Essay writing

Thursday, 28 March 2019

4:14 PM

 Writing extends the memory, facilitates editing and clarifies a person's thinking; a
person's capacity to consider a number of ideas at the same time is broadened, then
have the time to critically evaluate them, leaving just the good ideas (it sharpens the
capacity to think). Those who can think and communicate are able to do a wide range
of things competently and efficiently. Learning to write and edit enables the person to
tell good ideas from bad ones. A person's mind is organised verbally, hence, through
writing, a person will develop a well-organised, efficient mind, one that's well-founded
and certain.
 In order to write effectively, use technology efficiently by providing oneself with the
right technology like having 2 screens; 1 displaying reference material and the other
for the essay, a good typing keyboard, and by setting it up in a way that’s suitable for
long term use like positioning of screens, etc. Also, using time wisely. For instance the
few minutes a person has can be used to start or make progress. However, one must
make best use of the mornings as this is when people's brains function better. They
should eat something that's somewhat solid before working. And shouldn't burn
themselves with too long sessions(EXTRA POINT)
 When writing, it's important to first choose the word, then make a sentence, and
thirdly, arrange the sentences into a paragraph (for beginners, a paragraph = 10
sentences or 100 words). A paragraph should present a single idea. If it can't make up
a 100 words, it probably isn't a good idea or wasn’t given enough thought and if 300,
then it probably contains more than one. Fourthly, paragraphs should be arranged in a
logical procession. Each one is a stepping stone to the final destination. Lastly, the
essay as a whole has to have some sort of creativity or originality to succeed otherwise
it is just not good enough even with the above four being found. Added to these is the
context of interpretation made up of the reader and their culture. Furthermore, one
should strive for brevity and beauty. And most importantly, it should be a topic of
interest to you and to your reader (don’t be bored, or boring).
 Whilst reading, one must take note of what catches their attention. This could be
something important, or disagreed with, or something a person simply wants to know
more about. Take notes after reading the topic or at least after every paragraph in
one's own words. This is a person's attempt to say what he thinks the author is trying
to get at. Eliminate what is extra and focus on what is important. And in order to write
intelligibly or speak intelligently, you need to know far more than you actually
communicate. For this, take as much as two to three times of notes more than needed
for an essay. Then, when writing the first draft, it should be around 25% longer than
the final word allocation. At this point, an outline of the essay has to be written. This
gives the fundamental form and structure (skeleton) for the essay. For each 100
words, the essay should cover one point of the outline. The maximum points/topics
are 15 no matter how long the essay is. If it is a long essay, then sub-topics should be
noted. The outline should then be made into the introduction, instead of the stock
intro (purpose and progression of essay).
 When writing a first draft, there's no need to worry about sentence construction and
proper grammar as long as words are been written. Make use of the notes extensively,
and if, on one of the outlines, a person gets stuck, move on. It can always be looked at
later. This is production. Next is editing. It serves to reduce and arrange. Production
and editing should be kept separate, otherwise they will hinder progress as well as
effort. During the process of editing, use more meaningful words that will allow to
reduce the length of sentence. There's nothing that improves the essay of a novice
writer than shorter sentences. Also, the usage of words should be that which a person
is comfortable to speak with. Their deliverance of a speech and an essay should be
alike. Then, within each paragraph, sentences should be re-arranged for a flow.
Sentences not needed can be discarded. Lastly, look at the paragraphs on a whole to
make sure there is a flow from to the other. A re-arranging of paragraphs may occur to
accommodate the change in the sub-topics.
 Once the first draft is complete, prepare a new outline, preferably from memory.
What a person remembers is generally a simplified important piece of info and this
acts as a filter for the essay itself. And don’t feel it hard to discard what isn't wanted.
It's then important to repeat the above point (the editing process), waiting a few days,
because what is written needs to be read, not what a person thought what they wrote.
The editing process comes to an end once the piece can't be improved; the
uncertainty of the newer version being better than the older. Lastly, references have
to be added where necessary, where an informed opinion or fact coming from some
source material is expressed, whether paraphrasing or a direct quote.