Scriptophobia: Exploring Causes and Strategies to Overcome It

This essay delves into the student's personal experience with scriptophobia, or the fear of writing, tracing its roots back to childhood and academic challenges. The student identifies difficulties in essay writing, including structuring ideas, sentence formation, vocabulary limitations, and a lack of analytical skills. The essay highlights the absence of comprehensive feedback from teachers and the impact on the student's ability to critically analyze topics and incorporate proper argumentation. The student proposes various solutions, such as improving vocabulary through reading, practicing writing regularly, seeking guidance from educators, participating in writing competitions, and choosing topics with existing knowledge. The importance of research, physical activity, and learning from surroundings is also emphasized, along with the benefits of peer support and networking with successful writers to overcome scriptophobia and improve writing skills. The essay concludes by viewing the increasing competition in the writing field as an opportunity for improvement and motivation.

Running head: SCRIPTOPHOBIA
Scriptophobia
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SCRIPTOPHOBIA
Since childhood, I have a phobia with writing essays. I was quite good in my
academics and scored good marks in the practical and oral examinations. I always feared
writing an essay and it took me many years to figure out the reasons behind it. Writing an
essay requires various skills to successfully complete an assignment. Many a times, I struggle
in fully developing, explaining and structuring the ideas and the supporting details in the
essay. I faced major difficulty in portraying the ideas on the given topic through writing. I
lacked the art of incorporating sentences having clear idea about the subject matter and also
faced difficulty in the concluding sentences. Constructing the required paragraphs to portray
different ideas and connecting them back to the thesis was a challenging task of my academic
career. Formation of the sentences is also not strong enough to execute the ideas of the
writing. The wordy and the awkward sentences embarrassed me. Moreover my primary
education was not in English which restricted me from using the appropriate phases and
words for a particular situation. As a student, I did not possess the analytical and cognitive
skills. Thus, the thinking capability automatically got effected and I could not implement
whatever I used to learn in my writing. I even avoided the practice of writing essays, as it was
my biggest fear. Proper learning of understanding the complex sentences, differentiating
between the nouns, using of proper punctuation and proofreading the errors were challenges
faced by me on everyday basis. My teachers in schools did not give me any comprehensive
feedback. Thus, initially I was not aware of how to improve on these challenges to overcome
the phobia of writing essays. Grades and ranking system did not help me to understand the
flaws I had in writing. I also faced issues in understanding the argument and critically
analyzing the given topic (Petraglia). I did not maintain the ethos, logos and pathos of an
essay, which was also an obstacle in my writing. Writing is never a one-sided argument.
Backing up the viewpoints with various reputable sources was also lacking in my writing. I

2SCRIPTOPHOBIA
could not find the correct key words for finding the write article that will guide me in my
writing.
These challenges can be overcome by applying few things in the writing. This needs
guidance from my parents or my tutor. My vocabulary can be improved by reading various
story books of different genre. Regular reading of the newspaper can also improve my
vocabulary (Ricketson). Parents or educators should be conversing in English language with
me in order to boost my confidence in the language. Argumentation is essential in any type
of writing. Improving argumentation will require regular practices in writing. Writing one
essay each day on any topic will enhance my skills in writing (Bruning). Help from the
educator and tutor will help me to communicate better and thus, I will be able to structure and
put my ideas and knowledge in writing. Participating in various writing competition might
not help me in scoring good but will help increasing my confidence. I can also get an
exposure to various types of writing which will encourage me to write more. In order to
improve my skills in formatting my essay paper, I should thoroughly go through the papers
provided by my teacher and take guidance from the teacher. Another way to overcome the
issues in writing an essay is to choose a topic in which I have a correct information and
strong knowledge (LaCapra). This will exempt half of my issues. Basic research will be
required after that to apply the knowledge. Regular exercise is also required in order to stay
active. An inactive body and mind can never provide innovative ideas. It is also very
important to observe and learn from the surroundings. Everybody around us can help us in
some way or the other in understanding things. Staying and working with knowledgeable and
productive people can enhance knowledge for writing essays (Bilal et al.). Continuous
support from peers, teachers and parents will boost my confidence and I will be able to
provide better writings. In order to retain the ideas and learning, I should discuss and share
the ideas with my peers. Networks with successful people will also enhance my subject

3SCRIPTOPHOBIA
knowledge. Leveraging the network of better and bigger writers and bloggers around me will
help me to deliver my messages across people through writing (Chokwe). Competition is
rapidly increasing due to the access of internet by everybody. On the other hand, competition
can act as opportunity to produce better writing and keep myself motivated.

4SCRIPTOPHOBIA
References
Ricketson, Matthew. Telling True Stories: Navigating the challenges of writing narrative
non-fiction. Allen & Unwin, 2014.
Bruning, Roger, et al. "Examining dimensions of self-efficacy for writing." Journal of
educational psychology 105.1 (2013): 25.
LaCapra, Dominick. Writing history, writing trauma. JHU Press, 2014.
Petraglia, Joseph, ed. Reconceiving writing, rethinking writing instruction. Routledge, 2013.
Chokwe, Jack M. "Factors impacting academic writing skills of English Second Language
students." Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 4.14 (2013): 377.
Bilal, Hafiz Ahmad, et al. "Investigating the problems faced by the teachers in developing
English writing skills." Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 2.3 (2013): 238-
244.