Essay Writing

Toolkit

Made by Mike Gershon –

[email protected]
Contents
Essay Planner Alternative Plans Command Words Paragraphs

Orwell Russell Writing Guides Purpose

Structure Introductions Conclusions Read Aloud

Speed Debating Formal Debating Silent Debate Evaluation Tables

First Sentences Peer-assessment Redrafting Model Answers

Evidence Reasons Examples Group Essays

Viewpoints Cut and Paste Repetition Mind Maps

Different Arguments Critiquing Arguments

Sources
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Essay Planner

An excellent essay planner is available

at:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/r
esources/interactives/essaymap/

This resource helps students map out

their essay in advance. It breaks the
process down into simple steps and
provides a clear, visual overview.

Essay maps can be printed, saved or

shared once complete.

Blank essay maps can be printed off if

students do not have computer access
(this feature is available from the first
page of the link).
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Alternative Plans
A range of ways to plan essays:

- Write a summary of your main argument. This is

particularly helpful for clarifying and refining ideas.

- Write the first sentence of each paragraph. These

should answer the question and form a coherent
whole.

- Write the conclusion first. Then, work out what you will
need to include in order to reach it.

- Bullet point your introduction, main body, and

conclusion.

- Create a spider diagram with the essay question at the

centre.

- Draw out sub-questions from the title. Order the series

of questions you create and answer each in turn.

- Create a table. Put your key points across the top.

Evidence for and evidence against goes along the side
(for example -
http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/free_stuff/essay_planner/ind
ex.htm
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Command Words
Command words are those words which
indicate to a student what they ought to do
Evaluate in their essay.

Here are some examples:

Explain Compare
Contrast

Describe Describe
Define
Discuss
Evaluate
Explain
Illustrate
Explanations of command words can be found at: Justify
Outline
• www.wjec.co.uk/uploads/publications/10055.doc

• http://store.aqa.org.uk/resourceZone/pdf/ict/AQA-ICT-W-TRB-CWICT.PDF Students who know the functions of such

• http://seis.bris.ac.uk/~hihrp/StudySkills/EssayWriting.pdf words are in a better position to answer the
• http://owll.massey.ac.nz/academic-writing/command-words.php
question.
• http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://hbsbusiness.net/commandwords.doc&sa=U&ei=5
GnLTpikBseu8QPzqdX-Dw&ved=0CBYQFjAAOAo&usg=AFQjCNFr9Gah16TOSsEki2a_M1Ia6
EQzSQ
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Paragraphs
Paragraphs ought to have a clear focus. If the writer has a new point to make they
should start a new paragraph. A long, unwieldy paragraph will most likely lack clarity.
Remind students that an essay is a piece of communication. Good communication is
clear and precise.
Point
Here are three examples of paragraph structures students can use in their essays:

PEE

Point (make a point)

Explain Explain (explain that point)
Evidence (provide evidence to support the point)

PEEL

As above with the addition of:

Evidence Link (connect the paragraph to that which will follow)

PESEL

Point (make a point)

Explain (explain that point)
Support (support the point using evidence, reasoning or examples)
Evaluate (evaluate the point)
Link (connect the paragraph to that which will follow)
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Orwell

George Orwell wrote a wonderful essay railing

Rule Rule against poor, imprecise and dishonest use of the

English language. It is well worth reading and well

1 2 worth passing on to your students.

The essay contains six simple rules any writer can

Rule Rule use to improve the accuracy and clarity of their

work.
3 4 The essay is available at:

Rule
http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/patee.html
Rule http://wikilivres.info/wiki/Politics_and_the_English_Language

5 6 http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/essays/politics-and-the-engli
sh-language.htm

http://orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit

http://mla.stanford.edu/Politics_&_English_language.pdf
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Russell
Bertrand Russell was best known as a
philosopher, logician and social critic. He wrote
clearly and with great lucidity.

How Much of his work is available online:

http://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/brtexts.html

Perhaps the most useful piece for students is

I ‘How I Write’. This can be accessed at:

http://www.davemckay.co.uk/philosophy/russe
ll/russell.php?name=how.i.write
Writ
e And

In this document (paste into Word and enlarge

the font size).

