Is it just me, or is the word count the scariest part of the essay?

ArnoldW · 2026-03-05T12:24:35+0000

I have this 5-page essay due for my Intro to Political Philosophy class next week, and I literally just cannot bring myself to start. It's not even that the topic is super hard (it's on Machiavelli), but every time I look at the blank document, my brain just turns to complete mush.

I have all my sources bookmarked, I even made a rough outline, but the idea of fleshing it out into 1500 coherent words feels like climbing a mountain. How do you guys deal with the initial dread? Do you just word-vomit and fix it later, or do you need to have the perfect first sentence before you can move on? I've already cleaned my entire apartment twice today just to procrastinate.

Send help (and caffeine)!

Wella · 2026-03-05T21:17:18+0000

The blank page is literally terrifying.

Here's my method that works every time:
Step 1: Open document
Step 2: Type the worst possible version of my thesis at the top. Like genuinely bad. "Machiavelli was a guy who wrote about princes and stuff."
Step 3: Write bullet points of everything I might want to say, no order, no paragraphs
Step 4: Take those bullet points and group them into rough paragraph topics
Step 5: Write ONE paragraph. Just one. Doesn't have to be the introduction.
Step 6: Take a break, feel accomplished

The intro is literally the hardest part. Skip it. Write the body first, then come back and write the intro LAST when you actually know what you said.

Is it just me, or is the word count the scariest part of the essay?

ArnoldW

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Wella

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