#i'm telling myself i hope she fails me so i Know what exams w her are like and i can figure out how to do it hahdkakdka noooooo

[ambreiiigns]

exam for the class that i Do like is gonna be three questions (Good i love questions bc i can't start a discussion on my own. and according to my bestie who already did these classes two years ago prof is really cool and Will settle for whatever as long as it's clear that i Get It and i do get it) and the exam for the class i do not care for will be three bits from the book (one of which i can choose) that i have to comment on. not sure what that means but i can definitively bullshit my way out of that 😎

[funkymbtifiction]

Hi, I'm an ISFP and I've always had trouble writing under pressure. I choke on timed essays and it takes me forever to finish papers for school. I do alright with planning and structure, but it's difficult for me to make connections and flesh out/articulate ideas. It's a super slow process for me because I tend to write strictly from beginning to end, and if something doesn't sound right to me I can't move on until I fix it and it "fits." How can I be a better/more efficient writer?

ENFP Mod: I wasn’t sure how to answer this so I asked truthaliar for her take on it, as a fellow ISFP.

Hey! I have a bit. I have to get to work but can quickly say, I also write from beginning to end, and writing under pressure can be tough. I usually skip the planning/brainstorming stage, to be honest. It slows me down, and I have more clarity if I just write down my thoughts, and edit and rewrite after. I’m guessing that might be somewhat common with Ni in any position, as that academic sort of brainstorming model seems like a forced imitation of Ne and Si. I had a tough time with making connections when I was younger. And I still kind of do.

Sometimes things seem either obvious and I can’t articulate the point, which is prob low Ni and Te, or I miss the point entirely, which I’m guessing is an absence of Ne. I do way better when I’m writing for fun, because that can be an opportunity to cultivate and combine Se and Ni. For school essays, practicing that Ni-Te combo is going to be important. Articulation is still awful for me because I want to filter through Fi, and I have to remind myself that no one cares what I think. It was also really tough for me to leave out my opinion about certain things in otherwise objective essays. So I had to learn to kind of tone down my moral compass, detach from distraction, and really just…write down my thoughts.

Try to turn down the volume on Fi and Se, or fulfill them in other ways. (listening to music while I’m writing or bribing myself helps ((ie, okay, I’ll finish this paragraph and then go play fetch w my dog)). Practice making Te statements. But I agree, articulation can be the hardest thing. As you can tell by the structure of this message, my structure is still.. not great. But, it got a lot better over time. I’m writing a thesis and do well on tests. I learned to ask myself, ‘what’s the point of what I’m trying to say?’ and sometimes, you can use your Ni to read the question and identity 'all right, what is the author of the question looking for?’

And honestly, practice helps. It’s boring. But time yourself. That’s what I did for the grad school entry exam. Write practice essays about random things. Your favorite color. Your favorite animal. Because if you spend time writing about your interests and passions, it’ll be easier to just straight up use the muscle memory about subjects you don’t care about. Some of it is just gonna be hard because it feels like you’re forcing yourself against your own nature, which Fi will probably get in the way of. Look for clarity. Give your work to your peers and ask them what they think your point is. I’ve done this and thought something made sense, and my friends will say 'oh, that’s not what I got from your work at all’ and then, start again til you get something that makes sense. Just like guitar or dance or drawing or sports or games or honestly any Se activity, you need to feel it out.

I’m also guessing Enneagram might play in a bit. My mom is also an ISFP but she has a 1 wing (in contrast, I’m probably 584), she is constantly working in her second language, and she nitpicks her writing like crazy. She wants to make sure she’s being interpreted correctly - for her, even subconsciously, it must be perfect. The advice I usually give her is a bit different; in that, your work may flow better than you think, and taking some of the pressure off of yourself will help a lot. Be kind to yourself about it. Visit your writing center. Bad grades here and there won’t make or break your career or your dreams. To compare, I’m the worst mathematician that I know; I straight up failed it in 11th grade; and yet today I’m using statistics in my research.

I hope that helps!!