It gives an insight into the process of writing

and some simple rules one may wish to follow.
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Writing Guides

There are many guides to writing available. Some which

come highly recommended are:
• The • Fowler’s • The
Element Modern Penguin
s of English Guide
The Elements of Style, William Strunk JR. and E.B. White
Style Usage to
Punctua http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elements-Style-William-Strunk-Jr/dp/020530902X/ref=sr_1_1
-tion ?ie=UTF8&qid=1321955875&sr=8-1

Pocket Fowler’s Modern English Usage, Robert Allen

(ed.)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pocket-Fowlers-English-Paperback-Reference/dp/019923258X
/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in

The Penguin Guide to Punctuation, R.L. Trask

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Penguin-Guide-Punctuation-Reference-Books/dp/014051
3663/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321956240&sr=1-1

(Advocacy, David Ross QC, contains an excellent chapter on legal writing. Nearly all of it is applicable to student essay writing. The book is
available at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Advocacy-David-Ross/dp/0521884764/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321956381&sr=1-3 )
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Purpose
An essay without a clear purpose is liable to become
unfocussed. Coherence may be lost and, if it is, logic
will most likely disappear as well.

Here are some activities to help ensure students

retain a clear purpose:
Purpose i) Provide students with a range of essay titles.
Ask them to come up with a single sentence
for each which encapsulates what their answer
would be about.

ii) Set an essay for the class. Insist that the first
sentence of each paragraph must answer the
question. Once the essays are complete, ask
Intentio students to read their first sentences to one
another.
n iii) Provide students with an essay title. Ask them
to come up with a single sentence
encapsulating what their answer would be
about. Collect 3-4 different examples. Ask
students to create an appropriate plan for
each one. They should stick to the different
purpose each time.
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Structure

Students think differently. Certain questions invite

certain types of response. Here are a range of
essay structures for students to use:

1) Introduction -> Arguments For -> Arguments Against -> Conclusion

2) Introduction -> 1st Argument For -> 1st Argument Against -> 2nd Argument For -> 2nd
Argument Against -> Conclusion

3) Introduction -> Main Body -> Conclusion

4) Introduction -> First Key Theme -> Second Key Theme -> Third Key Theme -> Conclusion

5) Introduction -> First Point -> Critique of First Point -> Second Point -> Critique of Second
Point -> Conclusion
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Introductions

Introductions should be clear and precise. They should

indicate what the essay is about. They should answer the
question. At times it may be appropriate to analyse certain
words in the question and reformulate accordingly.

Introduction 1 Introduction 2 An introduction should make it clear to the reader what to

expect. It should be brief, saying only what is necessary
and no more.

Activities

i) Give students a range of essay titles. Ask them to

Introduction 3 Introduction 4 write introductions for each one.

ii) Once students have written an introduction, ask

them to rewrite it using fewer words but with the
same meaning.

Introduction 5 iii) Put students in groups. Everyone has a piece of

paper. Give an essay title. Everyone writes the first
sentence of the introduction. Papers are then passed
on and everyone writes the second line. Continue
until the introductions are complete. Review and
discuss.
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Conclusions
Conclusions should summarise what has gone before.
They should never contain new material. That is,
anything which has not been dealt with in the
preceding text.

A A good conclusion draws together the threads which

the writer has woven to form a tight, coherent whole.
An average essay can be raised by a strong conclusion;
a good essay can be felled by a bad one.

C Activities

i) Give students a range of essay titles and ask

them to write conclusions for each. When done,
students work in pairs to compare and contrast.

B ii) Give students an essay title. Ask them to write

their conclusion and then go back and write the
essay.

iii) Students are given an essay title. They must write

3-5 different conclusions which could fit with the
title. Next, they compare these with a partner
before planning out the detail which would
precede a couple of the conclusions.
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Read Aloud
Reading ones own work out loud is a useful way to test the
quality of an essay. Speaking what has been written means
giving voice to anything which does not make sense, is not
clear, or comes across as verbose. There is no where to hide
when reading aloud.

