Sometimes one of the factors limiting my ability to write is the fact that I haven't yet talked myself through all of my ideas. I get this feeling that I could tell anyone all of my ideas on a certain subject or issue, but for some reason I cannot put those ideas into words. It's at times like these that I feel my writing is not all that great. I feel that if I write anything and people read it all they will do is make fun of me, or worse, I'll fail the assignment or what I was trying to achieve.
So what's the best way to not fail? Don't do it! That's right, this is where procrastination comes in. But procrastination is your worst ENEMY. If you are worried that you cannot climb a hill what should you do?
Please tell me you think it is better to practice little by little instead of running like crazy the day of the hike :) Writing is the same way. If you put off the assignment because you do not think you are going to do well, then you are just hurting yourself because you will have less time to do the assignment. Against anything you believe, including the popular excuse I work good under pressure, AGAINST anything you believe, putting of an assignment is a bad idea.
If you are having problems with an assignment, you should sit down and try to think your ideas out on paper. Just saying I know my ideas is not good enough. Sit down and try to write out all those ideas. Writing is a way of thinking. You cause yourself to think things through and find ways to put your ideas into words. By putting your ideas into words you begin to look at all you have to say about an idea. Do this early on, maybe when you first know about an assignment. This way if you find you do not have much to say about a certain idea you can look for more information about it, or decide to leave that idea out altogether. Either way, thinking about things early on and trying to put them into writing is much better than trying to write a full assignment on the bus to school and find out you do not have much to say, or much time to find other sources where you might find more ideas.
Start early!! Get a piece of paper and pencil or turn on your computer and open a word processing program, and write down all your ideas like you were talking to someone else. Even if it does not sound right, write down what you are thinking. You can always come back later and think of other ways to word a phrase or idea. Get your ideas down anyway you can. After you get all of your ideas in writing, then you can begin thinking about how you might develop or shape them.