Trouble writing essays due to poor social skills?

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For as long as I can remember I always thought I was horrible at writing no matter if it was a report, essay, discussion or anything else requiring an "extended response". Whenever I looked at other people's papers I often saw that they wrote just like they were having a casual conversation. I knew I could never write the way they do. The best grade I have ever gotten on an essay is a C-. For state tests I always scored the highest level on math, but always below average on writing. Every single essay that I have ever written just past the page/paragraph requirement, sometimes even down to the sentence. I never understood what the point of making a minimum requirement is, if I can get the point across in just one or two pages, then I should be allowed to do that. I don't think I will ever figure out how I am supposed to drag out 7 pages on something that I can make a good argument out of with just two.

If you are officially diagnosed with a learning disability or something like autism, you probably could request accommodations as to "untimed tests" and other things.

If this happens to be so, I would pursue this avenue.

What kind of feedback are you getting from your professor? That would be helpful in knowing where to start.

My essays are usually like this cartoon below. I would start arguing a point, leave it underdeveloped or jump to the conclusions.

One thing I assume Aspies have difficulty with is keeping in mind is that people aren't telepathic, they aren't going to understand what you want to say, or the logical steps that led you to a certain conclusion, without you telling them. That's why you should take the time (and pages) to explain what needs to be explained so that the reader gets some context.

When I took a writing course in university this was one difficulty I had. I was always reminding myself to "step outside of myself" and wonder what the other person might be thinking to tailor my essay accordingly. After you've finished writing, ask someone else to read it and tell you if it's clear. That can help until you've gotten the hang of it.

I've been told I am good writer and my social skills are bottom of the barrel, I always had trouble with English teachers up until my last class and people were saying I couldn't write before that. I think it is a skill that can be cultivated, I've conversed online probably more than I have in real life so writing for a conversation is easy but how decipherable I am to people I don't know, my English teacher said my writing was a bit dense whatever that mean. I purposely tried to write to my English teacher as well, I knew what he liked and wanted so I got an easy A in that class. Now he was really cool professor, I can't imagine 102 being a tenth as fun. One thing is for sure, always try to get as old of English teacher as possible since these new ones are up their own *** in the new "correct" way to teach students just like they have a new "correct" way to teach math.

^I've had similar problems with teachers. I also can't stand essays. I'm a creative writer, through and through.

I also have a similar problem, for example the guy next to me in my class can wright like 8 pages on one assignment criteria, where as i could barely right a page. everyone else was writing multiple pages but not me, the other thing thats the problem is when you are asked to "infer something from this article" or my worst one back in high school "look at this scene in Shakespeares Macbeth, describe the language and social tools shakespeare uses to convey this scene" i write half a page, maybe a bit more, everyone else writes way more.

my theory is: you know how we don't pick up on social ques and things like that from people? i think we do the same with written work, we don't interpret much from the subject. also literal mindedness comes into play here, you ask the question, you get the answer, short and simple. NT's have the ability to answer the question and realise all the other stuff they could talk about on the side and the general subject they are meant to be talking about, a sort of "fill in the blanks" style of writing, where as we can't do that, so answer the question giving them literally what they ask for, and so can't write more because thats the question answered

Odd that you lose marks for writing without colloquialisms and using a passive voice; those are the sort of thing you generally don't want on your essays. Anyways, as others have said, try to have a one-on-one with your professor/teacher and find out exactly what it is you are doing wrong. Also, definitely take advantage of your IEP (if you have one).

Reading lots of books and short stories might help you become a better writer.

I'm a good writer when it comes to things like news articles—I write for the newspaper at my college—but I can't write essays to save my life. I never understood why I can't make them long like other people can. I agree with the taking things literally part; just last year, one of the essays said to examine the conflict of a story, then it asked questions about it, and I just answered the following questions because I assumed "examine" meant "think about." Turned out it meant "write about."

Yeah, I often found myself struggling to stretch essays out. My creative writing skills were above average, but anything non-fiction that required me to be comedic or persuasive took way too much effort and when I read it, felt forced and robotic.

I had written a few paragraphs of advice, but it seems my phone ate it when I tabbed out to check a dictionary.

The jist is, your poor social skills have only really aided you in avoiding using vernacular in essays. Using a precise and commanding dialect of English for academic writing is what'll get you an A and praise. Read some of the Great writers of English literature, from early modern English to post-modernism. You of course should go at your own pace and internalize how these geniuses write, then grab yourself a grammar book so you don't look silly trying to integrate that into your own style allthewhile making awkward mistakes. You're already a step ahead, since you don't have to transition from writing organically in a conversational style to trying to make ESWE organic. Or at least that's what I tell myself. Don't give up, at one point I could barely write a compete sentence and now I'm longing for more complex essay topics. You can probably get accomidations until you begin the ascent, just ask.

If you or anyone else needs more advice, just PM me and I'll get back to you when I get on my PC.
I'd also just like to say that I really hope I'll enjoy this community, I've been rejecting my disorder for a while and always thought I was just a severe introvert, but going off to university and seeing how NTs, even introverted ones, actually behave was a big eye opener.