Activities

i) Students complete an essay and get into groups. They

take it in turns to read aloud to the rest of the group.
Other members offer corrections and alternatives.

ii) Students complete an essay. A few students take it in

turns to read their essay aloud to the whole class. The
audience makes notes and gives feedback (alternative:
the audience is divided up and they make notes on
different areas, for example structure, argument and
so on).

iii) Students complete an essay for homework. Once

finished, they read it aloud to themselves (perhaps
standing in front of the mirror). Any issues which
appear in the reading should be corrected.
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Speed Debating
Speed Debating is a good activity to do in advance
of essay writing. It works as follows:

i) Introduce a proposition. For example,

‘Conservatism is not relevant to modern
politics’.

ii) Divide the class in half.

For Against iii) Indicate which half of the class will be arguing
FOR and which half will be arguing AGAINST.

iv) Give students time to construct their

arguments.

v) Ask the students who are FOR to stand up.

They must find a student who is AGAINST and
sit opposite them.

vi) Students take it in turns to speak (2-3 minutes

for each) before 1-2 minutes of free-for-all.

vii) Students who are FOR stand up and find a new

partner. Repeat step VI and so on.
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Formal Debating
Formal Debating is a good activity to do in advance of essay writing. It works
as follows:

i) Introduce a motion. For example, ‘This house believes that human

behaviour is biologically determined’.

ii) Divide the class in half. One half will be FOR. One half will be Against.
Proposer
iii) Each group must nominate three speakers. These will be the Proposer,
the Seconder, and the Summariser.

iv) The groups prepare their arguments in detail.

Seconder
v) The Proposers, Seconders, and Summarisers are called forward. They
sit at the front, with a judge in between.

vi) The Proposer FOR the motion speaks first for an allotted period of
time. The Proposer AGAINST then speaks and so on.
Summariser
vii) The rest of the class act as an audience. They must come up with
questions to ask the speakers at the end of the debate.

viii) Finally, a judgement is given as to who has won the debate.

Resources available at - http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/debatinginschools/index.asp

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Silent Debate
Silent Debate is a good activity to do in advance of essay
writing. It works as follows:

i) The teacher writes questions and/or statements in the

centre of 3-6 large pieces of paper. These are then spread
around the room.

ii) Students enter and are told they are not allowed to talk.
They must take out a pen and move around the room,
reading the questions/statements.

iii) Students must write their responses to each

question/statement on the paper.

iv) When they have answered each one, they continue to

move around, except they now comment on other
people’s comments.

v) Once sufficient time has elapsed, end the activity and use
the sheets as a basis for discussion. From this, it will be
easy for students to dive straight into their essays.
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Evaluation Tables
Evaluation tables help students to critique the material . An
example is given below. This is taken from A Level Psychology. The
study could easily be replaced by an interpretation of a historical
event, a philosophical argument, a scientific experiment and so on.

Evaluation tables makes it easier for students to write about such

information as they contain. This in turn makes their essays more
critical.

Study Strengths Weaknesses

‘Bobo Doll’ study Control group used Potentially unethical

Pre-screening for aggression; May have shown behaviour

children sorted into groups imitative of adults rather than
containing similar mixtures of simply aggressive
personalities

Findings corroborated by greater Sample lacked variation

amount of male than female
violence in society
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First Sentences
What comes first sets the tone. It must.

In an essay, the first sentence of a paragraph ought to indicate

First what that paragraph is about. If it does not, there is a high risk of
logical confusion developing. This makes the writing less clear.

Sentence The purpose of an essay is to communicate understanding,

argument and judgement. Therefore, one should always strive for
clarity and sense. From the first sentence, to the last.

Activities

…
i) Give students an essay title. Ask them to imagine how they
would go about answering it. Then, they must write the first
sentence of each paragraph. When finished, develop into
paired or group discussion.

ii) Students are in groups. Give them an essay title. Ask them to
write the series of first sentences which would suffice for the
essay. When finished, each group reads their sentences out

…
and takes feedback.

iii) Students are given an essay title. They come up with two
alternate plans then write the first sentences for each.
Students then self-assess, deciding which would be the
better essay and why.
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Peer-assessment
Peer assessment affords students two opportunities. First,
of reading someone else’s work. Second, of analysing and
applying the mark scheme they themselves will be
assessed against.

