Val, you just described me in college and my 9 year old daughter now!
She decided every other subject is so much more easier than writing (essays especially). She is so frustrated that she has to sit and think hard and come up with 'WOW' statements and use metaphors that she tries to find ways to bypass that.
Her recent antic was that she will draw a thinking-map instead of a book review. The teacher didn't praise her as mush as she usually does and my DD was so dissappointed! laugh