Help! I'm stuck with writing my essay (writers block)

With second semester assessments fast approaching, it can sometimes feel like you have writers block when writing an essay. Try this method to overcome it...

1. Start afresh. Either by getting a new piece of paper or starting a new document. I like to start a new paragraph when using word underneath what I have previously written and start from the beginning. Then, if you get stuck you can see if you can finish it off with something you have already written, but don't forget to delete the old stuff afterwards.
2. Write a key word or phrase at the top of your piece of paper or document. This can either be a key term that is relevant to the essay or some idea that you want to put in it such as:
• The aim of my essay is to...
• In the first paragraph, I am going to explain...
• The main argument that I want to make is...
• What is it that I'm trying to say?
3. Set yourself a short period of time (1-2 minutes is plenty) and start writing. Try not to worry about the order of you thoughts, the aim of this is to get your thoughts down on paper. 
4. Make sure you use the whole of the allocated time even if you feel not much of it is relevant to your essay- you can always edit these ideas later. If you still have some ideas left at the end of the time, keep writing!
5. When you have finished review what you have written. You should have produced something that captures your ideas in ordinary language but you can easily reword this into a more appropriate style for your essay. Some ideas may need a little reorganising but this is fine. 

Hopefully this method will have kick-started your essay writing and overcome your writers block. 

Taken from: Criminology skills by Emily Finch and Stefan Fafinski. 

3 books you must read before starting a Law degree

These books are a mixture of the books recommended for the course by my university and by a simple google search and trawling through thousands of reviews. I found number 3 the most helpful out of them all. 

1~ How to study Law (sixth edition) Sweet & Maxwell

This book covers the basic legal skills and contains many tips on how to make the most of your time studying, referencing and researching, as well as self-test questions.

2~ The Legal System (fourth edition) Kate Malleson & Richard Moules

This book provides an overview of the key "institutions, personnel and procedures that makeup the legal system in England and Wales". This book also handily includes self-test questions and other recommended reading in the form of web links and similar cases. 

3~ What about Law? Studying Law at university (second edition) Catherine Barnard, Janet O'sullivan and Graham Virgo

This is probably the one I found most interesting as it contains the key cases in all of the different areas of law and then goes on to analyse the case in more detail. This book gives an indepth idea of what studying Law at university is all about. 

Reading is a key part of a law degree and the more you read and understand, the easier researching, referencing and eventually writing the tedious essays will become.