Activities

i) Students are given a title and write their essays. On

completion, they pair up and swap work. The
teacher provides a mark scheme. Students mark
each others work and set a target. Discussion
ensues.

ii) Students write their essays. The teacher collects and

shuffles them. The essays are handed out at random,
along with a mark scheme. Students mark the essay
they get and set a target. They then seek out the
author and explain their decisions.

iii) Students write their essays anonymously. The

teacher collects them in, shuffles them and
redistributes them, along with a mark scheme.
Students mark the essay they receive. Finally,
authors reclaim their essays and discuss their results
with the marker.
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Redrafting
Redrafting is not always the most pleasurable activity. Students often
find it hard to write an essay and baulk at the prospect of redoing it.
Nonetheless, redrafting is an effective medicine if one can get past the
bitter taste. The following activities might make the process a little
easier.

1st Activities

i) Take in and mark your students’ essays. Set them a clear target
which relates directly to what they have done in that essay. Give
them one example of how they might alter their work. Return the
essays and ask for a redraft based on the target, the identification
2nd of areas requiring improvement, and the example of what that
improvement might look like.

ii) Students write their essays and make a note at the bottom of
what they would like an editor to focus on (for example,
argument, grammar, key words and so on). Students swap essays
3rd and edit each others work paying special attention to what has
been requested. The essays are returned and students use the
editing to help them redraft their original piece.

iii) Students receive a target, either from the teacher or via peer-
assessment. They choose 2-3 paragraphs to redraft in line with
the target. The original marker then looks at the new paragraphs
and provides feedback.
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Model Answers
A model answer is the ideal; it is the perfect mix of content
and style, evaluation and analysis, argument and evidence.
Some exam boards provide model answers as exemplars.
You can create your own library by photocopying the very
best work your own students produce.

Activities

i) Following the writing and marking of an essay, provide

students with a copy of the mark scheme. Place them
in groups and ask them to create a model answer,
taking account of the detailed information in the mark
scheme.

ii) Hand out copies of the model answers you have

collected (without any grades visible). Give students
the appropriate mark scheme. In pairs, they work
through the model answer, identifying why it received
such high marks. Follow up with discussion.

iii) Students work in groups of 4-6. They should already

have completed an essay. Using the same essay title,
their marked essays and a mark scheme, they create a
model answer on large sugar paper, splitting the work
up between them. Students present to each other
with explanations.
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Evidence
A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence
(David Hume).

A claim is a claim. Only through support does it become an argument. Evidence is

one of the most crucial means of support. It picks out something in the world and
says ‘hey, look: this proves what I am saying to be true’. Whether it actually proves
it or not is another matter, one most often left to the reader to decide. These
activities will help students think carefully about evidence:

Activities

i) Give students an essay title and ask them to write a brief plan. Next, ask them
to go through and identify what evidence they would use to support each
point. They should make a list of this evidence and provide a rationale for each
piece. Students swap their plans and lists of evidence with a partner. They read
through and comment on the strength of the evidence. Finally, a discussion
ensues.

ii) Introduce students to the credibility criteria: Bias; Corroboration; Consistency;

Reputation; Ability to Perceive; Vested Interest; Expertise; Neutrality (BC
CRAVEN). Provide them with a range of evidence to assess using these criteria.
More information at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A-level_Critical_Thinking

iii) Students work in pairs. They are given a topic to discuss. Person A starts. They
must support every point they make with evidence. Person B stops them if
they fail to do this at any point and the roles are reversed.
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Reasons
We use reasons to persuade others that our claims are true. For example:

Children can write essays (claim/conclusion)

If A, 1) I have seen many children write essays.

Then B 2) I myself was once a child and wrote many essays at that time.

3) Cognitive psychology shows intelligence is not innate and that

everyone has the capacity to learn.

Each of these is a reason supporting the claim (or conclusion). We could

If B, insert the word ‘because’ between them to further prove the case. Here
are some activities to get students thinking about reasons:

Then C Activities

i) Give students a newspaper article or politician’s speech and ask

them to identify the claims made along with the reasons used to
support them.

If A, ii) Give students a claim (this could be subject-related or completely

random). Ask them to come up with as many reasons as possible
which could support it.
Then C iii) Give students an essay title. Ask them to come up with a brief plan.
For each key point identified in the plan, they must find three
reasons which could be used to support it. Students then work in
pairs, explaining their reasons to one another and critiquing them.
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Examples
When one makes a claim about the world, it is often general or
abstract in nature. The addition of an example helps to
contextualise the statement in the mind of the audience

Claim
(whether reader, viewer or listener). This strengthens the case,
adding a reference point which can be taken a hold of,
considered, checked and reflected upon.

