Writing Heads

Strong readers don’t read *every* word.

But they don’t choose what and how they read arbitrarily. They make decisions *before* they start reading - that allow them to read strategically.

So - the big question is: what decisions do you need to make before you jump into your research to optimize your reading time?

And - the answer to that is a clear and specific guiding question. Not a topic. Not an area of interest. A focused and open-ended question that tells you what you’re reading for.

Once you have your guiding question - and a sense of what your essay needs to figure out - you can decide when to skim, when to skip, when to put the brakes on, and when to abandon a text and move onto the next.

If you want help figuring out what to do *before* you start writing, Essay Relief walks you through the thinking that makes the whole essay process feel more manageable.

Details / link in bio.

Academic writing isn’t about staying safely outside the “no trespassing” zone.

It’s about getting close enough to the text to actually think with it.

The closer you get, the more you can see.

Want to get better at reading, thinking, and writing? Check out my tutorials.

Link in bio.

Not every thought you have while reading can become part of your argument.

Some thoughts emerge from the text. Others are simply related to the text. Both are useful—but they do different work.

Learning to tell the difference is a big part of learning to think and write academically.

My tutorials are designed to help you develop a writer’s sensibility so you can see what your thinking is doing - where it’s working and where there’s room to improve it.

Reading isn’t about finding the same things in every text. It’s about noticing what this text is doing.

The better you read, the more you have to think—and write—with.

That’s what I teach in my tutorials → link in bio.

Writing isn’t just about assembling parts and pieces.

Yes, writing has parts and pieces—but before those parts and pieces make sense, you need to know what they’re doing there.

A topic sentence, for example, can’t do its job if you don’t know what you need it to accomplish.

The writing gets easier when the thinking comes first.

That’s what I teach in my tutorials → link in bio.

Over-reading / overthinking - can feel like you’re going in circles.

And - it’s easy to get caught up in those intrusive thoughts: - “here we go again,”
- “this always happens,”
- “I have no clue what I’m doing right now,”

And most often this isn’t a “reading problem.” It’s a planning one.

It’s that you didn’t make enough decisions *before* you started.

That’s exactly what I walk you through in Essay Relief — how to plan your thinking before you dive into the reading and writing.

If this is something you struggle with, check out Essay Relief. It’s the tutorial I didn’t have in university that I wish I’d had.

✨Reading and writing aren’t the same process.✨

Reading moves you toward decisions. Writing starts with them.

And that’s where a lot of essay woes begin for students. Because - they try to write an essay the same way they read one.

But - the writing process starts with decisions — before the research, before the paragraphs, before the thesis is set in stone.

My tutorial Essay Relief walks you through how to make those decisions so you actually know what you’re looking for when you research.

Link in bio (if you’re interested)

⚠️Neat notes are out! ⚠️

Your notes shouldn’t look like you’ve already figured it all out.They should show you *figuring it out.*

Not answers → questions
Not conclusions → possibilities
Not certainty → curiosity
Not just quotes → your thoughts, patterns, connections and observations

And, while I appreciate neat / legible printing, your notes should reflect the messy middle - the place in between reading & writing where thinking happens.

…because thinking is what eventually gives you something worth saying in your essay.

Want to get better at the thinking behind your writing?

That’s exactly what my tutorials teach. Not how to write perfect sentences. Not formulas to organize a paragraph. And not an acronym to write a one-size-fits-all introduction. They teach you the kind of thinking strong essays are built on and that help you develop a writer’s sensibility.

Link in bio.🔗

Stop thinking of your essay as a stack of paragraphs.
—> Think of it as a stack of *observations.*

Your paragraphs are just where you organize those observations.

When you focus on building paragraphs, you can end up asking:

“What am I supposed to say in this paragraph?”

But when you focus on making observations, the better question becomes:

“What am I noticing—and what does that make me think?”

That shift changes not only how you write - but how you think *as you read.*

And , it sets you up for the kind of thinking that takes you from summarizing what you read to interpreting it. That’s the kind of thinking I’m after in OOPS! Studio.

Doors close today. Check out writingheads.com for info (link in bio) or…

DM me OOPS + your email address and I’ll send you the details.

Active reading doesn’t always *look* active.

Sometimes it looks like staring out the window.
Putting your pencil down.
Reading the same sentence twice.
Sitting with a thought before moving on.

Because reading isn’t just taking in words—it’s making meaning.

That’s exactly what we practice inside OOpS!: slowing down, noticing more, and learning how to think your way to stronger writing.

Doors close tomorrow!.

DM OOPS + your email address and I’ll send you the details.