues as I then end up writing many options of each sentence and also get stuck. 

Practice also really helps- I got much much better at writing under time pressure when doing my IB history course as our teacher forced us to regularly do handwritten timed essays in class- It was awful at first and so anxiety inducing but I did somewhat improve... I would have never done that unless I had been forced to though. I still avoid writing at all costs. 

What does he have to write/do for the English GCSE (I did IGCSE English Language and Literature and English Literature and later IB so I'm not so familiar with the GCSE)? Does it involve analysing a text? Creative writing? If it is text analysis it might help to just come up with a clear method of going about it (eg. looking for any figures of speech then writing a bit about each etc)- it helped me to have a 'recipe' to follow- maybe the tutor could help coming up with this. It just helps to make it more predictable and structured. 

Not sure if any of this is helpful- luckily I don't have to take English exams anymore- I'm a scientist now, though sadly this still involves quite a bit of writing. 

Hi, I'm not sure this will be of any help but I have a few ideas. I really don't like writing and struggled with it at school (to the point of once even just handing in a blank piece of paper in an English test where we were meant to write an essay in class under timed conditions). I also regularly struggle to get things on paper even when I have ideas. I think the issue with writing is that involves many decisions. There are so many different ways that something could be formulated and this gets me stuck as I get paralysed or just cannot pick between the options. The other issue is that in my head ideas are often linked in a non-linear way- so I really struggle to then write them down in a linear fashion. Lack of confidence is another one- do any of these resonate with your son? If he understands the reasons why he is struggling to get ideas down in writing, it will be easier to come up with strategies. 

What happens if he has to talk about the essay question rather than write it down? I realised that I often do better when I talk about something out loud so I sometimes end up doing that whilst recording myself. I can then type up part of my recording and that helps me get something down on paper.

Does typing help? For me this is a mixed one. I really struggled with handwriting especially if I had to do it in pen as I felt like there was even more pressure to get it right the first time around as it is not so easy to change or rearrange things. I therefore much prefer writing in pencil. When I type that removes the pressure of not being able to change things but that causes new issues as I then end up writing many options of each sentence and also get stuck. 

Practice also really helps- I got much much better at writing under time pressure when doing my IB history course as our teacher forced us to regularly do handwritten timed essays in class- It was awful at first and so anxiety inducing but I did somewhat improve... I would have never done that unless I had been forced to though. I still avoid writing at all costs. 

What does he have to write/do for the English GCSE (I did IGCSE English Language and Literature and English Literature and later IB so I'm not so familiar with the GCSE)? Does it involve analysing a text? Creative writing? If it is text analysis it might help to just come up with a clear method of going about it (eg. looking for any figures of speech then writing a bit about each etc)- it helped me to have a 'recipe' to follow- maybe the tutor could help coming up with this. It just helps to make it more predictable and structured. 

Not sure if any of this is helpful- luckily I don't have to take English exams anymore- I'm a scientist now, though sadly this still involves quite a bit of writing.