For example:

Churchill provided effective leadership during the war. For

example, he spoke eloquently to the British people, thus

Example 1
galvanising their spirits at a time of great difficulty.

Activities

i) Students work in pairs. One person speaks, the other

listens. The speaker must back up everything they say
with an example. If they fail to do so, the listener points
this out and the roles are reversed.

Example 2 ii) Hand students their essays back. Ask them to go through
and highlight every example they have given. Then, they
should identify where else they could have used
examples and what these could have been.

iii) Give students an essay title. Ask them to plan the essay.
Next, students identify an appropriate example for each
paragraph in the main body.
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Group Essays
Like long-distance running, essay writing can be a lonely
business. Inspire and motivate students by having them
work in groups. Here are some possible activities:

i) Put students in groups of three. Provide an essay

title. Working together, the students must write the
essay. One could do the introduction and first key
point, one most of the main body, and the third the
remainder including the conclusion.

ii) Students work in pairs. They agree a central

argument for the essay. They then agree the main
points in favour of this argument. One student
writes the paragraphs explaining these. The other
student writes rebuttal paragraphs evaluating each
point.

iii) Students work in groups of three or four. They are

given an essay title and a large sheet of sugar
paper. They must produce a detailed plan on the
sugar paper which they will subsequently present
to the class. The audience quizzes the group on
their decisions.
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Viewpoints
In a court case two different arguments will be proposed in the face of
a single set of evidence. Instances are frequent where both cases are
persuasive and plausible. It can take much careful reasoning to come to
a decision as to the verdict which ought to be given.

Students, eager to put forward their own viewpoints, sometimes miss

the nuances inherent in many topics. These activities seek to draw out
some of the gradations.

Activities

i) Give students a key piece of content (for example, a study, an

historical event, a philosophical argument). Follow this up with a
range of perspectives relevant to your subject. Ask students to
analyse the content from each position in turn. They can then
compare and contrast the results.

ii) Students work in pairs. They receive an essay title. Each must
sketch a plan which has a clear, coherent perspective. Students
swap plans and write each other’s essays.

iii) Place an essay title on the board. Hand out, at random, a series of
cards with different positions/perspectives written on each.
Students must sketch a brief plan of the essay they would write
from that perspective/position. They then stand up and find a
partner (with a different perspective/position). Fevered debate
should ensue, with the plan as a point of reference.
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Cut and Paste

This activity helps students to think about essay
structure, logic and coherence.

i) Make copies of three essays. These should

represent a high middle and low mark (for
example, A, C, and E).

ii) Cut the essays up, using paragraph breaks as the

points of incision, and place the pieces in an
envelope (make sure you do not mix up pieces
from the different essays).

iii) Students get into groups. Each group receives an

envelope. They empty out the contents and try to
recreate the essay. Once they are done, they read
through and assess its quality.

iv) Repeat with the other two essays if time.

v) Develop a whole-class discussion drawing on the

experience.
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Repetition
The single best way to improve ones writing is through
First Attempt repetition. Practicing again and again. Students may
not like this, but they will acknowledge the powerful
logic which underpins it. Here are some choice quotes
to help sugar the pill:
Second Attempt

Practice is the best of all instructors (Publilius Syrus).

Third Attempt
My secret is practice (David Beckham).

What we hope ever to do with ease we may learn first

Fourth Attempt to do with diligence (Samuel Johnson).

Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness,

Fifth Attempt its opposite, never brought a man to the goal of any
of his best wishes (Miguel de Cervantes).

Begin - to begin is half the work, let half still remain;

Sixth Attempt again begin this, and thou wilt have finished (Marcus
Aurelius).
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Mind Maps

Many people use mind maps to plan essays. A

mind map has a central topic, out of which
stem key ideas. From these key ideas, further
branches develop, containing sub-points.

Mind maps help one to order information

visually. They are also useful for ticking off
information as it has been dealt with. In this
way they act as an aide memoire, as well as an
organisational tool.

