One time, for a college course, the final exam was an in-class essay answering the simple prompt, What did you learn in this course?

My answer? “Nothing.”

The course had truly been a bad experience with sub-par instruction from the teacher, and I had been able to skate through all the assignments without really ingesting anything of lasting impact. I’m not ashamed to admit this, for not all classes are worthwhile or life-changing.

But unfortunately, I still had to answer the prompt, What did you learn in this course?

I could have written, “Nothing. You’re a bad teacher and this class was meaningless,” which is honestly all I had to say. But then I would have failed the final. I had to think of something to fill at least five paragraphs in order to call my response an essay. And I did. It wasn’t easy or fun, but I did it.

As much as I would love for students to write about things they are passionate for, the sad fact is everyone will encounter writing assignments they just don’t want to do. Either they aren’t interested in the topic, they truly have nothing to write about, or they simply draw a complete blank when looking at the prompt. What are students supposed to do in these situations?

Here are five homeschool writing tips for what to do when you think you have nothing to say.

1. Brainstorm

They can take some time to write down anything and everything that comes to mind when they read the prompt or think about the topic—even the random thoughts. Don’t think them. Write down the random thoughts. This may prime their brain to help them find something to say.

For example, if the student is asked to write a compare/contrast paragraph about cats and dogs, but the student just does not care one iota about pets and has never had a pet and never wants a pet, what are they supposed to write about? The student can brainstorm for a bit and realize that they’ve seen movies with dogs, and there’s comic strips about cats, and their uncle has a German Shepard, and lions are cats and they’ve seen The Lion King—and eventually they may come up with enough ideas to start writing.

2. Reread

Some assignments ask students to respond to something else, like a poem, article, or someone’s opinion. In these cases, when students can’t think of any response to the material, they should try reading the material again. Revisiting what they are supposed to respond to might help them come up with something to say.

3. Discuss

Students don’t have to face the world of academia alone! Sometimes, to get the writing juices flowing, talking about the topic with someone else will help them come up with ideas of their own. Does a parent or sibling have an opinion on the subject matter? Does a friend have any ideas about what to write? Talk about the assignment with someone else, and then take that discussion and put it onto paper.

4. Pretend

Hear me out: Students will not have first-hand experience with everything, and they certainly won’t be interested in all topics; so sometimes, the only way they can get through an assignment is to pretend they care about it. Sure, ideally, students are invested in their education and everything has a purpose and all that jazz, but I’m being real here. Sometimes, you have to fake it to make it.

For example, a student may be asked to relate the theme of a poem to their own life. However, the student doesn’t like the poem, doesn’t care about the poem, and can’t think of one single way the poem relates to their real life. How are they supposed to get through the assignment? Pretend they care about the poem, pretend it means something to them, and just fake their answer so they can get past this particular assignment. Everyone has to do this sometimes. I’m a writer and I love writing and I had to fake it sometimes in school just to be done with something.

Hot tip: This is especially true of SAT essays. The people grading those responses don’t care if what students write is true or not, as long as it’s well written.

5. Pander

This is probably my least positive suggestion, so feel free to skip it entirely, but I have to speak my mind. Thinking especially of the older students out there with college on the horizon, sometimes the only answer they can put to a question is the answer they know the teacher wants. When all other options fail and a student still can’t think of what to write,  they can just write what they know the teacher wants to hear. They’ll get a good grade (if they write well enough to cover their apathy), and the assignment will be over.

Remember my story about having to write a What did you learn? essay about a course I hated? This right here was how I survived that. I knew what the teacher wanted to hear, so I wrote that down. Yes, I was basically lying because I didn’t learn anything at all in the class, but I got through the final. And I got an A. And I never have to write that paper again.

Now go forth and write!

Everyone has times when they just can’t think of anything to say. I hope these tips help your students face those times with more confidence.

By Athena Lester
Head of Curriculum and Scoring

Along with the other scorers, I grade according to this standard not only because it provides consistency but also because it is the standard by which the average college professor grades written assignments (depending, of course, on the department and the class).

If your student uses Essentials in Writing and/or our scoring service, they will be prepared for any writing assignment that comes their way because of this standard, should they decide to attend college.

