Essay Writing Techniques That Help Write Faster
Developing an essay writing technique is not really difficult, but using it to develop a unique writing style requires some imagination. Students are often asked to write essays on varied topics in school. They begin writing spontaneously without giving much thought to techniques. Standard norms of including an introduction, body of a few paragraphs, and a conclusion are followed. They do improve in time, almost naturally, without understanding fully as to what contributed to improvement in their writing skills. It could be a combination of factors like focusing on grammar, vocabulary, or improving on reading skills. Some essay writing techniques have been listed below to help writers write more creatively and faster.
1. Prepare an outline much before writing the essay. The outline would include research sources, initial ideas that come to mind, and the direction to be taken after the topic has been chosen. Working on the outline helps form the basic platform for writing the essay. This technique can be used with standard and pre-determined formats, essay structures that are prepared to accommodate different subjects, and with different writing styles. For example, an outline would not change if students were asked to use the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA) styles of writing.
2. Work on the subject matter, or choose a topic you have adequate knowledge about. In school, a curriculum would specify the direction students must take while choosing a topic. It would relate to a subject covered in class. They would have gathered inputs on necessary elements that needed to be included in the essay. They would preferably be experts on the subject. Expertise provides the scope to experiment. Students must now venture into sub topics that are related to their subject but not covered in class. Sources of research remain the same. They would have already covered a lot of content that could be included in the essay. This essay writing technique can contribute greatly to developing a unique writing style.
3. Let all the ideas flow into your head without having to decide which is valid and which isn’t. During a brainstorming session, let your creative juices flow through without inhibitions. This technique requires a bit of practice and belief on your part. At most times, we would have already made a decision about the elements about the topic to be included. Any new idea may not be easily forthcoming unless it is forced on us through other sources. We need to keep our minds open and connect different ideas to the topic at hand. For example, while going through other’s content, we tend to omit the portion we think is not valid or we could highlight the portion that is valid. In both cases though, we have to go through the whole content. It could extend to several pages. The same principle applies here. We need to allow all thoughts that crop up and jot them down. It can always be edited later.
These are simple essay writing techniques which work. Following them or adapting to them would help one write essays faster and more creatively.