Information on mind mapping can be found at:

http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm

http://www.thinkbuzan.com/uk/
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Different Arguments
We all have our own ways of thinking and areas of life to which
we attach particular importance. For students, a corollary of
this is that they can get stuck in a certain groove when writing
their essays. The activities below may work as a corrective:
Essay Title

Argument 1
Activities

i) Give students an essay title. Ask them to compile as

many different arguments as possible which could be
advanced in response.

Argument 2 ii) Students get into groups and are provided with a range
of essay titles. They choose one and create a large spider
diagram (say, on sugar paper) covering as many answers
as possible.
Argument 3 iii) The teacher writes different perspectives, viewpoints or
positions on a series of cards (for example, in sociology
this could be Marxist, feminist, pluralist, functionalist,
postmodernist, and social-constructivist). The cards are
handed out at random along with an essay question.
Students must develop their arguments from the
perspective, position or viewpoint indicated on their
card.
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Critiquing Arguments
Arguments are there to be critiqued. Most things can be
rebutted. Little is irrefutable. An essay is more persuasive when
taking account of this reality. Dogmatic browbeating wins few
followers; it makes the proponent appear naive and simplistic.
The following activities centre on critique of arguments:

Activities

i) Students write an essay. The teacher takes the work in and

redistributes it. Students go through the essay they have
been given with the express intention of challenging each
argument they find. Challenges are noted with coloured
pen. Students then get together and discuss their critiques.

ii) Take a newspaper article, a comment piece, or an MPs

speech. Give out to students. Ask them to work through the
text and identify as many challenges to the argument as
they can. This can include issues such as reliability,
credibility, logic, accuracy, validity, the evidence called
upon, the relationship between reasons and conclusion,
and so on.

iii) Use the issues noted above as lenses. Write them on

separate pieces of card and hand them out at random.
Students must look at an argument, piece of evidence or
essay and produce a critique through their lens. These are
then shared and used as a basis for discussion.
How I Write – Bertrand Russell (from - http://www.davemckay.co.uk/philosophy/russell/russell.php?name=how.i.write)

I cannot pretend to know how writing ought to be done, or what a wise critic would advise me to do with a view to improving my own writing. The most that I can do is to relate some things about my own attempts.

Until I was twenty-one, I wished to write more or less in the style of John Stuart Mill. I liked the structure of his sentences and his manner of developing a subject. I had, however, already a different ideal, derived, I suppose, from
mathematics. I wished to say everything in the smallest number of words in which it could be said clearly. Perhaps, I thought, one should imitate Baedeker rather than any more literary model. I would spend hours trying to find
the shortest way of saying something without ambiguity, and to this aim I was willing to sacrifice all attempts at aesthetic excellence.

At the age of twenty-one, however, I came under a new influence that of my future brother-in-law, Logan Pearsall Smith. He was at that time exclusively interested in style as opposed to matter. His gods were Flaubert and Walter
Pater, and I was quite ready to believe that the way to learn how to write was to copy their technique. He gave me various simple rules, of which 1 remember only two: “Put a comma every four words", and “never use ’and’
except at the beginning of a sentence”. His most emphatic advice was that one must always re-write. I conscientiously tried this, but found that my first draft was almost always better than my second. This discovery has saved me
an immense amount of time. I do not, of course, apply it to the substance, but only to the form. When I discover an error of an important kind I re-write the whole. What I do not find is that I can improve a sentence when I am
satisfied with what it means.

Very gradually I have discovered ways of writing with a minimum of worry and anxiety. When I was young each fresh piece of serious work used to seem to me for a time-perhaps a long time-to be beyond my powers. I would fret
myself into a nervous state from fear that it was never going to come right. I would make one unsatisfying attempt after another, and in the end have to discard them all. At last I found that such fumbling attempts were a waste of
time. It appeared that after first contemplating a book on some subject, and after giving serious preliminary attention to it, I needed a period of sub-conscious incubation which could not be hurried and was if anything impeded by
deliberate thinking. Sometimes I would find, after a time, that I had made a mistake, and that I could not write. the book I had had in mind. But often I was more fortunate. Having, by a time of very intense concentration, planted
the problem in my sub-consciousness, it would germinate underground until, suddenly, the solution emerged with blinding clarity, so that it only remained to write down what had appeared as if in a revelation.