MLA format, however, is an ever-changing thing and also contains many rules that the average student may not know. This is perfectly normal—much of the frustration regarding writing formats like MLA and APA is that the rules do not always seem like common sense!

As a result, when I am grading students’ submissions, I often notice several types of mistakes that are common across compositions. These errors may not necessarily impede the reader’s understanding of the composition, but they do not adhere to what MLA prescribes—and the more your student learns about MLA now, the better prepared they will be for any writing assignments down the road.

With that in mind, below is a list of the top ten do/don’t rules when writing in MLA format:

1. Don’t forget the info tag.

   The “info tag” is how I refer to the information in the top left corner of the assignment’s first page: name, EIW level, assignment title, and date, the last of which is written like this: 25 May 2019. The exact information to be included differs according to institution, teacher, and class, so be sure to pay attention in order to learn what is required.

2. Do indent paragraphs.

   Unless an assignment’s guidelines specifically state otherwise, make sure that all paragraphs are indent by half an inch (or one press of the “tab” key). Doing so makes the composition easier to read.

3. Don’t forget double-spacing.

   The reason for this rule is similar to the previous rule—doing so simply makes the composition easier to read. It also leaves room for a teacher or scorer to leave feedback, especially if the composition has been submitted as a paper copy.

4. Do spell out numbers that are two words or fewer.

   This rule trips up many because our first inclination when dealing with numbers is to hit the numerals. However, words pronounced with two words or fewer—such as “seventy-seven” or “nine”—should be spelled out, including percentages but not decimals. For example, numbers such as 1,337 or 3.14 would not be spelled out—again, to achieve readability. A handy subset of this rule is to avoid symbols (%, $, &) wherever possible.

5. Don’t use contractions.

   Contractions are fine in everyday speech, but written compositions tend to (or should) use more formal language, so forgo that “isn’t” for “is not” and that “doesn’t” for “does not.”

6. Do write in the third person.

   As mentioned in the prior rule, compositions written according to MLA format are formal compositions, and third-person perspective is the most formal perspective. Avoid references to “I” and “you”—doing so may take some creativity, but the composition will be much more polished in the end.

7. Don’t forget to check your commas.

   Listing every comma guideline here would take up far too much room, but the two errors I see the most are missing commas after introductory material (a word, phrase, or clause) and before a conjunction that separates two independent clauses. Check out the examples below:

After reading the blog post, I had learned more about MLA format.

I wrote the sentence, and I used commas correctly.

8. Do hyphenate adjectives with multiple words.

   Ages are a particularly common offender in this area—“twelve-year-old brother,” “five-year-old sister.” If an adjectival phrase with at least two words precedes a noun, hyphenate it. Again, the goal here is readability for your reader. If the adjectival phrase follows the noun, however, hyphens are not necessary. For example, “up to date” would not be hyphenated in the following sentence: “The new app is up to date.”

9. Don’t use vague pronouns.

   The most common offender here is that all-purpose “it” which so often stands in for seemingly-indescribable ideas or thoughts. Consider the following sentence and then its rewritten form:

It is difficult to describe such an idea.

Describing such an idea is difficult.

Since infinitive verbs (“to [verb]”) often follow the subject “it,” transforming the infinitive verb into the subject of the sentence is an easy way to not only avoid that vague pronoun but also make the sentence more interesting. (This rule also applies to “there,” though that word is technically an adverb.)

10. Don’t hesitate to check your work.

    Purdue OWL, or the Purdue Online Writing Lab, is a trustworthy website provided by Purdue University that offers up-to-date guidelines for and information about MLA format. If you aren’t sure about a certain comma or wonder about that apostrophe, then simply look it up! You can also use MLA guidebooks, but be sure that the version you’re using is current.

This list is not a comprehensive guide to MLA format but simply some of the mistakes I often see when grading students’ compositions. I urge you and your student to often check Purdue OWL or additional resources in order to keep up with changes in MLA or just to brush up on the general guidelines.

Additionally, writing within certain guidelines takes time and practice, so don’t be surprised if your student feels frustrated by the many rules of MLA format that can often feel unnecessary. Writing well according to any format is, after all, an arduous process within an ever-changing language.

Danielle Nettleton

Curriculum Editor

Essentials in Writing