“How long does this have to be, Miss?”

When I was a teacher I would have students “free write” – write anything, any way without worry, judgment or expectation. Unfortunately, many students did not know how to handle this writing freedom and would sit and stare at the blank page, or raise their hand and say, “what do you want me to write about?” and “How long does this have to be?”

I would reply, “Write about anything you want – it only needs to be as long as it needs to be.” In response, my students sat with open mouths, blank stares and “I don’t know what that means,” look on their faces.

To that I would point my finger to the air and quote Hemingway,

“You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence.”

More open mouths, blank stares and “I don’t know what that means,” look on their faces.

In the end I helped them understand they were capable of writing and some even began to like it.

For years, students have been hitting me up for writing advice, especially for college essays and term papers.  I got so many requests to edit college essays it made my head hurt.  For my own sanity I wanted to send students to a site or resource where they could find the answers they desperately needed and so I could get back to my life.

There are a MILLION writing websites out there; English teachers like myself have been to most of them and know they are confusing at best, and do more harm than good.

However, when I came across academichelp.net I knew I found an amazing tool for writers of all ages and subjects.  AcademicHelp is the real deal in writing resources for students, professionals, parents, teachers and more.  It has so many tactical applications for every writing process.

academichelp.net is AWESOME for several reasons:

1. For writers the site has a ton of examples to satisfy different writing requirements.  When I say tons, this site literally has examples for every type of writing one can possibly think of: essays (narrative, expository, persuasive and more), lab reports, white papers, songs, brochures, letters, agendas, progress reports and the list goes on.  Literally, anything that fits into writing, AcademicHelp has.
2. For teachers, the site makes the challenge of differentiating instruction easy.  For example, if I want my students to have options in how they express themselves – traditional narrative essay, a brochure or a newspaper article – students can go to the site and find different examples to satisfy their interests.  They even have a tutorial on how to write a song!  Tell me what kid wouldn’t enjoy that choice in their writing assignment.
3. For students there is a General Writing Tips section on the website and is thorough and easy to understand.  Think of this section as the quick and easy way to figure out your most annoying writing issues – commas, subject-verb agreement, citing sources, bibliographies and more.
4. For everyone, AcademicHelp is easy to use.  Finding a layout for any type of writing is simple. Among the multitude of interesting categories, academichelp.net has resources for professionals with examples like case studies, fundraising letters, and even resignation letters.

The best part, when one of your college-bound high school students says, “can you help me with my scholarly essay?” you don’t have to die a little on the inside.  You can say, “sure!” and send them to academichelp.net.

YOU’RE WELCOME.