The most curious example of this process, and the one which led me subsequently to rely upon it, occurred at the beginning of 1914. I had undertaken to give the Lowell Lectures at Boston, and had chosen as my subject “Our
Knowledge of the External World”. Throughout 1913 I thought about this topic. In term time in my rooms at Cambridge, in vacations in a quiet inn on the upper reaches of the Thames, I concentrated with such intensity that I
sometimes forgot to breath and emerged panting as from a trance. But all to no avail. To every theory that I could think of I could perceive fatal objections. At last, in despair, I went off to Rome for Christmas, hoping that a holiday
would revive my flagging energy. I got back to ’Cambridge on the last day of 1913, and although my difficulties were still completely unresolved I arranged, because the remaining time was short, to dictate as best as I could to a
stenographer. Next morning, as she came in at the door, I suddenly saw exactly what I had to say, and proceeded to dictate the whole book without a moment’s hesitation.

I do not want to convey an exaggerated impression. The book was very imperfect, and I now think that it contains serious errors. But it was the best that I could have done at that time, and a more leisurely method (within the
time at my disposal) would almost certainly have produced something worse. Whatever may be true of other people, this is the right method for me. Flaubert and Pater, I have found, are best forgotten so far as I am concerned.

Although what I now think about how to write is not so very different from what I thought at the age of eighteen, my development has not been by any means rectilinear. There was a time, in the first years of this century, when I
had more florid and rhetorical ambitions. This was the time when I wrote The Free Man’s Worship, a work of which I do not now think well. At that time I was steeped in Milton’s prose, and his rolling periods reverberated through
the caverns of my mind. I cannot say that I no longer admire them, but for me to imitate them involves a certain insincerity. In fact, all imitation is dangerous. Nothing could be better in style than the Prayer Book and the
Authorized Version of the Bible, but they express a way of thinking and feeling which is different from that of our time. A style is not good unless it is an intimate and almost involuntary expression of the personality of the writer,
and then only if the writer’s personality is worth expressing. But although direct imitation is always to be deprecated, there is much to be gained by familiarity with good prose, especially in cultivating a sense for prose rhythm.

There are some simple maxims-not perhaps quite so simple as those which my brother-in-law Logan Pearsall Smith offered me-which I think might be commanded to writers of expository prose. First: never use a long word if a
short word will do. Second: if you want to make a statement with a great many qualifications, put some of the qualifications in separate sentences. Third: do not let the beginning of your sentence lead the reader to an
expectation which is contradicted by the end. Take, say, such a sentence as the following, which might occur in a work on sociology: “Human beings are completely exempt from undesirable behaviour-patterns only when certain
prerequisites, not satisfied except in a small percentage of actual cases, have, through some fortuitous concourse of favourable circumstances, whether congenital or environmental, chanced to combine in producing an individual
in whom many factors deviate from the norm in a socially advantageous manner”. Let us see if we can translate this sentence into English. I suggest the following: “All men are scoundrels, or at any rate almost all. The men who
are not must have had unusual luck, both in their birth and in their upbringing.” This is shorter and more intelligible, and says just the same thing. But I am afraid any professor who used the second sentence instead of the first
would get the sack.

This suggests a word of advice to such of my hearers as may happen to be professors. I am allowed to use plain English because everybody knows that I could use mathematical logic if I chose. Take the statement: “Some people
marry their deceased wives’ sisters”. I can express this in language which only becomes intelligible after years of study, and this gives me freedom. I suggest to young professors that their first work should be written in a jargon
only to be understood by the erudite few. With that behind them, they can ever after say what they have to say in a language “understanded of the people”. In these days, when our very lives are at the mercy of the professors, I
cannot but think that they would deserve our gratitude if they adopted my advice.
Sources:
My head
Other people’s heads
http://studentzone.roehampton.ac.uk/howtostudy/academicwriting/unit5/index.html
http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/StudyResources/Essays/sta-planningessay.aspx
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/essaymap/
http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/patee.html
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http://www.davemckay.co.uk/philosophy/russell/russell.php?name=how.i.write
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http://quotationsbook.com/quotes/tag/diligence/
http://quotationsbook.com/quote/43073/
http://thinkexist.com/quotation/practice_is_the_best_of_all/192267.html
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/marcus_aurelius.html
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http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A-level_Critical_Thinking
http://www.criticalthinking.org.uk/unit2/fundamentals/elementsofarguments/reasons/

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